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As I'm sure you all have, I did a few tricks for the family over Christmas. Unfortunately though I had a shocker!
I started off with a semi-automatic trick to calm the nerves and it killed. Then I did a bit of byplay and performed a t** ch**** and it blew everyone away! Then I messed up a dl and flashed in one trick and then got the wrong card (!) in the next.
It was tough standing there having to say that this isn't an act and that I had in fact messed the trick. Luckily everyone was talking about a simple TC as the misdirection meant it killed, but my shaking and consequent fumbling has hit my confidence a bit. Why did I shake so much? It meant I messed up 2 simple sleights that I have done (and performed) before successfully on numerous occasions.

Anyone gone through this or have any words of wisdom? I got such a buzz from the reaction of the TC but perhaps the fumbling of 2 failed tricks will go down as an experience to learn from.

Thanks all

We have all done this matey.. Sometime performing to close friends and family can be more challenging that a actual laymen, who you have never met.?. Just take this experience away with you to the next time.. I rarely do magic tricks now for the family members.. But don't let this put you off.. Just think this will never happen again.. Regards Garry.

some advice that i was given, which proved to be good for me, was to buy an ID or Brainwave deck. They can be used for amazing routines in their own rights, but can also help out in these situations. I dont want to say much more to avoid exposure, but feel free to PM me if you'd like some more info.

I had this problem for a while. I'm naturally confident and I've had no issues once I got going. However, I've done some effects for family and friends and ended up shaking uncontrollably. I actually think it's a good thing to be harnessed and controlled. It shows you're passionate about your magic and don't want to be caught out. You're out to impress and not to fail. It's this pressure that's causing you the issue. Each person deals with stress in their own way so I cant give you specific advice. What I can say is what works for me.

Always start with self workers that you're confident with. In other words - effects you could do blindfolded and not mess them up. And always have self workers in reserve for your foul-ups. If I am going to do ten effects, I want 3 or 4 self workers sat in reserve - just in case an effect goes totally bent and my confidence is knocked, I can leap straight into another killer effect. What you must drum into yourself is what magicians always forget - if you make a mistake, stop, and move to something else, people don't know that that wasn't actually part of your act. Your specs have no idea what you're doing. If you don't telegraph your mistakes and start looking at outs and how to move to other routines your shakes will soon become irrelevant.

The nerves never go. Anyone who tells you that they do is a liar. All that happens is that you develop ways to grow around them. The best way to make them stop is to keep perfroming. Perform more and more and more. There's no other way.

K

One of the most valuable things you will learn from performing is how to cope with these situations. It's something that can't be acquired through practice or rehearsal.

First off, cut yourself some slack. So the performance of a trick failed. Worse things happen! You can cut the stress and tension that results with a comment like "..and that's why you're not paying to see this!"

Most of the material I perform is nigh-impossible to recover from if a technical problem occurs. In those cases I simply give a brief apology (don't labor the point), and make a comment along the lines of 'the next piece is far better anyway...' and move on. If you really have your material down pat, this more often than not will be true anyway.

Ultimately, the best way to calm nerves is not to start with semi/ self-workers, but to have your material down pat. If you put in the required practice and rehearsal time, you will become more confident in your performance, as you will not be (sub)consciously worrying about 'getting away with it' all the time. You will know that the material works, and this will increase your confidence during performance.

I had three things for Christmas Day but late on Christmas Eve when I was preparing one of them I couldn't find an important ingredient so had to scrub that one. I had a reserve routine on the back burner and it went over very well as did the first part of the 'set' but the last item which should have topped the lot failed miserably. The presentation etc was fine and everyone enjoyed the build up but, similar to SJ's post, I got it wrong and predicted the wrong total - total collapse of effect and me! I know what went wrong it was, of course, all my fault, and it won't happen again but I'd rather it hadn't happened at all. Not exactly a serious situation but looking like a bit of a plonker isn't good!

I have a possible opportunity to do three things again in January, I'll include the one which i couldn't prepare this time as well as the one which went wrong - a bit like getting back on the horse after I've fallen @rse over t!t off it...

I fumbled halfway through Twisting The Aces yesterday for close friends. But because I hadn't foreshadowed what was going to happen too much I could just step out of the wreckage and go into a different 4 ace trick.

It happens. Especially as they want to be shown stuff - which is a way of encouraging me, but don't want to keep seeing the same trick, yet I want to keep practicing the same trick!

Stage fright is an energy, I sometimes think, that we should aim to harness rather than squash. I counter the shaky hands with more patter, slower moves and much more eye contact.

snickers wrote:Anyone gone through this or have any words of wisdom? I got such a buzz from the reaction of the TC but perhaps the fumbling of 2 failed tricks will go down as an experience to learn from.

Don't worry. Everyone has failures. The only important thing is how you recover. Plan for it. They call the ID the magician's insurance policy, and it definitely is!

I can only echo what everybody else has said, the ID is perfect as an out and I have a few back up effects which are self working or have multiple outs.

Since getting my espionage wallet I am seriously considering venturing down the mentalism route and dropping the magician part for good. I am relatively new to it all even though I understand the foundations but to perform mentalism you need to have no fear of failing whatsoever, cos sometimes even the big dogs miss!!

Just remember you're good at what you do and if the shakes start, few deep breaths and back into it.

Much love

Aza

Aza wrote:I can only echo what everybody else has said, the ID is perfect as an out and I have a few back up effects which are self working or have multiple outs.

Since getting my espionage wallet I am seriously considering venturing down the mentalism route and dropping the magician part for good. I am relatively new to it all even though I understand the foundations but to perform mentalism you need to have no fear of failing whatsoever, cos sometimes even the big dogs miss!!

Just remember you're good at what you do and if the shakes start, few deep breaths and back into it.

Much love

Aza

Don't fear mentalism, embrace it!!!!!! You know it makes sense!!!

K

We all have bad days... and anyone who says they doesn't isn't being completely honest!

I think though, that on the whole they are a good sign! (Sort of... stick with me on this!)

It's a sign that you care about your magic, that you've put a lot into it, and that you have high expectations from it.

And it also sounds like you got quite a lot of things right. You say yourself that some of what you did blew people away! I know that when I do a bundle of bits of magic for people and a couple of things go wrong, it's not a good feeling, but also that I'm doing things now that I couldn't have attempted a couple of years ago, so there is steady progress. The routine in question (and I'm thinking of a specific table in a dodgy Brick Lane restaurant here - the only thing worse than my magic was the curry!) If I think back to where I was a couple of years ago, I'd have counted that night as a success, as quite a bit went well, and there were some pieces that were bloody tough to do and they worked!

So, I guess I'd say remember the good bits, so that next time you perform, you can make the most of what you're good at, and learn from what didn't work and what needs to either be changed or practiced more. (It's a learning curve that you're on. If you don't have bad days, then you're not doing enough magic to learn from...)

Most importantly, keep performing! If you're at home practicing, then you're just practicing.... You're only doing magic when you're doing it for someone else!

In my case the audience were mainly family members who are more tolerant than strangers would have been but I still took the effect apart and sorted the problem which fouled up so yes, bad days can have very good outcomes!

I screwed up the ID, the basic ID routine, at a wedding gig on Friday. For those of you who know the ID (most I would guess) I just turned up the three below the wrong ten!!. I perform in public at least once every week and through December this has been at least twice a week. In every performance (I do table hopping) I use my ID several times. It is not mechanically difficult. It doesn't require a massive effort of memory but I got it wrong. I don't have any explanation, the gig was going well and this was the only mistake I made all afternoon. I lied my way out of it by calling it a near miss and I didn't let it affect my overall performance.

But privately I have kicked myself very hard for such a basic error!

Have I ever told you chaps about the evening I was having a wee and resetting my ID at the same time. I think I have. I fumbled and dropped the ID into the bowl. I couldn't leave the cards there, so I had to wash them off and walk about with a soggy pocket all evening.

Thanks all for the responses. Really appreciated other experiences and comments.
Will get the ID out. Never really used it much, so gonna get out there and see its powers!! Just need to play with the deck order a little...

Thanks all,