I think this is a great tip for newcomers to magic, and it's one that I wish I'd heard when I started...

Eugene Burger has said that a trick should be practiced at least 1,000 times before showing it to anyone.

While this may seem absurd at first, you have to remember what he is trying to point out. Most magic is exposed by bad magicians who have good intentions but poor practice habits. It's very tempting to learn a new trick and want to show it to everyone you meet, it's natural. When I think about my first few months in magic, I am ashamed and amazed that I dared to try some of the routines I did after such little practice. I used to think that all you had to do was read the method of a trick and you were ready to go after a few practice tries.

Practicing this much also applies to "self-working" tricks. There is much more to practice than the trick itself, there is the presentation of the trick.

Most people won't really do the 1,000 practices with a trick. But if you aim for 1,000 and only get halfway there, that's still better than reading the instructions once or twice and fumbling your way through the trick in front of a spectator after only 5-6 practice runs.

So listen to Mr. Burger, and practice each trick 1,000 times!

I think that this is a great suggestion. I know that I have problems with wanting to "show off" after just a little practice. I suppose we all do. I like 1,000. It is a nice round number, and if you do practice a trick that number of times, you should be flawless.

Josh

I freely admit that I was guilty of this in the beginning myself. I think back to when I bought a biting quarter and proceeded to bite every person's quarter I could find. What a nerd! But I'm older and (hopefully) wiser now, and I think I have finally developed a decent practice ethic. If fact, it has gotten to the point that I seem to enjoy the quiet moments of practice, those little fumbles and victories that come with learning something new, slightly more than actually presenting it to the specs.

Whilst practicing....1000's of times..
I would highly recommend breaking the trick into 4 or 5 parts ,and practicing them seperatly for 10-20 minute period's something like this example for card trick's

1/ intro patter.
2/ force applicable to that trick.
3/ sleight move applicable to that trick
4/ mid explanation / build up
5/ ending / revealation whatever.

I highly recommend investing in a camcorder instead of relying on a mirror , viewing angles are not realistic at all also..

I also agree with this comment bcause there is alot besides the actual trick itsef to deliver to the spectator. If the spectator is to really be amazed then the performer has to deliver the trick with its full potential! This is to say with perfect misdirection and presentation! so to make this happen the trick whatever it may be, even if very simple and easy, it must be practised alot to make this happen!

1,000 times is abit much lol.
I think that's not good advice at all?
was he really saying do it 1,00 times or was it like untill you got it down to a tee?
Also was the 110% saying?
there is no such thing as 110% is there?

. . .998 . . .999. . .1000! Now that's one mean French Drop!

I like to practice a sleight in front of a mirror until I can fool myself. If the move is so burned into my subconscious that it happens automatically then I can see the effect the way the spectator sees and say "No Way!". I believe Mickey Silver's SUV will be that way.

You know when you thoroughly know an effect? ....When you can perform it perfectly while thinking about the workings of another trick. But that may take one thousand repititions....

I agree with "prettyneatmagic" in that practising in front of a mirror (if you can't afford one of those neat camcorders that allows you to see while you on TV while performing), or even a very close friend who is into magic. That way, he-she can do the same in front of you and your repetoire is doubled! Performing the trick til you know inside out s one of the best pieces of advice I have heard. This not only allows the trick to be part of you, which will show in your routine, but it allows you to develop, and develop, and develop, and develop this effect.

That's just getting silly and pedantic. 110% is a phrase and even a cliche. I also disagree with you-as I said in my previous post, it is great advice. Fine, maybe you think it is an exagerration (but it meant, as a clown once said to me: "practise, practise, practise" and yes, he WAS Welsh). It's like Jesus-he didn't mean everything to be taken literally: for instance he said: "GO, sell everything you have" where he was just illustrating a point that the rich wouldn't do this anyway.

Why undermine 1000? I'm hearing people feel like its a bit much, but if you break it down, its quite manageagle. If the trick is a simple one,say 2 minutes of presentation max, then you could do 30 reps in an hour. In 30 days, you'd have about 900. There's nothing unreasonable about practicing something 1000 times... In fact I think I'll start using that advice! In fact in some cases I think 1000 might be a drop in the bucket. I've done coin rolls so many times now my knuckles feel numb, and yet I'm still think the suck

Well, it's simple really. Those who strive for the thousand practices before showing a trick, will be the ones capable of achieving great things in magic. It takes discipline.

In Martial Arts, for example, you practice certain techniques until you can execute them without really thinking. If you have to stop and think about a move in Martial Arts, it's usually too late to use that move effectively, and you lost the fight.

I think that is a nice parallel. We should practice the magic moves until they require almost no thought. If you hesitate while executing a technique, it draws attention to the move. If you don't have to think about a move, then your spectators won't think about it either.

Adrianbent,
Speaking of coin rolls, I practiced them all the time for a while, because I wanted to be able to do them anytime I wanted. And I would never do a coin roll in public if I knew there was a chance I would drop it. So I made myself do at least 300 coin rolls a day, on each hand. It only took a few weeks to get to the point where I wouldn't be afraid to do a double coin roll anywhere.

It's all about dedication to your craft. Set goals, and achieve them.

Being a man who has worked consistently on back palms, split fans, eclipse productions, perfect productions, pivots and more for years and still hasn't made it a permanent part of his show, I completely agree with Eugene Burger's statement and even more with Danny's statement (A fellow CT man myself. Waterbury native even). Those who aren't dedicated to the craft and truly love it enough to give it the time it deserves will never go on. Plain and simple.

-Daniel GreenWolf
of Waterbury, CT USA

We are not all robots,what works for some don't work for others.
For me 1,000 times is abit much really.
I argree that we need to "practise, practise, practise"
But some pick up things faster than others.
Now when I was learning the D Lift all I done was get the move right down too the tee,and sat in front of the tv doing the move over,over and over.
was I counting up to a 1,000 lol?
No I wasnt.
I knew when I nailed that move,it was when it clicked inside me.
Might sound silly but when that happens for me I know its time to move on.
I picked up a trick in 10 mins and was performing it.
What we all got to understand is that we are all diffrent.
But why put a number on it?

I agree 110% with the above posts. The idea though if there is any misunderstanding is not to write 1 to 1000 on a piece of paper and scratch of a number until you are finished because you may still not be good enough at it. Once you think you are good look at someone performing that is a master of the art and then re-look if 1000 times was enough.
Breaking up the trick is an excellent idea because then you get to practise intelegently.
Cheers

I agree with the 1000 times rule of thumb. And I don't think that you should check them off on a piece of paper. You should set out to learn a new trick, set aside say a few (depending on the trick) minutes a night to practice it. You know how many times you can practice the trick in that amount of time so you can set a goal to have a piece ready to perform after a few weeks or months.
The first time you practice a trick each evening might want to be a complete run through (more like a rehearsal) where you go through the effect from start to finish. This simulates a real performing situation. After that, break up the phases and moves and practice.

Enjoy the journey,
Mike

Yeah, the 1,000 number is not necessarily to be taken literally (but it would be nice if we all did take it literally!), nor is it intended to be kept track of by writing down the number or practices per session (although I have done this out of curiousity).

The point Mr. Burger was trying to make (I'm assuming), is that you can't just read the directions and then go out and show people a trick! Like I said in an earlier post, if you try for 1,000, and only get halfway there, that is still a ton of practice and much more than most people dream of doing.

I use to do my classic pass more than a thousand times a day. Now I riffle pass with minimum riffling of the deck ( as apposed to the huge gap that result from the seperation of the deck when the pass is executed) without the deck being seperated when the tranposition is being made. Cool? Definitely! But I'm able to make a card melt it's way back to the top not because I know how a riffle pass is done. But I;m actually able to execute a riffle pass. And being able to actually execute a riffle pass means riffle passing a thousand times a day. Or of course you can practise it for ten minutes and start doing your riffle pass infront of your spectator and your spectator will be amaze! Not because the card magically appeared back to the top. But because you are able to cut a deck of card in a fancy and uncommon way.

I disagree with the "practise a trick 1000 times". I think that you should practise as much as you need to practise
I am not saying that you never need to practise a trick 1000 ties I'm just saying that if you master it after 100 times then whats the point?

Whether it be a thousand times or a dozen times, I'm not sure whether it is the quantity of practice or the quality of practice that separates a 'good trick' from a 'miracle'. For me, I know it is a healthy combination. I will start by learning the mechanics of an effect or sleight step by step until I am able to accomplish each step without faltering. Then I put them together and practice the move until it is smooth, seamless, and clean. Once I have that accomplished then I add in the patter, play with the timing, and keep working on it until my wife (and long-suffering captive audience)is unable to spot anything that I may have flashed. At that point I feel comfortable bringing it out into public. Small audiences of close friends first, then gradually larger groups of people. Just one person's opinion...it might take me a week sometimes, a month some others, or a year. I just persevere and have fun.