theory11 — Magic Tricks & the World's Finest Playing Cards
Where do people start out once they have learnt tricks ??
- Thread starter MagicAbs
- Start date
I don't know any other way to explain it other than just getting out there and doing it.
I'll try to elaborate more. You need to get experience performing for all sorts of people in all types of scenarios. Thanks to guys like David Blaine, street magic is pretty socially acceptable and when you get good enough, you can try busking. Before you get to busking, make sure you have a full routine that you are confident with.
I'll also volunteer at different places and perform for kids. I've been able to perform at a food pantry for children as well as a special needs camp. When you get to that point it's almost a parlor type situation and you will be that much closer to getting close to stage magic.
You will want to start getting involved in magic conventions and networking with other performers to see if they can try and hook you up with gigs. You can try sites like gigmasters.com and gigsalad.com since they are pretty good at getting you hooked up with gigs but there is a lot of competition on there. You will really need to set yourself apart when you are on there.
Another effective method, although not many will agree with me on this, is to post videos of yourself performing on outlets such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. This will let your immediate network know you are serious about your craft and show them your skill levels if they are ever interested in having you perform for them. It's also a good way to build your brand and gain a new following.
Best of luck!
I'll try to elaborate more. You need to get experience performing for all sorts of people in all types of scenarios. Thanks to guys like David Blaine, street magic is pretty socially acceptable and when you get good enough, you can try busking. Before you get to busking, make sure you have a full routine that you are confident with.
I'll also volunteer at different places and perform for kids. I've been able to perform at a food pantry for children as well as a special needs camp. When you get to that point it's almost a parlor type situation and you will be that much closer to getting close to stage magic.
You will want to start getting involved in magic conventions and networking with other performers to see if they can try and hook you up with gigs. You can try sites like gigmasters.com and gigsalad.com since they are pretty good at getting you hooked up with gigs but there is a lot of competition on there. You will really need to set yourself apart when you are on there.
Another effective method, although not many will agree with me on this, is to post videos of yourself performing on outlets such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. This will let your immediate network know you are serious about your craft and show them your skill levels if they are ever interested in having you perform for them. It's also a good way to build your brand and gain a new following.
Best of luck!
I'm still in the 'friends and family' magic plan. I'm slowly branching out and have performed for strangers 3 times (birthday party, church group, and Anna & Elsa at Disneyland. I'd highly recommend that your first go not be for two professional actresses. I couldn't get a read if it was remotely decent or face-melting bad).
Your best bet is volunteer opportunities. Hospitals would be the first thing I'd recommend.
Your best bet is volunteer opportunities. Hospitals would be the first thing I'd recommend.
I think the most encouraging thing I can say is this: Perform anywhere that will let you perform.
Work your material until you have learned to get as much entertainment out of a routine as possible.
If you perform a ton, you develop a reputation for being entertaining. You also figure out what your audience is. If you focus too much on a single type of venue, you could miss a huge opportunity. Just search for stages and get on them.
Work your material until you have learned to get as much entertainment out of a routine as possible.
If you perform a ton, you develop a reputation for being entertaining. You also figure out what your audience is. If you focus too much on a single type of venue, you could miss a huge opportunity. Just search for stages and get on them.
"An amateur does many different tricks for the same people, a professional does the same tricks for many different people."
~Hugard and Braue, Royal Road to Card Magic
My advice is to be a little bit of an amateur and a little bit of a professional. Try out a lot of new tricks on your friends and family. As you progress, take the ones you like and perform for strangers. Perform the same tricks for a bunch of different people and see how your handling and presentation change.
Enjoy the ride.
~Hugard and Braue, Royal Road to Card Magic
My advice is to be a little bit of an amateur and a little bit of a professional. Try out a lot of new tricks on your friends and family. As you progress, take the ones you like and perform for strangers. Perform the same tricks for a bunch of different people and see how your handling and presentation change.
Enjoy the ride.
Street Magic! Not David Blaine style, but actually going to a part of your town that allows for street performing, setting up a table and a pitch. Doing 10-15 minute sets and putting out your hat. That is the best way. You learn how good or bad you are based on the amount of money you make and you improve very fast. I've been doing it since I was 14 and is how I still test new material as all of my material isn't restaurant appropriate. 
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Another thing to consider - your persona will determine the ideal environment for you to perform in, and the environment in which you perform effects your persona.
The more you busk, for example, the louder and more gregarious you will tend to be. You need to be to draw the crowd and keep their attention. Most of the good buskers I know are more comedians that do magic than straight up magicians.
I had to admit to myself that busking was not the environment for me - I'm not horrible at it (any more) but I'm not great. Put me on a small stage with up to around 100 people in the audience and I shine. Bigger than that and I feel like I am struggling to reach the back of the room.
I can work walk around, but it's not my best place. Ironically, given my lack of skill with busking, when I start doing a routine while doing walk around I have the habit of drawing everyone up to me, so it ends up being a parlor performance without a stage. Few months ago I did an anniversary party in NYC. I did a couple stand up pieces then walk around the tables. I meant to go table-to-table, but I ended up doing two half hour sets, one on each side of the room.
The more you busk, for example, the louder and more gregarious you will tend to be. You need to be to draw the crowd and keep their attention. Most of the good buskers I know are more comedians that do magic than straight up magicians.
I had to admit to myself that busking was not the environment for me - I'm not horrible at it (any more) but I'm not great. Put me on a small stage with up to around 100 people in the audience and I shine. Bigger than that and I feel like I am struggling to reach the back of the room.
I can work walk around, but it's not my best place. Ironically, given my lack of skill with busking, when I start doing a routine while doing walk around I have the habit of drawing everyone up to me, so it ends up being a parlor performance without a stage. Few months ago I did an anniversary party in NYC. I did a couple stand up pieces then walk around the tables. I meant to go table-to-table, but I ended up doing two half hour sets, one on each side of the room.
Hey! It's funny how I came across this thread when I just performed my first street magic to a little kid in the train! It was sloppy but they're kids so .. they won't really call you out and tell you you're doing a "double lift" for an example! But hey, I'd say kids! Why? Well because it just feels so rewarding when they put up a big smile on their faces or start scratching their heads and ask you how did you do that trick you just did. Plus, I'm an introvert, I'd love to perform to other strangers my age (25+) soon to change that but I'll start small and perform infront kids. Baby steps!
Just my two cents.
Just my two cents.
That's part of building your foundation. Here's a thread which is discussing that topic right now: https://www.theory11.com/forums/thr...how-do-you-build-routines.46567/#/post-453108
How do I get a routine together tho ?? as I can do simple different tricks but as you know certain tricks need prep before you can perform them to someone so how do you make a routine flow ??
Thanks for all the help
There's a lot of material out there that can help you and give you tips. Oz Pearlman does a decent penguin lecture regarding it, but his is more from a corporate point of view. If that's the path you want to follow, check his lecture out. Kostya Kimlat also gives some pretty good advice as well on his penguin lecture, he's a very good motivational speaker.
There's also a book called One Degree by John Guastaferro which give you a really good insight into the world of performing magic.
The first several times I did magic for a stranger, I would just find an old man sitting outside a store waiting for his wife and cursing his existence. More often than not they are really sweet and thankful and it helps you build confidence to try for other people, most importantly don't be afraid to fail. It's the only way you get better.
Just accept that you will, at some point, mess up and feel silly. Everyone does.
The thing, when it happens, you realize you feel silly in the moment and then you move on. Feeling silly isn't really that big a deal. Particularly when you're starting out, because you'll either be performing for people you know (so they're nicer to you - and if they're not, maybe hang out with nicer people?) or you're performing for total strangers you'll probably never see again and they'll forget about you within moments.
It's a good idea to get out there and get that feeling of silliness over and done with so you get more comfortable.
The thing, when it happens, you realize you feel silly in the moment and then you move on. Feeling silly isn't really that big a deal. Particularly when you're starting out, because you'll either be performing for people you know (so they're nicer to you - and if they're not, maybe hang out with nicer people?) or you're performing for total strangers you'll probably never see again and they'll forget about you within moments.
It's a good idea to get out there and get that feeling of silliness over and done with so you get more comfortable.
I say practice nonstop. Sure, nobody will be able to perform perfectly all the time. I've been practicing for 5 months now. I am primarily a move monkey. However, slights a really hard to master and require nonstop practice to maintain. I encountered this recently. Gimmicked seemed to be my next major lesson in magic. It allows you to perform seemingly miracles. However, blatantly using a gimmick should be carefully used, if an gimmick is poorly made or angled incorrectly spectators are going to notice. Example: changing a blank to printed is suspicious but I think it would be more effective to change printed to blank. I also think there would be routines in which a blank to printed would be more effective. Example: a routine with lots of productions, penetrations, teleports would make effective use of the effect.
You can practice a trick a million times til it's perfect and you'll still have it go wrong at least once. There was a video with Penn from Penn & Teller where he was asked if he ever flubbed a trick and he said every night. He explained that no show ever goes perfectly according to plan every single time. The key is knowing what to do when you mess up and how to work around it which is something that you can only really learn from performing.
Making mistakes is part of learning to be a magician. We learn more from our mistakes than from our successes.
You would be surprised how much you'll learn from something going wrong in a performance.