I've been practicing mostly flourishes from DanandDave's Trilogy, and
the occasional trick. (2CM, Card to Mouth) I find out one of my classes
is cancelled and I head to the game room to burn some time. I ran into
the most perfect opportunity to do some magic. I knew if I passed it
up, I'd hate myself forever.
I notice a guy shooting pool cracking jokes louder than everyone else, being more or less, the funny guy. I knew if I could pull off one good trick for him it would fire him up and get others interested in what's going on. I pull out my cards and start doing some fans and stuff, trying to warm up. I'm standing in the corner not making a big deal about it and he points me out saying, "Ohh, we've got a card shark here!" He offers me a game of pool, but I ask him if he wants to see something before we play. He says yes and I go straight into 2CM.
I did it fairly smoothly (in my opinion) and no one caught a thing. Convinced he is holding two aces, he slowly turns over two Jokers, realizing he'd been duped. One of the absolute best reactions I've ever gotten in one and a half years. He stands up and yells, "H*** to the no! H*** to the no!" He throws the two jokers on
the floor and walks away. By now there is a small group of about 5 or 7
people wondering what just happened. I do a short ACR and end with
Stigmata. Everyone was completely fried with the exception of 2 guys
that said I flashed a double lift to them. (Purely because of my lack of experience and spectator control skills...) They were cool about it, and
said it was still really smooth and they couldn't do it as well as I had.
By the end of it all, they guy that offered me a game of pool gave me
my first tip ($5) and said, "Hey, you could really make some money doing this. You gotta start somewhere..."
Despite all my shaking and nervousness, I pulled through... and left with people
saying I should have a show here on campus.
Wow.
Never have I felt that good after doing magic... To those of you who are fairly new to magic and performing and/or have trouble with nerves, let me tell you- Live performances make you SO much better as a magician and a showman, you won't even believe it. Next time you're out and see the perfect opportunity to do some magic, do it. Don't let your nerves get in the way. Don't even think about messing up.
Just do it.
Thanks,
-Matt
the occasional trick. (2CM, Card to Mouth) I find out one of my classes
is cancelled and I head to the game room to burn some time. I ran into
the most perfect opportunity to do some magic. I knew if I passed it
up, I'd hate myself forever.
I notice a guy shooting pool cracking jokes louder than everyone else, being more or less, the funny guy. I knew if I could pull off one good trick for him it would fire him up and get others interested in what's going on. I pull out my cards and start doing some fans and stuff, trying to warm up. I'm standing in the corner not making a big deal about it and he points me out saying, "Ohh, we've got a card shark here!" He offers me a game of pool, but I ask him if he wants to see something before we play. He says yes and I go straight into 2CM.
I did it fairly smoothly (in my opinion) and no one caught a thing. Convinced he is holding two aces, he slowly turns over two Jokers, realizing he'd been duped. One of the absolute best reactions I've ever gotten in one and a half years. He stands up and yells, "H*** to the no! H*** to the no!" He throws the two jokers on
the floor and walks away. By now there is a small group of about 5 or 7
people wondering what just happened. I do a short ACR and end with
Stigmata. Everyone was completely fried with the exception of 2 guys
that said I flashed a double lift to them. (Purely because of my lack of experience and spectator control skills...) They were cool about it, and
said it was still really smooth and they couldn't do it as well as I had.
By the end of it all, they guy that offered me a game of pool gave me
my first tip ($5) and said, "Hey, you could really make some money doing this. You gotta start somewhere..."
Despite all my shaking and nervousness, I pulled through... and left with people
saying I should have a show here on campus.
Wow.
Never have I felt that good after doing magic... To those of you who are fairly new to magic and performing and/or have trouble with nerves, let me tell you- Live performances make you SO much better as a magician and a showman, you won't even believe it. Next time you're out and see the perfect opportunity to do some magic, do it. Don't let your nerves get in the way. Don't even think about messing up.
Just do it.
Thanks,
-Matt
You earned it! 
