Scariest part of performing?
- Thread starter r_Shift
- Start date
I always get nerves about 20 minutes before going on stage, and that basically lasts through the first routine (which is why my first routines are always dead simple and serve mostly to set the mood).
Nothing else really bothers me, I'm pretty comfortable on stage/performing.
Nothing else really bothers me, I'm pretty comfortable on stage/performing.
As a classically trained musician I’ve performed in front of people for 30 or more years, but there are always nerves before the first song. Being nervous is good, it reminds you that you care about what you are doing. The same applies to my magic. Music taught me an important lesson....don’t play a song until you play that song well....so...don’t perform a trick until you perform it well. The nerves go away after the first smile or clap and you suddenly remember....my hands know what to do.
Things that generally worry me the most are
a.) One of the spectators being a heckler
b.) Being caught doing the sleight the trick relies on, for example being caught doing the triple lift in two card monte
But my biggest fear is failure, no matter how much I convince myself that failure makes you better (which it does), I'm always petrified of looking like an idiot.
a.) One of the spectators being a heckler
b.) Being caught doing the sleight the trick relies on, for example being caught doing the triple lift in two card monte
But my biggest fear is failure, no matter how much I convince myself that failure makes you better (which it does), I'm always petrified of looking like an idiot.
Approaching the first table of the nigjt is always mine. Haha
You look so confident in every video... just started following you on Instagram and YouTube.
It looks like many of us have a similar start.
Right before I start performing and into the first effect I get some nerves. Once that's outta the way I am good.
I try to start off with people who I think will enjoy some conversation and entertainment to make it easier to get the nerves outta the way.
Right before I start performing and into the first effect I get some nerves. Once that's outta the way I am good.
I try to start off with people who I think will enjoy some conversation and entertainment to make it easier to get the nerves outta the way.
Thanks buddy! Haha yeah i have learned how to flip the switch into performer mode over the years. Haha i use something i call “the diving board effect.” I spych myself out if i think about it too much so injust take a deep breath and “dive in” so to speak. Once i am performing im fine. Kts getting the courage to apporach people that is the scary part.
Thanks buddy! Haha yeah i have learned how to flip the switch into performer mode over the years. Haha i use something i call “the diving board effect.” I spych myself out if i think about it too much so injust take a deep breath and “dive in” so to speak. Once i am performing im fine. Kts getting the courage to apporach people that is the scary part.
For me, I called it the 3 Second Rule. I realized that it was literally the approach and first sentence that always made me nervous back in the day - so I didn't give myself the chance to think about it. If I saw someone and thought, "I should perform for them", I just walked over to them. By the time I was there it would have been more awkward to leave, and once I started talking I knew I could win over pretty much anyone.
Getting caught by one of my worst habits...
'Talking too much'.
I've seen that while my style makes it possible for me to talk more than an average magician and still manages to make my trick look good, I still kinda hate that habit and keep trying to minimise it. But in a high-pressure situation, boy oh boy! I am always afraid if I talk SO much that the trick begins to look secondary to the conversations I'm having...
And of course, I am afraid of bad reactions, as in BAD reactions. Ho-hum responses don't break my heart but the bad ones do. Touchwood...never really got a bad reaction but, I can visualise what might happen if I do get them, and that visualisation stuff is nasty.
Also, I think getting caught is pretty much a no-no (?). Unless it is intended, of course...
'Talking too much'.
I've seen that while my style makes it possible for me to talk more than an average magician and still manages to make my trick look good, I still kinda hate that habit and keep trying to minimise it. But in a high-pressure situation, boy oh boy! I am always afraid if I talk SO much that the trick begins to look secondary to the conversations I'm having...
And of course, I am afraid of bad reactions, as in BAD reactions. Ho-hum responses don't break my heart but the bad ones do. Touchwood...never really got a bad reaction but, I can visualise what might happen if I do get them, and that visualisation stuff is nasty.
Also, I think getting caught is pretty much a no-no (?). Unless it is intended, of course...
I don’t get nervous before a performance but instead get anxious - I just can’t wait to get out there and start.
My performances are completely scripted. I design the scripts so that I’m typically talking for several sentences before I introduce the props. Talking to my audience and getting positive feedback before I perform any magic helps me relax and get into my groove.
I also “step into my character” the moment before performance. It is sort of like Tony Stark putting on the Ironman suit. At that moment I become invincible or at least truly magical.
For me the scariest part is the fear of a malfunction. Whether there is an issue with set-up, an issue with props or an issue with forgetting a step. That is why I have checklists for packing and set up that I go over multiple times before performing and why I practice not until Inget it right but until I can’t get it wrong.
My performances are completely scripted. I design the scripts so that I’m typically talking for several sentences before I introduce the props. Talking to my audience and getting positive feedback before I perform any magic helps me relax and get into my groove.
I also “step into my character” the moment before performance. It is sort of like Tony Stark putting on the Ironman suit. At that moment I become invincible or at least truly magical.
For me the scariest part is the fear of a malfunction. Whether there is an issue with set-up, an issue with props or an issue with forgetting a step. That is why I have checklists for packing and set up that I go over multiple times before performing and why I practice not until Inget it right but until I can’t get it wrong.
You Sir, seem a lot like Tony Stark.
Just...you know...don't make an Ultron or something...just saying...
That's because your day job audience is a judge. And if that guy/gal doesn't like your act, he/she can throw you in jail. The worst magic hecklers are cake compared to that.
I've always followed Darwin Ortiz's advice, "First get them on your side, make them like you" so I open with something that is A. Easy from a technical standpoint, nothing to screw up and B. Non-controversially funny.
I've always liked the opener that Colombini used to do in his parlor act. Where he would ask for someone to name any card, he takes a card out of his pocket, its the wrong card, he says, "Wrong again." shakes his head wearily tears up the card and tosses it into a bag full of torn up cards. That is a great example of a no risk ice breaker. If he is right then he comes off looking amazing and if he is wrong he has a pretty good gag that not only gets a laugh but humanizes him in the eyes of his audience.