talkmagic.co.uk

This post is really a follow up to a recent post of mine about being scared to perform.

The trouble I have is that I have fallen into a trap induced by my fear of performing of the following, buy an effect, learn it quickly,show nobody, then buy another and so on.

I have decide after reading many threads and responses from my previous post to learn just 3-4 effects VERY VERY well, and then get out there and show them. This will hopefully breed enough confidence to allow me to enjoy rather than dread the experience.

Without any performing experience it is very difficult to gauge what effects really work in real life,and how to structure them together, things that impress me will not nessacary impress the majority. I have many DVD's and books plus a nice helping of gimmicks.

The following is a selection from my magic draw,i have marked out of ten how well I can currently handle the trick, this does not include patter etc just the technique.
Coins
Coin Unique £1 & 10p version
Chinese Bit
Holy Moly 8/10
Coin squeeze
Cards effects
In a flash
Nailed
OOTW gimmicked deck
A stacked deck trick with four envolopes, you show the one relevent to where you predictede the spec would stop, virtually self working 8/10
Card Tricks
Dr daley TV show, 2 phase Daley last trick effect, 8/10
Red hot mama 7/10
Out of this World download, cards turn over in specs hand virtually self working.8/10
Mental
Freewill
DVD's
22 blows to the head
Ammars card Miricale 1-5
A few other sankey DVD's
Books
RRTCM
Card College 1-3
Others.
Professors nightmare download.

The help I need is picking the 3-4 to work on,I dont really know what would be a good opener (bear in mind I will be shaking like mad)or a good way to finish.

Any help on this department would be greatly appreciated.

I have started to meet weekly with a few magicans in a pub, it would just be nice to be able to walk up to someone on the night and hit them with 3-4 effects for both of our enjoyment.

Cheers in advance
Chris

crispy wrote:The trouble I have is that I have fallen into a trap induced by my fear of performing of the following, buy an effect, learn it quickly,show nobody, then buy another and so on.

My friend i have the same problem, but as you say, you have to just practice and practice in the mirror until you know you can do it.

As far as structuring a routine goes, i think its always best to start a routine with a very quick, punchy visual coin/card trick, a demonstration of skill, to win the attention of your audience.

Then i usually do another trick along the same lines, but a little longer in duration like an ACR.

Remember though that your patter, presence and performance are the most important element of magic (don't mean to come across as patronising), and the most simple tricks done well can still dazzle and amaze, when performed smoothly and naturally.

Anyway, then i would build to a climax, increasing the little surprises and end on some Mentalism or something that will get under the skin slightly more than sleight of hand tricks (for instance i often end on Andy Nyman's fantastic "The Hidden" effect)...

Anyway that's my daft opinion...

good luck

I started with cards, and began to learn all the different sleights and techniques. My hands always shook when performed. So I sat down and made a solid routine which I would always perform when doing the ambitious card routine. Soon after I kept doing that routine in bed... in the mirror... infront of the tv. I realized that I was nervous before, because I was unsure about myself and my next move. I kept worrying about making a mistake. By practicing more I became more confident with my handling, and it really did work.
So my advice is take some time out and think about a routine in which you can do. work them together and keep practicing that very same routine. Evenutally you will be able to make it more natural and slightly stray away from the routine, because its really bad if you constantly follow a script.

Thats my 2 cents.

From what I can see you've got there I'd recommend Red Hot Mama as an opener, it's so easy and gets probably the best reactions out of all the card tricks I do, including OOTW.