Getting Started

[Rhys]

Hey Guys,

This is my first post here, so I'd just like to say hi. I know a couple of guys that post here and thought I would join up. Plus I had a pack of Gaurdians given to me by a good mate and reckon they are awesome so had to check out the site. FYI I'm 26, and llive in Brisbane Australia, if you know anyone else from around this area please let me know.

I have been into magic for about 3.5years now and am quite confident in what I know. I would say at the moment my biggest weakness is crowd control, this stems from lack of performing. I dont really want to start performing for people I dont know until I can control the crowd well enough, but my friends and family are impossible to control since they just want to bust you so badly they will turn over every card handed to them face down. Ask to shuffle the deck before during and after every trick and basically do the opposite of everything you ask them to do.

My question to every one is, how did you start performing properly?
Please if you are 10 and are going to tell me you perform every day for kids at school, I dont want to hear it. I could go post on E if I wanted that.

Thanks for the help guys. Hope to see you all around soon.

Rhys

P.S. Im looking for a new home since loosing faith in E. I hate that I can't post with out having to spend an hour trying to find it again because of all the **** new topics. The moderators try to keep up but they just dont seem to be able to get rid of the thousand post a day on "which pass should I use?" or "which should I buy Ninja or Xtreme Beginers?".

 

[Antney1234]

Well i dont always preform properly.You will always get some spectators that you can't control properly.I just practise the trick alot untill i get it perfectly correct which takes awhile.I practise on my little sister because she likes to see my magic and she tells me if i flashed or not.Then i go practise more.Just practise and practise with people you know.I would buy some crowd control books.I have Read Between the Lines by Gazzo.Some of the lines are ok but some are just really rude.I said a rude line to my cousin and she got really afended and mad.I hope this helped

Take Care

Cheers,


Antney1234

 

[hawk7]

P.S. Im looking for a new home since loosing faith in E. I hate that I can't post with out having to spend an hour trying to find it again because of all the **** new topics.

although i can't help you with your performing issues, i have a tip with that finding of topics: just bookmark them! it's not that hard, and you can keep track of your and other interesting topics.

 

[Christo]

Hi Rhys,
and welcome.

As it has already been said, you WILL occassionally get a tough spectator or two in your audience, but this is the norm.

My advice to you is when you get a dodgy spec, simply be polite and tell them to go away as others want to be entertained even if they don't. Or....politely refuse to perform if they are not going to behave.

As for your friends and family......just don't perform for them!!

I had a very close friend who would insist on shouting things like, "I know how to do that" and, "You must have two three of clubs" etc. I would just stop performing and the rest of the specs would automatically take care of him. Needless to say, he is not a friend anymore

Also, Gazzos "Between the Lines" is an excellent source of humorous put downs.

Good luck

Christo

 

[darosa.justin]

Hey,

Sorry that im only 15 and i still go to school, but I truly hope I can help you. When I first started magic, I learnt several tricks but i was not good at any one of them. I pracised on my parents and brother, everyday with a new trick. I practised in front of them because I wasn't afraid of screwing up, and even if i flashed or screwed up, i wouldnt be embarrassed.
After a about 6 months, i started to perform in school for a video me and my magic buddies made. This was where I started performing to the 'general public'. After performing alot I gained alot in confidence, gradually I also found out how to manage the audience (i havent read any books on that subject).

I took about a yaer's break from magic, and i returned this summer. Now, i 'master' about 5 card tricks, and a simple sponge ball routine (few coin stuff too). I perform as much as i can to school friends, or strangers. Im no expert in audience control, but i try to do it the best i can.

Key point I would suggest:
Perform As Much As you Can. After 3 years of magic, you should be really good at a few selected tricks, which you can perform well.

If you perform enough, you'll lose the butterflies in your stomach when you perform, and you'll also naturally learn how to manage the audience.

 

[Electron John]

Hi Rhys and welcome. I would suggest making sure you know a couple of tricks that are very hard if not impossible for the spectator to screw up on you. Tricks that let them shuffle the deck before you start and do not require them to hold a card and not turn it over like Two Card Monty. That is a great trick if your spectator is a normal human but if he/she is a problem child, and you know it, then pick a different trick. I use Magicians Apprentice as my fall back trick (found in Paul Zenon's book "Street Magic: Great Tricks and Close-Up Secrets Revealed").

Anyway the point is pick your tricks depending on who your spectators are. Once you get them to trust you (i.e. you have let them shuffle the deck five times in a row before each trick) they should start to get the idea that shuffling does not screw you up and not bother with it anymore.

And of course the other thing is that you do not have to do card tricks . I know that is a hard thing for many of us to hear. But if you switch to another form of magic like coins, ropes, bubble gum (Wrap it Up), etc. it will make it harder for your spectators to figure out what to do to screw you up. When you show them a chewed up piece of gum you just took from your mouth are they really going to ask to touch it? They certainly will not want to shuffle it.

And if your spectators are really bad then as Christo said just do not perform for them. I know it is very hard to hold back and not perform a great trick you are excited but it is an important skill to learn. I often will do a small trick for someone and judge from their reaction if they are interested in more or not. If I do not think they are really interested then I drop it and talk about something else or walk away.

If you are talking about doing magic shows then you do not really have the option to stop and walk away. There are a number of books out there that cover crowd control as Antney noted. I have never read one so I can not comment on them.

Good luck.