Never doing magic again.

Jun 28, 2013
30
0
So I'm in love with magic, I would perform everyday. Except 10 minutes ago I got caught. I was doing filter by Rick lax, and 2 people caught me, at a 7 people table.and she revealed it, they didn't believe it. So I did another method and she thought ok never mind. But my sister next to me saw it and only whispered to me what happened. I love doing magic but i don't want to get caught and I'm so scared of getting caught I just shake before I perform. And after what happened I don't think I'm doing magic ever again. Also they ask for the impossible like show is this before you do this.
 
Sep 1, 2007
3,786
15
Even monkeys fall out of trees, dude. You get caught now and again. It happens. Just comes with the territory. You're really making a bigger deal of this than it needs to be.
 
Jul 22, 2013
222
1
California
Before you perform, I would practice. Practice A LOT. In front of a mirror, or even with a camera placed at odd angles so you can be sure you have the trick down. Also, I'd learn some of those 'impossible' tricks just to quiet down yiur audience. Don't quit because of one bad performance. Just keep practicing and don't let anyone see you practicing, because you may mess up and your family will see your methods. I also messed up on the first ever performance of a trick I designed. I got lazy and held the cards so that they could see EVERYTHING. ugh. Haha but I laughed it off and practiced as I walked home.
 

j.bayme

ceo / theory11
Team member
Jul 23, 2007
2,848
352
New York City
I could tell you that situation was an anomaly - that it will never happen again. But honestly, that wouldn't be true. The reality is that situations like that are part of the action, and the nature of the beast. With magic, and entertainment by any means, there will always be a certain subsect of people that aren't interested, aren't enthusiastic, or otherwise just aren't a good audience.

It happens, and it will happen again. Whether you're John Smith or David Copperfield, even the best performance will result in some people NOT liking it. Simply put, you can't please everybody. Even the best Hollywood movies - with flawless critical reviews and 98% on Rotten Tomatoes - will result in some people leaving the movie theater saying "that sucked - I hated it!"

But here's the good news: that's okay! It's okay not to please everybody. It's okay that some people may not like your performance, your routine, or even your whole show. It's okay that some of your performances get better reactions than others. Your goal as a performer, and as a human being in general, is to please as many people as possible - and make people happy. But the reality is that goal - 100% success rate - is unattainable. David Copperfield makes a car appear on stage five feet away from the audience's face, and while 99.9% of the audience is SHOCKED in complete astonishment, there are a small minority of people, every night, that don't react at all.

Why? It could be a number of factors. With yourself, with Copperfield, or with any great movie, many things can affect how we respond to different situations. If I'm in a bad mood, or I'm exhausted, my response to a magic trick isn't going to be that spectacular, either. If I'm stressed out, or I'm thinking about something else, I'm likely predisposed NOT to be a good audience of any sort at that particular moment. Instead of entering the performance as a neutral observer, I would be entering the performance already at a negative, like -15% happiness level - so the performer would have to move the needle 15% just to get me to zero.

That is not to say that we, as performers, can't do something about it. After any performance, it's good to reflect and think about what you could have, perhaps, done differently or better. Copperfield watches every single show on his iPad when testing new illusions - we can always improve. We can always do better. In this case, what could you have done differently that may have affected the outcome? Perhaps nothing, but the answer may also be involving all of the audience more, so those two "tough spectators" were engaged and more on your side. It could be learning and thinking about what they did see; what may have tipped the method to them? What could you as a performer do to prevent that next time?

All of these things are food for thought, and good things to keep in mind. But NONE of these things should stop you from performing more, and more often. Use this experience as fuel to inspire you to do better - to learn from this situation and turn a negative into a positive. In the process, with each performance, you'll find yourself getting better and better. Your confidence level will rise. You will speak more eloquently. You will no longer be overcome with nerves. And most importantly, you'll begin having more and more fun. In the end, that's what it's all about. If you're having fun, your audience will too.
 

venom546

Elite Member
Mar 11, 2013
121
5
When I get caught or someone knows the trick and knows how to do it already, I do tense up and get really nervous because I feel that the person or people I am performing to thinks i am a bad magician. I also know that this is all in my head and in reality they don't think that way. But I just move on. If you mess up, then you mess up. Move on. Learn from your mistakes.
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
2,945
There are only two types of magicians who have never bombed. Those who have not performed enough to bomb in front of an audience, and liars.

Everyone who performs regularly has a bad performance sometimes. It happens. Pick yourself up, dust off your ego, learn from the experience. I think in my case, bombing is actually what drove me to become good at what I do. I thought it was super easy to do magic, I failed hard core, I said to myself, "Well *bleep*, guess I have to work harder at this. What went wrong here?"

Don't let yourself get hung up on your mistakes. There's no benefit to that. Learn from them and let them go. Take every performance and see what you did wrong and what you did right. Do what you did right more, and do what you did wrong less. This is a continual process that everyone has to do in order to gain any real skill.

I know I'm just saying what they've already said in different words, but sometimes it helps to hear a bunch of people say something.

We've all bombed. We will all bomb again. It's just not that big a deal.

Practice, rehearse, practice more, rehearse more. Make sure you can do every move without thinking, make sure you engage your audience and interest them before you even start with the magic.

Good luck.
 
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Andrei

Elite Member
Sep 2, 2007
439
24
35
Las Vegas
www.youtube.com
I can relate! This happens in cardistry probably more than anything. I've been doing this for 11+ years and I still get rotten days where my hands are rubber. I've had days where I would drop cards on the simplest of flourishes, ones I've been doing nearly a decade. There have also been days where no matter how great I thought I did my routines, people haven't reacted or said much at all or even worse, asked me to do magic! *gasp* Just kidding, that's never happened - but seriously...

Do I let that get to me? Sometimes. We're human beings, not robots, we'll always react to those kinds of moments. Inevitably we'll all come across those kinds of days but that's a good thing. Mistakes are experiences and experiences teach us to be better. Learn from it, take a step to the side, and keep climbing that mountain - one step at a time.

PS: When I drop cards, some people become shocked "Oh no! I can't believe he dropped a card" - so I just make a joke out of it, or better - a flourish to recover. I think the same applies to magic. Don't make it a big deal, and no one else will either. Have fun with it. Don't take yourself too seriously and you'll find the audience will more often be on your side.
 
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In my experience the people that try to catch you out are the ones that don't like that you are in control and have the power. For these kinds of people, I let them do the magic. Learn a few tricks that happen completely in the spectator's hands or that they do a lot of the work. It makes them feel in control, but you still seem magical and the other people around are still entertained.
 

5UB

Jul 28, 2013
4
0
Opinions. People like and dislike. Just because someone dislikes you or your performance, it does not mean you are not good. However, you could maybe ask for feedback which could be something you could work on. But there are some people out there that simply do not "like" magic, however saying that I performed to someone who didn't like magic, I offered her one chance, and at the end of it, she smiled and asked to see some more.

Humans are strange, it is all about emotions, if you have made a mistake, who cares, carry on and practice and be the best you can possibly be.

Good luck, and carry on!
 
Sep 9, 2011
45
0
CA
You can ask any successful magician for horror stories and I'm sure they will have plenty. It happens to everyone and it's honestly the only way to get good.

I've been caught countless times and after right after, I feel just about the same as you did. It's a sucky feeling and I totally relate. I like to think of my next gig always being better than the last and I work hard to make that happen. But, sometimes stuff just goes wrong. The great thing about messing up is that it makes you want to get better. I want to encourage you to keep trying, keep performing, and keep the magic alive.
 
Dec 18, 2007
1,610
14
64
Northampton, MA - USA
I remember a story about Harry Blackstone doing the Floating Light Bulb, one of the key signature pieces of his and the thread broke. Harry's response was "Hey folks, it is a trick after all. . . "

Magic WILL fail and you WILL get caught out whether you're doing close-up or big stage. I've had people sitting in balconies looking down and see how some very expensive big illusions worked, such has been the bain of big stage shows since the start of time it would seem, it's one of the reasons so much of major magick is built atop a big base now days; which in itself becomes the source of exposure, today's laity being wise to said method, just as many are a Thumb Tip, sleeving techniques, et al. So stop sweating the little stuff! Take a step back and learn your angles with each effect you like doing. Learn how to better "read" your audience so you can better block the would be troublemakers . . . and I should point out that patrons management is a very important part of the job.

You've just been shaken a bit, it's not the end of the world!
 

c.t

Apr 17, 2013
125
0
Australia
If you get caught turn it into a joke and say something like "now thats how not to do it because u get caught" or something stupid like that
 
Dec 19, 2009
25
0
Dude, don't let that get you down. My first time performing, first guy I performed to with roughly 10 people watching, over drunk guy, kept heckling, telling me I did it wrong, but I hadn't done it wrong, he was just being a douche. Just try to play it cool, in magic you will NEVER go without being heckled and or someone figuring out your tricks. It happens.

To add to this cause the guy was hammered he kept saying I'm a **** magician and he could do better, that I absolutely suck. I then just went and performed for other people.

He was someone my dad knew, the next day he rung my dad up and apologized for how he was and he felt **** about it, he would of said it to my face but I don't go to my dads that often.
 
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Aug 2, 2008
496
0
Cincinnati
As said above, we've all been there. My suggestion would be to go back to the drawing board and figure out what went wrong. Practice a bunch. Then try some stuff out for your parents or close friends. One on one. Hopefully by then, you'll gain enough confidence to feel comfortable performing for multiple people and/or groups. You're not alone my friend!
 

morpheis91

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2007
199
4
Philadelphia
www.myspace.com
The show must go on

People get caught/mess-up all the time. How you handle mistakes is what can separate you from the pack.
Read this article Hopefully it will make you think about things differently.

http://owningthestage.com/taxonomy/term/137

Personally, I like mistakes in a weird way. They give you valuable feedback that you can use to make your performances better in the future. You must remember that not everyone will speak-up about catching a mistake, most people are actually polite. I am sure you have probably flashed a few times and people just haven't spoken up about it.

Its been over a decade that I have been performing magic and it has happened. You just have to keep it moving and don't let-on. People will always say "I saw what you did" even when there was nothing to see, I just laugh and say "You have a good eye" or "I saw that too! Pretty cool huh?" These always work for me.
 
Jul 7, 2013
7
1
A wise teacher once told me the one thing he wished when he was starting out in magic was that he got caught more often. It is far better to fail more often then not. Why because it teaches us a valuable lesson. I guarantee you will try to conceal your moves better next time you perform.
 

KhoaD

Elite Member
Aug 21, 2009
10
0
i think the best way is to laugh ! like when they explained it right, make your cute and embarrass face and laugh and said "you got me" +"you have very good eyes sir". Just make him feel happy and arrogant, make them comfortable and then move on. When he think he can figure out all of your trick, then you do the impossible trick, to mess with him
 
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