Well I have been doing card magic for a few years now and no matter what I try I am always nervous when I preform for people I'm not comfortable with. Always. After a few tricks i warm up to them and its gone. do u guys have any special procedure that gets rid of that first thingy?
Shakey...
- Thread starter addibs
- Start date
Breathe, and just do it. Expel all the nervousness you can when you breathe out - and in that moment, before you have time to get all nervous again, just do it, just start, and get into it, because once you do you just have to focus on the magic and on the spectators and you don't have time for nerves. It gets better with time too.
I had this problem and I solved it by performing more frequently. I always used to shake even after i'd been doing magic for over a year, it can be a really horrible thing to have, it can make difficult sleights almost impossible.
As soon as I came to university and started performing regularly (3+ times a week, for many different people over the course of an evening) the shaking completely vanished, now i'm as comfortable in front of 20 people as I am sitting in my room practicing. You just need to get out there and perform loads for lots of different people. It won't be easy to start with but keep at it and it will definitely go away.
As soon as I came to university and started performing regularly (3+ times a week, for many different people over the course of an evening) the shaking completely vanished, now i'm as comfortable in front of 20 people as I am sitting in my room practicing. You just need to get out there and perform loads for lots of different people. It won't be easy to start with but keep at it and it will definitely go away.
It also helps if your first trick relies on spectators/presentation and minimum sleights rather than visual and tough card magic.
You don't want to open with Raise Rise that's all i'll say.
You don't want to open with Raise Rise that's all i'll say.
well, I usually try to get to know them a little before doing a card trick, for example ask the name of the people you are about to perform and then sahke hands with each one of them, Is like being a salesman, you need to gain their confidence and interest in order to sell your product.....
Also, try to find the reasons of why you shake... for example I have discovered that I usually shake when Im just about to execute a sleight that is quite hard, or when I know that people are burning my hands....That's why I usually practice a lot, and I always try to perform in a friendly environment with people that I know that are going to be interested in magic, and not in how I do it.....
Jaja, I shake a lot too, especially when I perform for strangers... That feeling of being afraid of messing up a trick and get discovered and be laugh at because I looked like a loser, Is what makes my hands shake...
Cheers!
Also, try to find the reasons of why you shake... for example I have discovered that I usually shake when Im just about to execute a sleight that is quite hard, or when I know that people are burning my hands....That's why I usually practice a lot, and I always try to perform in a friendly environment with people that I know that are going to be interested in magic, and not in how I do it.....
Jaja, I shake a lot too, especially when I perform for strangers... That feeling of being afraid of messing up a trick and get discovered and be laugh at because I looked like a loser, Is what makes my hands shake...
Cheers!
Mentality has to be strong on this one, like Aaron Fisher said, "You gotta go out there, and keep on swinging". For me though, i rarely shake a lot when i perform to people these days, as before if i know there is more than two people in the group im performing for, i would shake a lot.
Think of it like this, you do magic, for what? If you want to show a fraction of Astonishment then you cant be afriad, or else it wont work. Personally i dont do Magic to Astonish people, i do it because i want people to recognise what value magic has and how far it can go, what it actually is and to respect it properly, because theres a lot to love about magic - and for someone who is chained down to worldly matters each day, they wont get much chance to see any Magic. Astonishment follows on.
So you have to be serious about yourself and your magic, if you take it for what it means (to you and hopefully for everybody), you will improve, or become eager to improve - first step is stepping out of your comfort zone. Once you are serious, then you are ready to take command.
I noticed this when i was performing Yesterday, and i got crowded, my friend who had the camera was like "Okay we getting crowded!!", but it was cool, made me remember myself back in the day when we got kicked out from the same Mall we still perform at. Was performing Overkill at a 90 Degree radius. Didnt shake at all.
Think of it like this, you do magic, for what? If you want to show a fraction of Astonishment then you cant be afriad, or else it wont work. Personally i dont do Magic to Astonish people, i do it because i want people to recognise what value magic has and how far it can go, what it actually is and to respect it properly, because theres a lot to love about magic - and for someone who is chained down to worldly matters each day, they wont get much chance to see any Magic. Astonishment follows on.
So you have to be serious about yourself and your magic, if you take it for what it means (to you and hopefully for everybody), you will improve, or become eager to improve - first step is stepping out of your comfort zone. Once you are serious, then you are ready to take command.
I noticed this when i was performing Yesterday, and i got crowded, my friend who had the camera was like "Okay we getting crowded!!", but it was cool, made me remember myself back in the day when we got kicked out from the same Mall we still perform at. Was performing Overkill at a 90 Degree radius. Didnt shake at all.
Last edited by a moderator:
I am the opposite of most magicians. I am not nervous at all when I am performing for random people but when I perform for other magicians I rush the trick I freak out and shake. I have been in 2 cclose up competitions. The first one I looked it over on video and I realized that I did rush and shake. 2nd competition I was not nervouse but I rushed again. So this is how I am going to solve not rushing or shaking in my competition. I am just going to talk my self through it like say stuff to stop me from shaking. Maybe you should try it, I mean its not like people are going to laugh in your face and if they do who cares they probably dont have a life.
Hope that helped Peace
- Donald
Hope that helped Peace
- Donald
i have been doing card stuff for 2 years and only now it has stopped. im a very shy person and i did this partly to break that and my hand still shake sometimes. as long as u can do the tricks it will be fine
well, one thing is to go along with and add humor into your performance, it always loosens the tension. another is to just do it, dont think about all of the things that could go wrong. and the last is of course just to perform as much as possible.
yeah that is a good point, i add joke when i perform it helps a lot with u and the spectators nerves. it also lets them open up
Also, consider that when we have adrenaline flood our system, our hands tend to shake as it rushes in.
So while your hands are shaking, other things are probably working for you too; your senses become heightened, time seems to slow down, etc.
Sometimes just knowing that it's adrenaline and not fear helps you accept it rather than try to fight it.
Pj
So while your hands are shaking, other things are probably working for you too; your senses become heightened, time seems to slow down, etc.
Sometimes just knowing that it's adrenaline and not fear helps you accept it rather than try to fight it.
Pj
I've been into mgaic for 4 years, I'm 13 now. I still occasionaly get the shakes still, especially when I'm approaching random people on the street or in malls. Sometimes I get the shakes at school too but not much, it usually is very small shaking. I remember someone once said about magic that you should enjoy the shaking and nervousness, because it doesn't last forever. It's kind of like when your youth in magic. As you get better and older it slowly dissapears and is gone forever eventually.
Try some comedy before you start your routine.
Example:
Get your self a gaft deck of all the same card and ask them to select a card them have them place it back into the deck, do some shuffles or flourishes but be comical while doing it. Then take the top card or what ever you want to do (all the cards are the same anyway) and ask them if this is their card (of course it will be). Then as they are shocked by the "trick" open up the deck and show them that all the cards are identical. It makes it easier for me anyway when you get a good laugh it reminds you at the same time that it's all about having fun and being yourself.
Example:
Get your self a gaft deck of all the same card and ask them to select a card them have them place it back into the deck, do some shuffles or flourishes but be comical while doing it. Then take the top card or what ever you want to do (all the cards are the same anyway) and ask them if this is their card (of course it will be). Then as they are shocked by the "trick" open up the deck and show them that all the cards are identical. It makes it easier for me anyway when you get a good laugh it reminds you at the same time that it's all about having fun and being yourself.