Magic in Public

[Nino]

Hey,

I have been doing magic for about a month already and mostly perform for friends or family. I just scare them and in did a couple of tricks for my cousin and he said i was the devil and was really scare. So I think i should step it up and perform for complete strangers. Any help on how I should approach them or how I should do my trick. Any help will be helpful

 

[Jack Webster]

Well practice a lot more, you might think your really good but people on the street are mean.

 

[jake the snake magic]

lol agreed with jack. Its 5 times harder goin out on the street considering you don't know what type of spectators you are going to run into. But the best way to start performing on the street is just to go out there once and give it a try. If you don't like it well actually.. the first time might be a little rough. I remember being rejected left and right. But if you keep going out there, you get more and more known and noticable. I also have learned that it actually advances ur social skills.

-Jake

 

[RDChopper]

Hey man, im glad that you want to perform, if there is something im sure it can help you a bit is this

http://forums.theory11.com/showthread.php?t=18909

Yeah, I know that I mention that thread a lot

 

[visualartist]

Well should we just assume that what you want to perform is "street magic"?
Many other forms of performing are for complete strangers so tell us what/how youd like to perform and itd be easier to help you..





(I pray he doesnt not say "well im just a card guy.."...jesus..)

 

[Nino]

Well should we just assume that what you want to perform is "street magic"?
Many other forms of performing are for complete strangers so tell us what/how youd like to perform and itd be easier to help you..





(I pray he doesnt not say "well im just a card guy.."...jesus..)

Sorry i am a card guy but in the future looking into coin magic and general magic. Yeah i am a beginner

 

[visualartist]

Sorry i am a card guy but in the future looking into coin magic and general magic. Yeah i am a beginner

Actually I had missed the part of being only one month into it.
Beginning magic,cards are the easiest and cheapest magic to go to because the info is readily available.
But if I were you id check into a few magic shops and by some utilities(thumb tip,loops,etc) to get well rounded soon. On the street,people just dont really want to see card tricks back to back.
Now.most people will tell you to go out perform and eventually you'll get over being nervous and not mess up the tricks,blah blah blah.
I respectfully advise against that because why look like a fool doing magic if theres a way to go around that pit hole?
I recommend you go up to random strangers(young,middle aged and old) at lounge type stores/places and spark conversations with people. Just nonchalantly,and over time doing that,you will learn how to approach people and get them interested in what you have to say.
Watch everything that they do(body language,eyes..) to know if you are approaching them the right way,and all those subtleties that are crucial to performing for strangers.
So when you step out and actually perform,your one up of everyone who starts performing and dont know how the hell to talk to a person.You wont have to go through the stuttering,lack of eye contact when performing like so many do.

 

[That_Magican_Girl_Misty]

I would suggest practicing and making sure that you have not only the effect down but also your presentation down. Don't act like a lifeless robot, have some personallity.
Also, try not to let the pressure get to you. The very first time I went out to perform for strangers on the street, I was performing my version French Kiss by Wayne Houchin(this is before AOM came out) and I TOTALLY messed up and bombed.

So make sure you know what you're doing and act natrual, and of course HAVE FUN!

 

[MaGiK Man]

It helps to ask the right people too haha i learned this the hard way. Go to a place like the Mall or store outlets...at outlets i find a lot of gentlemen waiting on benches for their wives/family to get out of the store, and they have nothing better to do and usually say yes. And as said before Practice!!! Hope this helps!!


~Nate

 

[Ampersan5340]

I would think that you wanted to ease into performing for strangers.

You could shows a couple of tricks at school or wherever you work. After that is done I ask for criticism, comments, or tips.

I really don't perform in public. i usually flourish in public then people might come up and ask me. After getting over your fears of people you can go up and ask people you want to perform for, "Excuse,, can I show you something I've been practicing?"

Or

"Excuse me, my friends and I are filming a video on psychology, could you help us out?"

whatever you can come up with

 

[Guardian452]

......Or you can go up to them and say "pick a card" and perform for them. Don't ask them to do anything- the answer, 95 % of the time, will be no.

Tell them to pick a card or to help you out with a trick. Buy Jimmy Talksalot's book, "To Lure with Spectacle"

 

[RDChopper]

......Or you can go up to them and say "pick a card" and perform for them. Don't ask them to do anything- the answer, 95 % of the time, will be no.

Tell them to pick a card or to help you out with a trick. Buy Jimmy Talksalot's book, "To Lure with Spectacle"

= Doing card tricks.


Sorry but that approach has nothing to do with performing, dont confuse both please.

 

[visualartist]

......Or you can go up to them and say "pick a card" and perform for them. Don't ask them to do anything- the answer, 95 % of the time, will be no.

Tell them to pick a card or to help you out with a trick. Buy Jimmy Talksalot's book, "To Lure with Spectacle"

And what if we dont want to constantly perform a card trick for everyone?
What would the approach be then?

 

[TeeDee]

My approach is to walk up to my prospective audience with a friendly smile on my face and say, "Hi, has anyone shown you any magic yet today?" This usually elicits a bit of a bemused "No", to which I carry on, "That's no problem, I'll show you something right now if you want...I'm Tom by the way, what's your name?", and I go in for a handshake. The net result of this is that they end up shaking your hand which is, essentially, tacit agreement that they want to see some magic. It's about taking control of the situation straight away, establishing rapport and getting on with the job in hand, rather than coming across either as asking their permission, which puts them in charge of the performance, which you don't want, or forcing magic upon them, which again makes for a bad performance.

 

[Steerpike]

I respectfully advise against that because why look like a fool doing magic if theres a way to go around that pit hole?

There is no way to get around it. You can read and practice all you want, but your first performances are going to suck. You learn from them. That's the way it goes.

 

[magicdude44]

People on the street are mean. An old lady gave me and my friends the finger today when we asked her if she wanted to see a cool magic trick!
Anyway, just practice your trick alot and then be confident and friendly. Also, if someone says they don't want to see a trick or is mean to you, don't let it get you down.

 

[James Smith]

People on the street are mean. An old lady gave me and my friends the finger today when we asked her if she wanted to see a cool magic trick!
Anyway, just practice your trick alot and then be confident and friendly. Also, if someone says they don't want to see a trick or is mean to you, don't let it get you down.

Saying, "Do you wanna see a cool magic trick?" is probably not the best way to approach someone.

"Hi, I'm out here performing some magic, would you like to help me with something (or, "can I show you some things.") Ok thanks, what's your name? Alright my name's David. I have..."

Something like that. Always be polite and never say, "Do you want to see a magic trick?"

 

[Toby]

There is no way to get around it. You can read and practice all you want, but your first performances are going to suck. You learn from them. That's the way it goes.

Exactly. I spent almost year and a half, locked up in my room, practicing every single day. I got all of the sleights down (beginner sleights thou), and could do them with my eyes pointed to the sky (it's a lot harder then when you close them). Anyways, I got moves down, I got patter down (I didn't perfect my patter, but it was good enough), and then I thought I was ready. I told to myself "you practiced 15 months every day, so that you can do magic better than those who go out as soon as they get the moves down, blah blah blah". Boy, was I wrong.... I rushed through the patter, my hands were shaking, I couldn't do a simple double undercut. I could do a classic pass really well at home, but while performing, I couldn't do a double undercut....

Long story short, your first performances are going to suck, and you will learn a lot from them.

 

[ajp500]

Ummm.

One month into magic and only does card magic?

Don't be in a rush, spend anther 11 months learning more then cards and pratcing and see where your at. Then when you look back you will laugh and think of how much progress you made.

 

[Steerpike]

Don't be in a rush, spend anther 11 months

Cutting you off right there.

Christ, no wonder it's so ****ing hard to get these kids to perform. Even I'm not this much of neurotic perfectionist.