Right, a few nights back I had my first official gig. It was for 16 guys from a local village, afed between 22-70 who all get together every year and have a good old knees up, and I thought I'd let you all know how it went
My first role was at the pre meal reception, where I was performing walkabout close up magic. I'd performed ricks for family and friends etc before, but never for people who I had never met. the first simple trick I did was a version of Lee Smith (who I consider lucky to call a friend and HUGE help) Ice Breaker and Walkabout 2 cards to pocket. The first control to the top and DL was a bit difficult due to VERY nervous and shaky hands (and that had nothing to do with the cold!!). They did, however, go down a STORM, and these reactions got the adrenalin pumping and there was no stopping me!
I moved on to another group and performed T2P, luckily spotting there was a mirror behind me before I started lol. Again, watching 4 grown men trying to rip open a pic and work out where it had been sealed did wonders for my confidence. I then just started to flow and went into a version of ACR from David Regal (Tenacious Climber) which is HILARIOUS with the right group
By the time I was done for my first 45 mins, i had got so carried away and caught up in the moment, that I realised I had used nearly all of my repetoir and still had to go back after the dinner.
Previously, this would have caused me to panic, but IO have had a huge amount of input form Gary Jones and Lee Smith which for some reason made me feel comfortable...maybe it had something to do with believing I'd learnt from the best
. It went amazing, to be honest probably better than the first section!
So what did I learn? Well the first thing was that knowing how to perform a trick is in my opinion NOTHING! Being able to perform and interact with the audience is however EVERYTHING! The second thing I leanrt was that I need ot take my magicians head off, as just because I know how its done I forget how obvious it isn't, and get back to enjoying theoir reactions :
Again, a huge thanks goes out to Gary Jones and Lee Smith. They have been the greatest help and consider myself very lucky to not only know them from a magician point of view, but also from a friends socialising point of view! I owe you both a beer
Merry Xmas everyone
