I am starting to believe...

[StevenLevitt]

I was thinking, about 90% on average of people I perform magic to, has never seen a magician live before.

So, who ever I perform to, I am actually showing them what magic is, I am giving them a decision if they like magic or not. I am giving them a chance to believe, and recently I have been working on my patter a lot in order to making my magic more magical.

It seems to hit really hard, I was at a party, and I changed my way of thinking as I kept thinking that no one has ever seen me before (apart from my friends that were there) but not all of them have seen me perform.

So out of the 100+ who were there, I wanted to change my audiences perceptive, instead of just entertaining, I wanted them to be involved, experience the fire, the levitation, the vanishing all of the effects I use for my routines. I managed to get a group of 4 scream very loud with a big reaction, which then they grabbed their friends, and it felt like a chain reaction as they believed in what I was doing, and the next minute I was performing to almost everyone at the same time which a huge atmosphere.

So if 90% have not seen a magician, and the 10% are my friends, then it goes to show, that a nobody can just break the ice, entertain, give everyone in the one room a chance to believe, experience, enjoy and love magic.

Sorry if none of this makes sense, but I have changed my whole view of performing, which I learnt from my lecturer, and it sure does work.

 

[Ben Long]

Interesting observation. That's a lot of power in our hands.

 

[JMNix]

That is exactly why I got into this myself. I love the flourishes and how a deck of cards feel in my hands, but for me it all comes down to the amazing reactions to such seemingly simple tricks (to us who study them).

You are so right. Most people, even with the huge amount of knowledge about the art that is readily available, choose to remain ignorant to it, or don't take the time to look into it. So when we do a simple trick, with some good presentation, and we "believe" in the magic we are doing, it IS powerful.

lol... the first effect I did for someone was just a simple force (not even a well performed one too) and some decent timing and my friend flipped out! I was hooked from then on.

Sounds like you had a great time at that party and everyone else had an even better time because of you!

 

[cm763]

It's funny that you mention this today...my brother was talking to me about the exact same thing. He was performing at a dinner and show type of thing today, and that was one of the biggest things he mentioned, how amazed people were (most having never seen live magic before then). Well, he normally does magic, but he decided to get into mentalism, and it is hitting audiences HARD. I've seen him perform live, and I've seen some clips of shows I haven't been to, and the most amazing thing is the audience reactions--they're ridiculous. I thought the people I perform for on my campus gave crazy reactions--the people at those shows...well...it's just beyond amazing. Today, the whole room lit up with amazement. He was the opening act this year, but for the event next year they've asked him to headline, they enjoyed him (and the magic/mentalism he performs) that much.

Hearing stories like that is amazing to someone like me, who hopes to perform for such large audiences soon. While the restaurant is a fun place to perform, I'd love to try my hand at performing on stage for a room full of people, introducing many of them to the art form that I love so much!

 

[jok3r]

That is exactly why I got into this myself. I love the flourishes and how a deck of cards feel in my hands, but for me it all comes down to the amazing reactions to such seemingly simple tricks (to us who study them).

You are so right. Most people, even with the huge amount of knowledge about the art that is readily available, choose to remain ignorant to it, or don't take the time to look into it. So when we do a simple trick, with some good presentation, and we "believe" in the magic we are doing, it IS powerful.

lol... the first effect I did for someone was just a simple force (not even a well performed one too) and some decent timing and my friend flipped out! I was hooked from then on.

Sounds like you had a great time at that party and everyone else had an even better time because of you!

thats exactly why i got into magic too.

i like to think of it as,

showing people a world with out boundaries, of limitations, where anything is possible.

 

[StevenLevitt]

Sounds like you had a great time at that party and everyone else had an even better time because of you!

Thanks dude!

 

[William Draven]

You are absolutely right. Most people's exposure to magic is limited to "uncle Bob's coin trick" or what they see on TV.

The minute you do something crazy for them however simple it is for us, (say ambitious) it can result in a life changing experience!

I agree that it is a lot of power and responsibility, which is why I study all that much harder. I don't want to perform a puzzle, or a trick. When I perform I want it to be an extrodenary moment every time.