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Was just wondering how you guys practice.

Do you break your routine down, and go through it?

I am trying to set a practice routine up but I find myself just playing with cards/coins and not really practicing a trick routine as such.

Any tips or points that you have that you have found useful would be really helpful.

I am sorry if this has been covered before I have tried to find it on the search function and couldn't.

my problem is i've spent so much time practising alone, silently, that when i started performing i generally had no, or little, patter. now i know better!
also, if you spend ages just practising moves rather than tricks you'll end up developing tricks that require a bundle of complex moves and are much more of a joy to perform than they are for a spectator, and they will often just be confusing for them. (to make a trick: think of a result you want, do it in the EASIEST/SIMPLEST way)

i would very much recommend you practise full tricks rather than moves.
i've had to change my approach to magic because i practised in really stupid ways.

Find what works best for you.

I find that breaking things down into parts is a great help to me but then I'm not one for the cards. Example would be a rope routine that could have 40 or 50 moves that must be precise otherwise you end up with the rope on the floor. There can be sleights to learn as well as the order of the routine. And then there's the patter that goes with it.

Another example could equally apply to a good cups and balls routine.

None of us learn in the same way.

One thing I learn't practicing badly was learning sleights for card tricks sat on my sofa down when in performance I'd be stood up. I didnt realise that sometimes my arms were resting on my lapand it is very hard to do that stood up.
Now when I practice I work on the trick silently til I have it down and then go through it a few times with patter and in front of a mirror pretending that the spectator is actually there.
Yes you look completely barking but its the only way I find.

yep. i do the same. first i practice the trick. then i do it standing up. then i do it in the mirror, to view the angles e.t.c, then i do it with patter

I just practice the trick a few times then hound it out on my girlfriend till she has seen it so much she could do it without practice. But we live together and it is convienent. I have always hated to work on a trick infront of a mirror, so I have a couple of people who are my guinne pigs.

Though find what you are most comfortable with. That is what is going to work best for you. Try a few different ways of working on a trick until you stumble upon one that makes the most headway for your skills.

When you practice signed card and tricks that destroy cards do you sign/destroy cards or do you tend to imagine that you are?

Around the beginning of last year I read an interview with Jeff Mcbride where he had said video is the best practise medium. I wasn't convinced there would be a big difference with mirror work, but I was most definately wrong.

Video allows you separate your role as a performer from your role as a critic of the performance. In other words, you can focus entirely on your performance without having to watch yourself. You can then take the tape or movie file and watch it in an entirely passive critical manner. You can even keep old tapes or files and maintain a historical record, which really helps you understand the progress you make.

It has really helped me, and I think if you get the opportunity to try it, you'll discover new aspects to your performance.

Strangeone wrote:When you practice signed card and tricks that destroy cards do you sign/destroy cards or do you tend to imagine that you are?

For signed cards its not that important to do it live, just keep one signed card and reuse. Although you do want to act it out, so that you understand the handling and any potential pocket management issues.

The destruction of cards is more problematic. Often there is a handling aspect or sleight, and you need to practise this as part of your routine. I get through a deck in about 2-3 weeks, and then I throw them into a box, and open up a new deck. I can then use up these dirty decks when I practise my destructive effects. I believe this is fairly common practise.