May 08 :: Practice

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Sep 1, 2007
409
1
California
I usually go over the routine/ sleight in the book (dvd, Booklet, what ever floats your boat)

I go over it until I can do the routine in my mind, just to make sure I didn't read anything wrong or learn a sleight wrong.

After that I break down the routine into sections.

Than I practice each sleight untill perfect.

After I add the patter. I take into considering the books patter and sort of mold my own out of it.

Than perform to friends. Than perfect it until I could be able to perform to a celeb without messing up.

Usualy takes about a week, or month depending on how long the routine, or trick is.
 
Dec 15, 2007
33
0
Hawaii
let see.. I dont practice in front of a mirror too much I just keep doing the sleight over and over again until I have that muscle memory down then go for speed the i look at the mirror to see what are my bad angles.I practice until my fingers are about to be painfully dreaded. I practice my palming until I bleed..especially the Harada Hold..But in the end, it pays off BIG time. Your only as good as how much you practice...The hardest i have on practicing right now is Hellstronism..(muscle reading)..anyways.Practice hard and when you have the time too.
 
What I've found to be extremely effective is to practise the effect about 30 times or until you feel it can't get better.
The I feel myself practising it, then I film myself performing it to people.
If the performance I do to people looks even slightly worse than the practising, I'll go and beat my head against the wall until I finally realise that I shouldn't have performed it, then I'll practise more, and repeat the filming.
Patter is important, but I generally don't practise patter, because I like to keep my performances 'in the moment' so I can be myself and not follow a set script. Exceptions to this do apply to tricks like Triumph, where there is a story to go with it.

PS. I typed this in about a minute and I don't know how, but my fingers hurt nevertheless. Try this practising out and you'll be hooked.

Josh T :)
 
Sep 15, 2007
86
0
I take about two hours a day and go through slights and routines several times.
After this I might hit the books to learn a new effect. to learn a new effect or sleight I study it by reading through it twice.....then grab my materials and read and work til I have the effect memorized. Then practice the routine for several days and add it to my practicing routine.
I utilize a mirror or a friend for critique on a new routine before performing it for laymen. My friend and I also exchange ideas at this time to improve the effect if possible.
Easy and fun is always what practice should be.
Snorri
 
Nov 17, 2007
20
0
practice

wat i do is learn the move then practice it until im happy. then do it for my dad. if he tells me theres something wrong i watch where he said to in the mrror den do it for him again. i eventually do it for my mom and pretty much always mees it up infront of her(its like a mental block) den practice more until im happy
 
Sep 1, 2007
312
0
As a preference, I don't practice patter unless I am preparing for a big performance.

I make up patter on the spot, which probably explains why I really don't go in for story tricks.
 
May 11, 2008
2
0
I always heard from when i started magic about three years ago that practice is the key which is true in some sense but i have also learned that my best experiences and times when i learned about myself and my magic has come from performance. when i get a new effect i watch the dvd/read the effect in a book all the way through and get the basic handling and jist of the method down, then i go through it again step by step and begin to work throught the handling as i go. After i have the basic handling down i practice for a little bit watching the specific sleights or whatever needs to go in the effect. i may work on it in front of the mirror or record it but normally i dont. After i have a basic understanding of the effect and have the handling to where i feel comfortable on performing i go out and perform. Performance is where i learn the most and each time i perform the effect gets better and i learn from each performance. at first i perform for my dad( a fellow magician) or other people that i consier a "magic friend" a person you can practice for and not worry about anything. after that i go and perform for anyone who wants to see magic. I used to practice an effect in the mirrors for hours and hours and would end up not performing it because i didnt think it was good enough or because i would always catch something but then i realized i know what to look for, and i would never end up performing it. eventually i just started to perform and learn as i go and it has worked pretty well. practice is important but not at the expense of performing magic
 
May 10, 2008
156
1
*First, I picture myself doing the effect. How do I do it, what do I say?
*Second, I come up with the routine and patter for the effect, also thinking about how to explain the effect (Magic, Coincidence, Special Powers from birth?)
*Then, I practice the patter in front of a mirror, making sure it makes sense (trust me most of the time it doesn't!), then practicing the entire effect.
*After a while, when i feel confident I can work the effect, I turn to my 4 year old baby sister, just to work out the kinks presentation wise.
*Next, I go to my other sister (12) and do the effect to see how a (semi) intelligent audience reacts to the effect.
*Lastly, when all is said and done, I perform to the kids at my high school
 
Sep 1, 2007
457
0
San Diego
i "blaine" once i think i have a trick down pat
i go up to random people and show it to them, then tweak it from there, i get real feedback instantly. i have all the sleights and patter down, but if i mess up, im never going to see them again.

after i tweak it, i go back to the whole blaining thing
 
Oct 30, 2007
239
4
32
Slovenia,Ljubljana
i actually practice as wayne does.....because when i purchased the Indecent DVD he told some history about this effect and also mentioned that he practice in front of a mirror and than make a video performance...after that i always practice in front of a mirror...then if i have a chance i use a video camera....afterwards there is live performance with the same thing as wayne does.....i know it's weird but that is the way it is.
 
May 27, 2008
32
0
WV
www.sinimagic.com
1. I study the effect/trick. I watch the DVD or read thru the trick many times watching the performance to make sure I don't miss a thing.
2. I practice the movements or fundamentals of the trick.
3. I practice the trick in front of the mirror watching my every move. Depending on the difficulty I may do this for hours or days. (Obviously, not all at one time.)
4. I figure out my patter/script and add that into my practice.
5. I video myself doing the patter/script and the effect.
6. I try it out in front of a group or my friends or family.
7. I take the feedback I recieve from them to tweak it or make changes.
8. I perform it for others.
9. Repeat steps 7 and 8.
 
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Sep 1, 2007
1,699
1
34
A thread in General Magic Discussion got me thinking (yes, I do that sometimes, but I try to avoid it), what the hell are we practicing for?

Yeah, we need to do our sleights the right way, yeah we need to make those flourishes look silky smooth, but there is only so much we can do in front of a mirror or camera.

I know I must have brought this up at lest sixty-three times before (sixty-four now), but what about the performance? It seems so much that young magicians are practicing only to show people via web cam on youtube. What do we actually gain as performers? I can really only recall two people doing solo performances with patter; Jordan Lapping and Michal Kras (doing Helter Skelter in the T11 media section).

I enjoyed those performances much more than, say Miika Pelkonen's solo performances. I mean, no offense, the guy is a card-freakin-sharp. He can do stuff with cards that make Cardini break dance in his grave. And he has a presence that is evident in the Talent Competition video. I mean, Kudos to him, he actually performs for real people! But my point is that no matter how good he is, the videos where it's just his hands and the Pan's Labyrinth score aren't as engaging as someone actually talking to us.

And I know that Lapping and Kras are probably out doing magic for real people because I can see that they put the effort into the patter, to actually engaging with an audience (an boy, will I be embarrassed if I'm wrong, but I don't think I am).

Hell, I generally rate most of the vids in the media section where there are real people five out of five, just because the performer is actually performing. Even if I'm not necessarily a huge fan of the magic.

So what the hell am I talking about? That at some point, there is only so much that practice can do for us. Becoming a better performer requires some guts. Being a better artist calls for balls. To get good at magic you need to go out and do some damn magic.

Be cool.
 
Jun 2, 2008
38
0
antioch Ca U.S.A
I have a kind of a weird way to practice but it suits me fine.

1. I learn the fingering,slights,ect.
2. I then practice the trick in the mirror till perfect in my eyes.
3. Then I practice in front of a video camera.
4. Then I show my mom and see if it needs any last polishing.
5. Then I hit the streets with my new magic trick.

You can copy my schedule if you want, but I would use your own schedule
something that will work for you.
 
I sit in my bedroom, doing the exact same thing, over and over. Then I go to a mirror and do it. Then I go back to the bedroom, ect. Then I show my parents, then my friends, my teacher (loves my magic), then I go back to the bedroom, and restart the bedroom-to-mirror process again, then I'm done.
 
How I practice.

I will take myself to somewhere where I know that I wont be distracted. The other day I went to the library, and sat down with my close up pad and a couple decks and props, and lost track of time. I ended up sitting for two hours just messing with some of my stuff. Another thing, is to just let the magic flow. I tend to work better if I have something that I know I need to work on, and from there just pick up something else and mess for awhile. After that, go to something else. I would say at least work on three tricks in one sitting. If you just plaster on one trick for your practice time, it really does not give you any diversity, and you wont be very versatile.

Practice is really something that I am working on, after you got the props, comes the practice!

~Dark~
 
Jun 27, 2008
5
0
I'm going to take a different approach from the others here and expect that you want to know how to practice on people who couldn't care less if you're awesome or if you're terrible. "Blaining," IMO, is the best way to do this, because if the specs are astonished, then more people will want to see, and if they don't like it, it's quite obvious. You walk up to strangers on the street, briefly introduce yourself, then show them your trick. If they don't like it, you could even ask them for input! Hope this helps.
 
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