Tips for Beginners

Do you want to do magic acts but you don’t know where to start? Well your problems are solved right here! Learn where to start, how to practice, how to share you’re tricks to others, and how to organize your acts.

Where Do I Start?

A good place to start your magic is at your local magic shop. When you find your local magic shop, have a talk with the magician and see what kind of magic would be appropriate for you. Tell him that you need some tips and pointers to start out. You can also have him show you a couple of tricks to start you out. Possibly the magician will let you try a couple of tricks. This will help you get started.

Gimmicked Magic

A magician who buys gimmicked magic is not a true magician. An example of gimmicked magic is a deck of cards that are marked and have to be in a certain order and set up a certain way. Gimmicked magic is not as mysterious. Your audience may not be as interested with gimmicked magic. They already may be familiar with this type of magic and may get bored quickly. People may ask you if you know how to do real magic.

Practice

Here are some tips when practicing your magic.

Set some time aside every day to practice your magic. Practice makes perfect.

If you are having a videotaping, try not to be around mirrors because it does not show the same view, as the audience would see. If you are unsure of yourself, the audience will lose interest.

If you have a close friend or a fellow magician in a magic shop, ask them if they could watch you perform a magic trick and give you feedback.

Never learn a new trick until you have mastered the other trick that you were working on.

If you are out somewhere, take some coins and a deck of cards in case you have extra time on your hands. You can use this time to practice.

Sharing Your Magic

After you know some magic and you are confident in yourself, here are some helpful tips in sharing your magic. The mystery is a big part of the magic trick.

	Never tell the secrets to your tricks. It will ruin the whole trick.
	Never do any trick twice for the same audience no matter how much they beg you. This will leave the wondering, "How did he do that?"
	Never do a trick in front of an audience unless you are confident in yourself that you know the trick 100%.
	Make sure that you are able to do more than one kind of trick. Someone may hand you a deck of cards and want you to perform a trick.
	When you do a trick, you can’t be dull because you will lose the audiences’ attention. You must show excitement and enthusiasm.

Show Time

Ok, now it is time for your show. You need to put some tricks together for your performance. You might want to go to a nearby magic shop and have a magician watch you perform a magic trick that you will be performing in the show. When you are going to do a trick, always plan ahead of time to keep the audience’s attention. Ask for a volunteer from the audience if your trick needs one.

Just like books and movies, there is a beginning, middle, and an end. All of your tricks should flow into one another. Your first trick should grab the audience’s attention. The second trick should be more exciting than the first trick to make the audience very interested. It is always nice to do some funny tricks in between tricks to make the audience laugh a little. The last trick should make the people want to come back to another performance.

How Long

Your show can be different lengths. It depends on the kind of audience. This can be determined by many factors.

	If you are going to be hopping around at tables at a restaurant, you should make the show a little less than 10 minutes. If you make it too long, the customers tend to start to eat and won’t pay attention to you and the trick.
	If you are playing in front of an audience that is paying, give them their money’s worth. The audience wants to see exciting tricks that will leave the wondering, "How did he do that?"
	Age is another big factor. A child’s attention span is short. You must keep it simple for their age level. Judge how long the performance should be based on the children’s behavior.

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Magic: The Truth Behind the Secrets

Novi Meadows Elementary School 2001