‘One of my worst problems is the nerves. Once I have started doing a magic trick I slowly get a bit more confident and smoother with the cards, but my nerves just makes most of the performance slow. You can tell I am nervous through my speech and my body language and so can the spectators. It makes me look like a beginner, and I am going to do a cheesy simple trick. Can you help me?‘ – Jack
Ben Williams writes:
Hi Jack,
The nerves are natural, they will never leave you completely, but a little nervous energy is good because it means you care.
I wrote a blog post about overcoming nerves as I used to suffer very badly from shaking hands, and heart palpitations. Once, I even thought about driving away from a gig before I started because the nerves got too much for me (I didn’t and left the gig on a high, as usual).
Here is the link to the blog post on the nerves you may find useful:
Remember, that when you’re performing for the public, you are not Jack, the guy who does some magic tricks. You are a magician. Treat that ‘role’ as a form of armor. You are doing a job, and supposed to be doing it. This doesn’t work as well for performing magic to your family and friends, but for the public, assuming the ‘role of a magician’ in your mind, can really help reduce the nerves. I Hope this helps a bit. – Dominic Reyes
As I do a Magic session and I realise that my fingers and Hands began to tremble I’m prepared with a pattern .”I trained this piece at the North pol. My Hands always begin to tremble when I do this piece, that’s normal, it has to be like that …)
C.