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@Basem

I try to look at it from the audience's view. What do they wanna see ?? I kinda think of it in reversed, the audience's perspective, and then mine, and I try to match both. Its hard to explain but when you get it, you get it

I like that a lot - that puts you at the front of magicians, most of whom who put themselves first.
Nice one.
Bruce

You can also try standing near a wall, and leaning on it with your hands. Kind of like a press-up but standing up. Flex your wrists as much as you can.

Really helps.

Hi all,
I'm still a noob really, but the best two pieces of advise I've ever been given and is all I keep in the fron tof my mind when performing are these:
Mathew Garret (Close-up Magician Winner 2011) told me he still got nervous the first time he did anything.
Coming from someone of his calibre this is a very reassuring thing to hear.
Lee Smith told me "Just do it. We as magicians see EVERYTHING there is to see, most laymen don't know what they're looking for"
This is so true, tried and tested for me.

Also, if I can add anything from myself it would be this:
Make sure when learning an effect, you work out what could go wrong (I keep an 'out' ready in my shoe at all times just in case). And always remember that your effect is exactly that, your effect, and if you need to change the outcome because you've lost control, the people you are performing for have will have no-idea that's not how you'd learnt it in solitude

KP

Since I kicked this topic off a little over a year ago I wanted to say that in the past 12 months I've tried to perform more often and having just come 4th (out of 5, still not last place) in a local magic contest I can say that I've started to recognise the shaking as being a sort of anticipatiory energy. If I try to stay calm and controlled it leads to shaking. If I instead pour that energy into my performance (I open with a small routine in which I kill a sponge ball with a spanner) it gets it out of the way.

Maybe this won't work for everyone, but I figured if I have that coiled spring inside me, I may as well put it into my performance instead of spending the entire routine attempting to suppress it.

People tell me I am very "animated".

-Stacy

I believe that to be very true of many a person, Stacy. The most wonderous advice that I was once given with regards to the nerves was to take all that energy and focus it into your performance. If you really put your heart and soul into your magic, you'll forget the nerves in an instant. In all my experiences this has always been proved to be true.

The4thCircle wrote:Since I kicked this topic off a little over a year ago I wanted to say that in the past 12 months I've tried to perform more often and having just come 4th (out of 5, still not last place) in a local magic contest I can say that I've started to recognise the shaking as being a sort of anticipatiory energy. If I try to stay calm and controlled it leads to shaking. If I instead pour that energy into my performance (I open with a small routine in which I kill a sponge ball with a spanner) it gets it out of the way.

Maybe this won't work for everyone, but I figured if I have that coiled spring inside me, I may as well put it into my performance instead of spending the entire routine attempting to suppress it.

People tell me I am very "animated".

-Stacy

No good for me. I have a banner on tbe front of my table that says 'no sponge balls were killed or injured during this performance'!

In response to everybody, i found i suffer from shaky hand syndrome when performing which is one of the reasons for my work at the pier.....the more people i perform to the less i seem to shake.

This is just my way of coping with the nerves, literally throwing myself in at the deep end!! i perform to absolutely anybody who is willing to watch and if i shake, oh well, then the next time i perform i shake less.

I'm now at the point where i don't shake at all when performing for the staff who work there, but i view them as people I'm quite comfortable with and have quite a good relationship with them, but i have noticed i shake even less when performing for strangers, but i do feel like i have had my confidence boosted by the people who work there!

So my tip would be perform for everyone, and don't dwell on the performance, if you think it went badly, chances are you're being overly critical of yourself, trust me i do this constantly....

Much love

Aza

Aza I completely agree, I too seem to shake less the more spectators there are, I can only assume it is because they become a large enough distraction the nerves naturally subside. This topic had some really great tops and ideas. Thankyou everyone who has contributed
KP