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I have a question.

When doing parlor/stage and you are talking to the audience (assuming you have a headset microphone) what do you do with your hands?

Such as does it look better if I just keep them down by my side or should I keep them behind my back. Which would look more natural and/or proffesional?

I sometimes fumble with my hands which looks bad and distracts the audience. So I am trying to stop doing that.

If you have any advice please post it

hand gestures work well or failing that palm a coin in each hand down by your side, chat and practise at the same time.
when i have done this type of show theres very little chat in between tricks so generaly i'd have the next prop in my hands or be getting something ready wilst making the back story.

I'm sure our magic mark is best qualified to comment aswell as a few senior members too.

I tend to throw my arms about in a state of madness, its confuses the audience prior to any trickery lol

Ill ask you a question, which might answer yours.

what do you do with your hands when having a general conversation with somebody?

Toastmasters and I recommend joining them if you can, highly recomend keeping your hands at your sides.

I would say use them to gesture as you talk as you would do normally in real life. using your body to add a dynamic element to what you are saying really helps both you as a performer and the enjoyment for the audience.
Take posture as an example. If you stand up straight, shoulders back and head up your physical stance will effect how you feel (in this case confident and strong) where as slumping over will have the expected result.

If you are trying to emphasise certain parts of you act or wish to convey an emotional state to the audience (excitement, suspense) then how you move can really emphasise the precedings.
But at the same time it must be something that seems natural and right to you.

daleshrimpton-Usually keep my hands in my pockets or make a lot of gestures.

Well the most comfortable way for me is to join my hands behind my back but I'm not so sure that, that would go so well with the audience. The thing is I'm not wanting to distract my audience by using hand gestures.

So looking at these posts I see that they are everywhere. So I'm guessing that the best would be a mix of all of them and what makes me feel comfortable?

it's whatever you feel comfortable doing, I personally go for big gestures but that's because I'm comfortable doing that and it works with my style.

goodismyname wrote:I have a question.

When doing parlor/stage and you are talking to the audience (assuming you have a headset microphone) what do you do with your hands?

Such as does it look better if I just keep them down by my side or should I keep them behind my back. Which would look more natural and/or proffesional?

I sometimes fumble with my hands which looks bad and distracts the audience. So I am trying to stop doing that.

If you have any advice please post it

I think it all depends on your performance persona. If I have a deck in my hands, I tend to absent-mindedly shuffle it while I'm talking. If it's stacked, it all adds to the feeling of it being indifferent. If I'm just talking, I tend to use my hands a lot anyway.

I'm a professional speaker (more than a magician) and I agree with the comment that asks you what you'd do if you were chatting socially. Even if you have an audience of several hundred, the best thing you can do is imagine you are speaking to each of them individually (apart from voice volume!) and let your hands do their own thing. No one will notice unless they distract from what you are saying (and i don't mean misdirection). I have been on presentation courses and speaking courses that have tried to get me to stand still with my hands by my sides. Ok, now and again but I'm an animated speaker so it doesn't work for me. Do what feels right (but take advice from observer comments) and let your hands be an extension of your natural personality.

I like hand gestures - they convey the subliminal messages that I need to make sure a routine works.

Well, that's my story - and I am sticking to it!

Totally Mental wrote:I like hand gestures - they convey the subliminal messages that I need to make sure a routine works.

Well, that's my story - and I am sticking to it!

Aye, it's all subliminal hand gestures, emphasis on key words and placement of certain phrases, hypnotism, NLP... and a one way deck, but it's mainly the hand gestures.

I've never really thought about what to do with my hands, usually when I'm performing in a stage setting I'm juggling so it's not so much of a issue. Looking back, in the small amount of times i've been in such a situation, I will have been what can only be described as "flouncing" (Magic Mark will be able to fill you in on the finer details) and now realise what an idiot i looked. I do not advise this.

Hmmm thanks guys! I once tried to keep my hands down my sides but that didn't go over to well. I'll try to minimal gestures while feeling comfortable, well I will try anyways.

During my stage show, I am holding a mic in one hand, and usually gesturing with the other. My gestures include hand on back of neck, on hip, waving around, pointing, misdirecting etc. Remember, on stage, you need to make your actions bigger to ensure everyone can see, so dont be afraid to be animated and an extrovert.

Just do whats natural, thats the best advice anyone can give you, because there is no set way.

There is a video demo of me performing somewhere on the boards, check it out to see what I mean.


Mark