How do you practice?

[JoeBee]

Very interesting thread. One thing I would add to this is the value that a video camera can add. Often I would practice something to my heart's content, and start performing it for spectators thereafter. Weeks would go by, months would go by, and then I would see a video of myself performing it - either a taped performance or a television spot. And holy moly - I would shudder!

Often the way we sound, the way we talk, the way we move looks different than we think. Just like when you hear yourself talk in your own voicemail message, what we see and what others see can be hugely different! Early on, I made an effort to perform everything on video at least a few times to make sure that the way I was moving and speaking and presenting matched up with how I intended it to be. A video camera helps a lot in that pursuit.

Well said. I always find myself appearing very awkward when first performing in front of the mirror.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

saborfang17 - Think of it like weight training. If you want to develop your chest, you do bench presses. But if you do them until you're exhausted on Monday, then go back and do it again on Tuesday, and Wednesday, so on so forth, you won't grow much muscle. You'll just tear up what you already have and possibly injure yourself. Same thing with your brain. If you do a move 8 or 10 hours a day (which I have heard of), you're not going to learn it any faster than if you do it maybe an hour or half an hour then stop, and in fact you might slow yourself down.

I'm not saying that you're guaranteed to improve no matter what as long as you don't over work the brain, but you're more likely to improve if you practice intelligently. That means you work on something for a while, then you set it aside and work on something else. The brain does a lot of processing in the background that you don't even know about.

A couple fun facts, as well. A short nap will improve retention of information. Meaning if you practice for a while, then rest or sleep for about an hour, you're going to process the information and store it more efficiently than if you stay up and keep busy.

Also, people can learn physical skills just by imagining doing them. Meaning if you think about what you're doing with the sleight, and just visualize the movements of your hands or whatever (without anything actually in your hands) your brain doesn't know the difference that well. You can improve your skill just by doing that. You still need to practice, of course, but it helps a lot.

Lastly, remember that a second nature habit is very difficult to break. It takes 10,000 hours to make something second nature, but it takes 20,000 hours to break that habit.

JB - Videoing myself has helped me so much. For me, though, it was the opposite. A lot of times I think I'm terrible at a sleight and I'm not improving at all. Then I record it and realize that I'm actually doing pretty well and it gives me confidence. Nothing quite gives the spectator POV like a camera.

Unfortunately I no longer have access to one, so I haven't been able to record any of my actual performances for review.

 

[Cedric Taylor]

Hello everyone!

Im going through a phase with a lot of practicing of sleights and routines and doing some fine tuning and refinements. I would like to hear, how do you practice?

I was reading through Michael Close book Closley guarded secrets and his advice if you want to become really good at what your doing is, Focus and only practice what you use. What do you think about that? Most magicians seems to be practicing everything just for the sake of it.

Whats your thoughts?

I practice in a mirror and with shadows on a wall....

I would practice one effect for like two weeks to two months...until i can't get it wrong...

then i also practice without the use of a mirror as well....just getting mechanics down...

when i get the core down..i take the parts i want to use and add it or change it to fit my persona....

its a process that can take anywhere from a week to sometimes years depending on how much you want to change the effect....

 

[Sir FansAlot]

Very interesting thread. One thing I would add to this is the value that a video camera can add. Often I would practice something to my heart's content, and start performing it for spectators thereafter. Weeks would go by, months would go by, and then I would see a video of myself performing it - either a taped performance or a television spot. And holy moly - I would shudder!

Why don't you just take those videos and THROW them out the window. You don't like them, so BASH them with a hammer.

Peace.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Because they're a valuable learning tool.

 

[Sir FansAlot]

Because they're a valuable learning tool.

So is letting them go.