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hey guys
I was just in a magic chat and started think about something I had read where someone practices an effect for 6 months then performs it , I was wondering how long you guys practice effects before performing. Also I finally got my Bobo coin magic book.

{edit; translated into English, the accepted language of this forum}

The one line answer is 'until it is ready', but obviously that isn't really much help!

The length of time you spend practicing a trick all depends on how difficult it is to master or how long it takes for you to find a good presentation, but for me it usually varies from a couple of days to a few weeks. The very simplest tricks you will be able to dao flawlessly within minutes, but I always like to hold on a little longer in case a better presentation occurs to me.

I practice either until it is ready or not long enough depending on if I get tempted to do the trick when I'm drunk

Mark

Ah, the evils of beer. Many is the time I have gone off before I'm ready whilst under the influence of beer (see the restraint? I managed to avoid using the words climax and premature!).

I really don't need beer to go before I'm ready.

Do we have to fellas? This is just getting lewd!! LOL.

I will practice a new trick or effect solidly for about a week, just so i can do the moves reasonably. Then i will work on a story line (a.k.a patter) and then practice the effect with the patter, this is a very sucessful method for me and its the only way i know!

depending on the level of skill needed in the effect, if its straight forward I practice the handling for a few days then start performing on my wife and daughters to see what their reaction is like or if they can give me any constructive critisism, if I need to make changes to the routine I then practice a few days more then let it loose on the public.

smudge- here is some advice i have been given by other magicians.......'dont practise tricks on family as they only want to figure how its done'

The usual answer, given many times here, is 'when you are ready'. Unfortunately only you can answer that, and a lot of the time we are not honest with ourselves.

On the whole I'll work on something from between three to six months to a couple of years before I'm happy with it, but that time is usually spent practicing organically, so the end result is often quite different from the first run through.

Having said that, I've performed some things the same day I started work on them, but I wouldn't recommend that approach!

Take care, Ian

Is there such a thing as too much practise? Where you perhaps overdo the mechanics to the extent that your presention is a bit stale and stereotyped?

Mandrake wrote:Is there such a thing as too much practise? Where you perhaps overdo the mechanics to the extent that your presention is a bit stale and stereotyped?

I think there is but its not a "fine balance" type of dilema. I think sometimes you just cross the line with practising a method and get carried away and like you say it leaves your presentation stale.

Ben the answer has been given already - it's whenever you're ready. I spent just one evening, then a half hour the following morning on Crazy Man's Handcuffs, and took it to work to show my colleagues. Admittedly, this happens very rarely, but sleeping on things helps me a lot if I'm getting frustrated.

We all know at the moment that you've just got hold of Bobo's book - coins are an entirely different matter in my opinion. To get the basics is gonna take ages, and hours of practice. Not necessarily dedicated practice for a certain number of hours per day, but constant practice while you're going about your every day business. Just playing with a coin in your hand all day, taking in the sleights and grips one by one until they become second nature.

I, for one, haven't had the patience as yet to get my coin magic up to scratch, but it is very rare that I won't have my trusty half-dollar in my pocket, in case I want to 'have a play', as it were.

(please no comments about 'having a play' in my pockets...)

Very true, I have been practicing coin magic for a couple of years, but as yet have only one routine that I use often.

I just practice the patter then the sleight of hand and whatnot