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The Amazing Noobini Inner circle Oslo, Norway 1658 Posts |
I keep failing miserably every time I attempt to do some magic. One would think that after months of rehearsing a couple of effects I already know well, they should work under fire, but no. Not with me. First of all my body still keeps betraying me. The last time I was so nervous that I almost lost control of my bodily functions. I also nearly fainted. It was like a scene in a comedy movie. The room actually started going black for a second. Finally I dropped the cards since my hands were shaking so violently that I couldn't hold on to them. Actually that turned out kind of nice since the card I was attempting to control shot out from my hands and landed face up in the middle of the table. I have no idea how that happened.
I also find it impossible to control an audience or keep them even remotely interested. The last time I tried it all turned out completely surreal. One person suddenly shut his eyes and started doing some sort of Yoga breathing exercises. In the middle of my performance and patter. The other person just got up and went into the kitchen to get a glass of water. Right when I thought I had built up some excitement for a dramatic finale. Things like that are all so completely unexpected that I simply cannot think of anything to say or do. I just freeze and mumble. One person suddenly became completely evil and just said flat out that magic was so incredibly boring and cheesy. OK... people have every right to think that. Especially about my bad performances, but why the viciousess? A nice quiet nerd suddenly became really hostile. He then proceeded to tell his girlfriend how everything was done, probably trying to impress her. (How corny, he was in his mid forties for goodness sake) He was right too. how did he know where the card was? I didn't screw anything up on that one as far as I could tell. It happens to me a lot. In a mirror I cannot see any flashes. I have tried it sitting down, standing up, in different lighting condition, in different rooms. But in real life it is like they can see around corners. Nothing ever goes right. Sometimes I know that the best thing is just to walk away, but at the same time I really really want to turn things around and shut them up with something amazing. But that doesn't happen. There seem to be always be one person who forever burns my hands no matter what I say or do as distraction. Nothing can avert that stare. This person will also always attempt to get the better of me, such as suddenly holding one hand out as a shade while returning a card so that I cannot see where in the fan it goes. These things are unexpected. I am also unable to break these burns. The other type of person is the distracted one who never sees the incredible vanish because she looks away and talks to someone instead. So far the burner/heckler has always been male and the completely distracted one always female. My best moments have been when I have attempted to do effects where several things happen at once. Only one out of three aspects of it will work but at least sometimes someone is impressed by that alone. So I did find their card. They have no idea that it was supposed to end up in my wallet as well. Which it didn't. It dropped to the floor instead. This has become such a strain for me. I'm starting to really fear doing anything now. I have even stopped practicing as much as before because I get so bitter thinking about how many THOUSAND hours I spend on this. All for nothing. Sadly I have to face that I really suck. It's embarrassing to because I'm no enthusiastic kid who still have a lifetime to learn. If I pick up a deck of cards they think that I am a pro because I have goatee, graying temples and basically look like a comic book illusionist. Then they see how badly I suck and it's just awkward for everyone. And people aren't interested in the magic tricks. Before I begin even, they seem mildly distracted. One person will request a magic trick and the rest will almost moan. The only thing they are impressed about are my regular riffle shuffles. They are actually quite nice but I really try to tone that down to do other ones that resemble my false shuffles more. Then they ask "can you this... fwreeeet" and mime springing cards. Everyone wants to see card springing. That I can do, but by then I am already reduced to doing pet tricks at their command. My grip on them is lost. I'm starting to understand why people make all of their YouTube videos where everything runs perfect and nobody interrupts you to answer a cell phone. Complete editing control of what the audience sees. I'm sorry... I'm not asking for advice or support or anything. I know I simply need more practice. And then more and then more. And then some more. I just needed to whine about all of this for a minute. Thank you for your attention.
"Talk about melodrama... and being born in the wrong part of the world." (Raf Robert)
"You, my friend, have a lot to learn." (S. Youell) "Nonsensical Raving of a lunatic mind..." (Larry) |
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NeoMagic Inner circle I have... 2017 Posts |
I'm sure your magic is just fine... but what you don't describe in your post is the setting/venue where you are performing your magic - to a paying audience? are you the invited magician? close-up? on stage? street magic? table hopping? large audience? small audience? all adults? etc. etc.
I think these questions are relevant because perhaps you haven't yet found your niche audience or setting. Change to working in an environment where you can begin building your confidence and audience management skills. If people don't like having tricks forced on them (street magic maybe) then perform in a setting where the attendees know that magic will be on the menu and more importantly they WANT it on the menu (a party, perhaps even a kids party). In other words, perform to people who are asking to be entertained. Also, there's nothing wrong with taking a step back in order to eventually take two forwards. So simplify your effects - don't do anything too sleight heavy, choose something where it doesn't matter if they burn you or not, something near self-working where there's little room for anything to go drastically wrong. Read books/articles about overcoming the fear of public speaking (and performing)... I think they'll help.
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Robin Z New user 79 Posts |
Try some almost self-working effects and really work on your performance. Get the audience to like you. Refine your patter to make it interesting.
What I guess you're doing is practicing the effect, but slacking off on presentation. You must remember it's just as (if not more) important than the handling. |
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MrFye Regular user 119 Posts |
Think more about entertaining your audience(and yourself) and less about trying to fool them. This should relieve you of some of the pressure that you're putting on yourself. Magic should be enjoyable on both ends.
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Jaz Inner circle NJ, U.S. 6111 Posts |
I'll assume that you perform for friends and family.
All the practice, rehearsals and confidence you do alone won't prepare you for performing for a live audience. The truth comes out when you do perform. Also, audience management can't be practiced. Totally different ballgame now! Somehow those intricate tricks you practiced forever become foggy. The thought of exposure become frightening. People don't pay attention or will heckle. The nerves take over. What to do? Do the easiest tricks you know best. Mention that you want to show them a trick you learned and don't mention magic. Entertain them with a trick and it will become magic. Don't become thier monkey. Stop when you want to and leave them wanting more. Don't over-perform. Do one or two tricks of what you feel are your best and end it. If requested to do something that you can't or haven't any more tricks then simply say so. Get one of them involved with an effect that happens in thier hands or that they feel they made happen. If you get heckled then stop. You don't need that crap. Relax. Take your time and breath. Remember that it's just a trick and blowing it is not the end of the world but rather a learning experience. Remember, I'm assuming that you perform for friends and family. Best to ya, |
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disneywld Special user Denver, CO 614 Posts |
Being comfortable is most important. Last night I watched a Star Trek Next Generation episode in which a crew member lacked the confidence to succeed - he eventually got over it.
Try just doing a few simple tricks - don't take up your audience's time - just a few short ones. Again, earlier last night I was at a promotional party. I quickly grabbed two magic items that would fit in my tight jeans (It was a National Western Stock Show Party). I performed a hot rod routine followed by a $100 bill switch. I was a hit. You can do it too. Baby steps..Baby steps..
The Magic of Christopher Manos
www.christophermanos.com |
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The Amazing Noobini Inner circle Oslo, Norway 1658 Posts |
Thank you everyone for an overwhelming response and many many great suggestions!
Yes, the particular performance I described in detail was for friends, or rather aquaintences. One of them asked me, nay begged me almost to do some magic to show her boyfriend. I had apparently impressed her and a girlfriend of hers a few days earlier with a few things I had done. (Which actually was a very good experience because her friend was extremely depressed and it seemed that even I screwed everything up a little bit, she completely snapped out of it, which also made me happy. In fact, if it hadn't been for a few cases like that I wouldn't have wanted to continue with this at all, but it made it really worth all the work.) I would have expected close friends to jump all over me but I guess I expected these people to be somewhat more polite. Still I probably was more boring than his breathing exercises. This I need to fix. I'm not good enough by far to perform at any venue, I feel. And street magic and things like that would just kill me. I'm basically a timid person and therein lies a lot of my problem. Inside, in my imagination I shine, but I'm not a performer by nature. I dread attention. Still, I know I can be the clown of the group at times and make people laugh with small deadpan comments. And I do love that kind of attention. It's like you say... I haven't found my niche in magic yet. And BTW I've seen that Star Trek episode too. I think that must be the one where they are conducting a mineral survey to find the cause of the volcanic eruptions on Drema IV. It's called Pen pals. (Just wanted to show off what a Trekkie I am) Lots of GREAT advice here that I am sure will help me a lot. I will reread it again now. Thanks everyone! I feel better now.
"Talk about melodrama... and being born in the wrong part of the world." (Raf Robert)
"You, my friend, have a lot to learn." (S. Youell) "Nonsensical Raving of a lunatic mind..." (Larry) |
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marty.sasaki Inner circle 1117 Posts |
Performing for teenagers and young adults can be really depressing. These folks are often trying to be cool. They often only care about things that are cool to care about. Magic is seldom cool, except maybe if you are a Criss Angel clone.
Don't let it get to you. Do something simple, like sponge balls, or a hot rod, or even a TT and silk. Do a really simple card routine with a surprise ending. Maybe Kundalini rising or something similar. Try Scotch and Soda or C/S/B.
Marty Sasaki
Arlington, Massachusetts, USA Standard disclaimer: I'm just a hobbyist who enjoys occasionally mystifying friends and family, so my opinions should be viewed with this in mind. |
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adrianbent Loyal user 210 Posts |
I'll give a few of my insights....
Magicians love their props: the Cards, the coins, whatever. You've GOT to learn to not focus on the props. They are a means to an end... the reason they are burning your hands is because you aren't talking to them, you aren't connecting with them. You're focused on the props and the mechanics (sleights, moves whatever). You aren't connecting with the audience. Richard Osterlind says that he often plays a little game in his head where he tries to see how long he can simply make conversation with a person before showing them a trick. This is key. Think of magic like just another vaudville act. Imagine doing an act that is either a monologue (one person reciting a scene from a play) or perhaps telling a few jokes like a stand up comedian. You've practiced your sleights and moves, but I am a huge believer in scripting your words, and memorizing that script, and reciting it over and over like learning the lines of a play. If you get flumuxed (tongue-tied) its because your brain is thinking of your hands and the moves; If your tongue can be on auto-pilot, you'll feel so MUCH MORE confident. This can be a little boring though, because like I said, magicians like to fiddle with their props. Put the props down and go write a script and then eat, live and breath that script for a few days. Gregory Wilson says that a script is like a safety zone, or like a tree... when you know it so well, you'll be amazed at how smoothly and easily you'll be able to ad-lib away from it or "go out on a limb" and yet jump right back into the script if you can't think of anything else off-the-cuff to say. If you haven't tried scripting, DO IT. The trade off is you have to severely shrink your repetoire of effects to pay enough attention to detail on the ones you chose to keep I'm a hobbyist magician, but I take magic seriously. I take performing seriously. I want do look professional, don't we all? Then you've got to trim down your repetoire 3 tricks at first, and add only 1 or two at a time, after scripting and rehearsing countless times. Performing less might mean more for you, especially if you only have family and friends as your audiences. If you REALLY respect magic, then consider taking a community acting class, or a club like toastmasters (public speaking) club. These peripheral skills will strengthen the core of your performing. Read books like "how to make friends and influence people". When it comes down to performing close up, you need to be "heads-up"... asking questions, listening to their answers, making smalltalk, sharing laughs and smiles. All this stuff has absolutely nothing to do with magic, yet it is such a critical element in entertainment and surprise/misdirection. ;-) You can't be Heads down, talking to your props. If you still suck, set your sights lower. Talent is a fleeting thing, "talent hits a target no one else can". It sounds though like you've had some good performances. Remember, for family and friends you DON'T want to burn them out (they're the only audience you have after all!) Less is definitely more. Play the role of someone who's only "casually" interested in magic, like it isn't obsessing you. They can smell your obsession with magic and neediness to perform and to them it smells like patheticness. Give off the impression that they need to ask you if they want to see magic, not the other way around. And if they DON'T ask and its killing you then you truly are obsessed by magic and you need to move on and focus on something else in your life. Can I use another cliche? "If you love something, set it free". Try taking a vacation from magic, i.e. no magic for three months. Or only perform 2 tricks in that time period. Try to expand you audience somehow... friends of friends might be good? When you come back to magic, add routines VERY discriminately, and VERY slowly, and rehearse ALL the time, but perform for friends and family VERY rarely. If you have to turn down a request for magic because you aren't ready, say so. Always perform like a professional. If you love the art then give it the respect it deserves. Cheers! |
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Andy the cardician Inner circle A street named after my dad 3362 Posts |
Noobini my friend,
you are going through the normal plateau of development. So do not loose confidence. Let us recap - The absolute beginner picks up some moves and tricks and after some struggle, he masters them and has his early successes. He feels great and thinks that he has progressed fantastically. His mirror strengthens his wrong opinion. Then he continues to learn and understand more and more = and based on this knowlege he realizes that he really is far, far from his goal. Thus his confidence goes down, if now paired with some bad performance experience, he lands hard on the ground of reality. What to do now? Continue . . . what else. After all, he has passed the absolute beginner level and is now on the next stage. A big challenge is to boost up the confidence. This is the best time to pick up some good self working tricks to build up confidence and audience managing skills. Mix them with some sure fire sleight of hands tricks and we are all set. Note that there are some pretty amazing self working tricks out there . . . . Andy
Cards never lie
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Magnus Eisengrim Inner circle Sulla placed heads on 1053 Posts |
Noobini, can you tell a story? Can you tell jokes? If the answer to either of these is "yes" you have one of the hard parts down already.
When you perform a trick, try to be the same person you are when you tell stories or jokes. When the trick comes out of what you are communicating to your audience, you will find that the heat comes off the trick, and you and your audience can both relax. As a beginner, nothing connected me with my (friends and acquaintances) audience like Color Monte. It gave me a chance to tell a fun story with a kicker punchline. It was more like enjoying a laugh with my friends than it was like doing a card trick. Keep working it. John
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.--Yeats |
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disneywld Special user Denver, CO 614 Posts |
Very good advice all. I try not to perform for close friends and family unless they are watching as part of a large audience. They know me too well. Last night's little fun magic was for friends that I see once per year. Next year, judging by this year's reaction, will be a bit more magic - something more intense, but still not more than ten minutes.
I was very shy in high school and had to force myself to take three - yes three - public speaking classes in college. I am still rather shy when out of my environment, but I have found a switch. If there is interest in me, the switch is thrown and I become the life of the party - funny huh? I prefer to work with the largest group possible - I perform better. Actually I was watching "Hollow Pursuits" where Barclay, a shy engineer, uses the holodeck to find release from his shyness. I love Pen Pals - maybe I'll put it on tonight.
The Magic of Christopher Manos
www.christophermanos.com |
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NeoMagic Inner circle I have... 2017 Posts |
Christopher's last post reminded me of something Ed Marlo mentioned on the Cardician DVD. He spoke of an "almost timid" (to use his words) gentleman who asked if he could demonstrate some magic to him. Marlo describes a Jekyll and Hyde transformation as soon as the magician started performing, a complete change from the previously shy, quiet man.
That individual obviously found himself so at home when performing that he completely left behind his otherwise timid and reserved personality. One of the keys to this - and I think this has been mentioned already - is to be totally familiar with the material you are performing. You shouldn't need to think about the mechanics of the trick (and the patter); the moves should come automatically. That allows you the freedom to concentrate on other things, such as working with your audience.
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disneywld Special user Denver, CO 614 Posts |
I have had many opportunities to meet top name musicians and actors and have found a good many of them quite reserved and quiet. One in particular played a coach on a sports team. Through the film he had to show all possible human emotions - he had a take charge attitude. In real life - soft-spoken and humble.
The Magic of Christopher Manos
www.christophermanos.com |
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abc Inner circle South African in Taiwan 1081 Posts |
My advice may not be as good as what has been posted above but accept one thing. You are going to make a lot of mistakes when you perform.. Things are going to go horribly wrong. You are going to be embarrassed to a point where you think you can no longer take it and feel like quitting and then hopefully one day you are going to realize that the only person who remembers your mistakes is you. Get over it. Talent makes the difference between me and Lance Burton or you and Jeff McBride but just being a great entertaining guy who does magic is within most people's reach if they do the right actions for long enough and expect the right results.
Good luck. |
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disneywld Special user Denver, CO 614 Posts |
ABC you are so right. Learning how to cover for your mistakes is an art.
The Magic of Christopher Manos
www.christophermanos.com |
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cosmicsecret Special user Germany - Mannheim 504 Posts |
Hey Noobini,
it seems that you are loading your shoulders with too much weight when it comes to perform a effect. I can remember myself being in this situation when your hands were shaking from being nervous.It was in the beginning of performing magic effects for people,i felt totally uncomfortable being in the spotlight of everyones attention. I lost control over the chosen card,revealed the wrong one and I felt really stupid. My mistake was that I thought I could do the trick with ease because I practiced so long in front of the mirror.I had the sleights down and the workings of it but no patter at all.It was like take a card,it gets lost in the pack and now look at this and this etc. Very mechanical and stiff. don't expect to be perfect in the first few times,you have to fail to learn how to improve your effects.Thats the way it goes. After performing this one trick approx. 10 times for people I started to improve on the presentation and handling.My body started to move,doing gestures etc instead of just standing stiff there and showing something.It was more lose and I felt how the weight was gone from my shoulders. Here are some hints to make it easier for you : Its always good to introduce yourself first,if you are uncomfortable with approaching for example some friends of your friends,then you can ask your friends to introduce you a bit and then take over. Learn one or two trick(s) which do not need any hard sleights and perform this/those over and over again.Do not make the mistake and learn 10 tricks and try to perform them in a row. You will feel more and more comfortable after the first 10-20 times performing the 1-2 tricks and you will start to interact more with the people you are performing for. Patter : I was never really a big fan of learning a text to respell it.Try to tell something from your own mind.It will flow more natural then any text which you have learned. You can condition your audience with this line : I have here something really cool,it does not work every time - but if it does its gonna be GREAT! This line builds interest because "its gonna be great" and on the other side if it does not work - you have told them that it does not work every time. For executing sleights,try to master them.Its always good to have your hands on auto pilot so that you do not look at your hands while executing a sleight.This is one of the big mistakes you can make (looking at your hands while doing the dirty work).Always try to get eye contact when doing a hidden sleight.When they are burning your hands and you need to get their attention away from the deck, You could ask a question like : And this guy shuffled the deck face up and face down.Can you believe that? Its important to raise your voice a bit and maybe leaning more in.It works trust me Or when your hands are shaking again when it comes to execute a move and somebody is noticing that (if not you could make a joke out of it anyway) : You might be noticing that my hands are shaking,well I have learned the trick in alaska.People start laughing and you got the offbeat moment to execute the move. I could keep on writing but that would overload you with informations. Now read this posting over again and again.Then try the given hints and info in your next performance. All the best and good luck Jerry |
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The Amazing Noobini Inner circle Oslo, Norway 1658 Posts |
WOW! This thread has turned out to be quite a resource of great ideas! Which is wonderful because I know it will serve a lot of other café browsing beginners well too.
I'm relieved to hear that so many have had similar experiences and overcome their problems. It means that there is hope. I think, As Andy suggests, that I have reach one of the many crucial turning points where everything suddenly starts to look a bit different with more knowledge and therefore a more critical eye. The trick now is to hang in there. I'm sure that such difficult passages from one level to another is precisely where a lot of people give up. Tomorrow morning I'm moving back to Europe after a couple of confusing months here in South America. After sleeping my jet lag off, I will look into self working tricks, as is being suggested by many here. I have already bought the Lennart Green DVD on that subject, which could be a good place to start. Regarding the scripting/non-scripting of patter as rehearsable dialog, I have tried that and so far found that it doesn't work well for performing for friends who already know you, at least. Nevertheless I think that I will explore it further because through that process one can at least discover phrases and jokes and key words that could be recycled and used and reused in any setting if required. In short, it is better to know what one CAN say and then maybe decide not to use it than to need something to say and have nothing. Thank you again everyone for patting my back a little and offering your wisdom and experience! You are all more than I deserve. P.S. The Alaska comment is priceless! And easily adaptable for a Norwegian. Thanks!
"Talk about melodrama... and being born in the wrong part of the world." (Raf Robert)
"You, my friend, have a lot to learn." (S. Youell) "Nonsensical Raving of a lunatic mind..." (Larry) |
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Lord Anacho Regular user Kessel-Lo, Belgium 157 Posts |
Hi Noobini
Yeah, it's a learning experience. I myself despair sometimes. I am back in magic after 25 years and trying to do it proper this time (I really sucked big time then). (Well, should not be too hard on myself: of the 15 times I performed, I was terrible mediocre and unoriginal 13 times, but I truly and utterly floored my audiences on the other 2 occasions). Now I am back and working my way through the Royal Road to Card Magic. Last Sunday me and my truelove went out dining with our number 2 daughter (in the family way, my second grandchild is en route!) and her hubby. I showed the hubby two card effects. The Poker's Picnic (or Poker's Nightmare) from the Royal Road and the Fearson's Aces. The Poker's Picnic went like a charm and the Fearson's Aces flopped miserably. That stung something terrible, as I consider it a great effect. But I couldn't bring the hubby to lay down his cards in such a way that the trick worked. Don't get me wrong, he was nice and not out to 'get me'. The error was on my part as my audience managing skills were nowhere. I can imagine that you feel a lot worse since you are confronted with effective hostile attitudes. I -unexperienced as I am- can only reflect the advice above. Choose some good self workers. I tried Walton's Pass on Red, I tried Fearson's Aces, but so far what really popped eyes was Mark Wilson's Fantastic Five, actually the second trick in the entire Mark Wilson Course on Magic and so simple that you would think a child of five could work it out. But it hit the spot. And it is not just that the trick is so simple that you can direct all your attention to presentation. True as that is, the fact that you really can't screw this trick up relaxes you and it is that relaxed state of mind you need to aspire to. You know something nice is going to happen to your audience, you know that you can't goof it, you are having fun. As opposed to feeling in a deadly contest with your audience with a state of mind saying: 'I shall fool thee and thou knoweth not how it is achieved'. People subconsiously will rise up to such a contest and try to find you out, they'll burn your hands, etc, etc. You must radiate good cheer, and fun. The advice of the late Nate Leipzig still holds. "They must like you and your act - in that order". Ciao for now Erik
"The secret impresses no one. The trick you use it for is everything" (Alfred Borden in The Prestige)
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Andy the cardician Inner circle A street named after my dad 3362 Posts |
Noobini,
that is the spirit - way to go my friend Andy
Cards never lie
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