As a beginner I am curious.
How long/often do you practice a new effect/trick, before you present it to an audience for the first time?

Thanks.

Until it is completely second nature.

It partly depends on what you consider an audience. I’m a casual performer. I don’t do it for money. That means I have less to lose if I’m not getting the most entertainment value from a routine. I do think the only way to get good at performance is by performing. You must be able to do the mechanics of anything you do (including verbal direction, not just physical trickery) without having to think about what to do next. That’s a must. Practice that and any screw-ups you can imagine someone making until you are confident and sure you won’t mess up. Then go find someone to show it to. You won’t know how it plays until you’ve done it a bunch of times and smoothed out the rough edges.

A small blessing of social isolation right now is the opportunity to practice. Unless you have kids. Then you don’t even get to form a coherent thought.

Patrick

After a while and with enough experience and the gift of explanation and gab it takes no time.

The time it takes is to get comfortable with the prop. I can take something I’ve putzed with for a few days do a club gig and add it in at a few tables with no problem.

But as a newbie you want to get comfortable in front of people that’s what takes time.

I have forgotten the source, but let me pass it on anyway: You don't practice it until you get it right; you practice it until you cannot get it wrong.

George

After a while in the biz do what I did and see how you fare. I drove an hour for a gig one day got out of my van and realized I forgot my case. Luckily it was ata hotel so I went to the gift shop and bought some cards. Of course there were napkins on the tables so off I went.

I realized that night I didn’t need much.

My mentor told me to do the effect perfectly 100 times in front of a mirror before inflicting it on an audience. If I messed up on the 99th try, I had to go back to 1 and start over. It was good advice. I still do this 33 years later.

Of course mentalism is different because the active component (the volunteer) changes each time you perform and different volunteers can pose different challenges which is particularly worrisome when you’re working something new.

So now I ensure I have the tech stuff down perfectly. THEN I take it out and perform it close up and in parlour shows and I let the spectators teach the rest of the effect variables to me.

I hope this is helpful,

David

Wow, that is good advice...