Thanks for the help. I've been in magic for about 3 years, and I AM only 16 so I'm by no means a "professional," if you want to call it that. So I don't know all the tricks that are available to me. Yeah, I didn't think of researching tricks of my own (seriously, I had no idea) mostly because I didn't know what to look for. Any tips for actually finding what suits my style? Or is that another dead-end question? (Sorry, I'm only trying to get better here, you are the only reliable source of advice etc.)
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- Thread starter JustinT
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I'm no professional either. I've only been doing this since July 2014. I only intend to perform in hospitals.
Just to keep things in house; looking on the Wire is relatively easy. Since we don't really have much of a basis to work off of, chances are you're going to be looking at a bunch of 'random' magic videos before you start calibrating and honing in on your preference. For this isolated scenario, I'd try to keep the tricks on the easy side--intermediate if something REALLY jumps out at you.
I work with a lot of cards, so I'm a bit biased in saying that your best bet in expressing yourself through a trick would be through card magic.
Everyone finds their own niche. It's not really anything I can really help you with other than saying explore every magic site imaginable (here, Ellusionist, Magiccafe, whatever you can find) and just lurk.
I just google in one of the magic site names and the information I'm looking for and research, research, research. I will say that there is a LOT to be learned from making a performance that a spectator can relate to.
There's more to be learned in making a better performance than learning flashy tricks.
My niche is one-handed card magic and cardistry. Initially, it's because of my PTSD and how I wasn't able to do two handed tricks because I needed one hand to be 'on guard'. I'm taking it further and working on a project having to do with Veterans and PTSD.
But I think I found my niche through extreme circumstances.
Honestly, you're going to find tricks that jump out at you; tricks that you can 100% put your stock into--regardless of difficulty.
I would encourage you to explore as many facets of magic (as well as giving mentalism a look) as you can to really try and broaden your horizons and see what sort of magic archetype (or variety of tricks) 'speaks' to you.
You're 16, you don't have to settle on a niche right away. If you don't have any reading material, ask what you can start off on. Personally, I'd start on books that enhance performance. As there are a lot of tricks available for free out there. I don't want to go out and suggest Royal Road to Card Magic--especially since I'm not sure if you're about coins, mentalism, mental magic, etc.
And since you're still in school, I'd highly encourage you to take up theatre/drama courses to learn more about performance. This may help you in building a 'character'/persona later on if you so choose to.
But yeah, you're young. At this point, just have fun looking. I'd start on The Wire and see if you can find some free downloadable tricks. Search this site and other magic sites of what makes a better magic show/presentation/magician in general.
I do hope this helps in some capacity.
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