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Hi all i am fairly new at magic. Am i alone in worrying that every time i show a trick that i will get caught out and look a fool.Up till now i have been lucky because i have made a few mistakes doing a trick and it hasnt been spotted but i tend to worry a bit every time i show a trick. Dave.

No, you aren't alone in worrying, but you can reduce this, if you practise a lot.

I think every magician has something that goes wrong once in a while, just as every actor will get his lines wrong at some point. The key is to rehearse the effect (not just practise the moves), until you can do it right every time.

There's always that temptation to show off your latest trick as soon as you can do it once or twice, but most things really do need practice.

Perfect Practice Prevents P*ss-Poor Performance.

The SAS say that so it must be a good idea

Seriously though, cover every single aspect of the effect and make sure you can do it perfectly before you show anyone, because there's no undo button on life.

Thanks for that good advice. As you say practise and i suppose confidence is the main thing.I think that because you know how the trick is done when showing it i think that they will also know but of course obviously they dont.Dave.

Dave 3 wrote:Thanks for that good advice. As you say practise and I suppose confidence is the main thing.I think that because you know how the trick is done when showing it I think that they will also know but of course obviously they dont.Dave.

Absolutely. It's a also good idea to mentally visualise the entire effect in real time as if you're the spectator.

Tomo wrote:The SAS say that so it must be a good idea

And Who Dares Wins.

Maybe they are magicians!

Hi Dave I agree with the other members Practice until perfect. A few things to conceder.

Practice in front of a mirror, even better a video camera, I do 2 things when using a video camera. The first is connect it to the T.V than watch myself at different angles. Secondly Do the tricks recording myself then play back on the TV.

For me this illuminates “Patronisation” from peers, Sometimes people who love you or good friends will not point out your errors and say “OH Yes that was great” But was it? I was lucky I had two guys to guide me and give me a clip round the ear when I messed up. On video you can see yourself how it went hence giving you more confidence.

I would not advice you use a web Cam some can be really bad quality. Try second hand shops for a video camera Those that use tapes you can now get for £35 second hand maybe cheaper, Or even one that does not record even cheaper, You can record if you connect that to your T.V via a vcr or DVD player with a hard drive in all the better. OH and don’t forget Perform several times at Different angles.
I hope this helps.
TC All

Part-Timer wrote:

Tomo wrote:The SAS say that so it must be a good idea

And Who Dares Wins.

Maybe they are magicians!

Well, there was that embassy siege with the groovy smoke effects...

Why dares, gins!

Well, thee was that embassy siege with the groovy smoke effects...

Tomo "Groovy" Took me months to perfect that one

Dave 3 wrote:

As you say practise and I suppose confidence is the main thing.I think that because you know how the trick is done when showing it I think that they will also know but of course obviously they dont.

Many of magic routines out there can rely more on the confidence and presentation of the effect than the actual working of the routine themnselves.

It's often easy to think that the sepc will easily spot the secret when you find out how the trick is done and I always remember back to when I was learning the chop cup routine.

I was always amazed by the chop cup routine and know that I just had to learn how to do it. However, when I actually saw the mechanics of the routine I was somewhat taken aback and thought, 'that can't be right, no one will ever be fooled by that' Anyway, I practiced and the moment that I fell head over heels in love with the Chop Cup was when I performed it for the first time and fooled everyone. A always think back to how this was a perfect lesson in how strong even simple misdirection can be and how you can give your confidence a big boost at the same time.

You could even tell someone how you do it and they won't believe you! People are very reluctant to believe that they can be fooled so easily.

There's very little else in magic that comes close to the delight that I get from performing with a chop cup

Thanks a lot for all that great advice and tips.I will certainly get the camcorder out for practise to see how the effect looks (I never thought of that).Thank you all again Dave.

Using a camera is one of the best ways I find to see how you're performance looks. Also when you do practice, don't just go through the motions but really perform it, talk through the patter and timing in the same way you would if you were performing.

Even so, things do go wrong from time to time, we've all had it. If it does happen, don't worry, just smile and move onto anoter trick.

Thanks for all the helpfull advice much appreciated .Dave.