How to do Magic Tricks

Advice and Support for Magicians

Magicians Nerves – How to Deal with Feeling Scared to Perform

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Magicians Nerves

Do you get scared before you perform your magic tricks? How to deal with Magicians Nerves.

It's quite usual to feel scared or suffer from nervousness before you start performing magic to the public. Even highly successful magicians have to deal with magicians nerves.

Ben Williams took some time out from the magic shop to record this short video that will give you some tips and techniques to stop magicians nerves from getting in the way of your performance.

Dealing with magicians nerves.

Like most magicians, Ben gets nervous before his starts to perform. It doesn't matter that he does hundreds of shows each year. Each one comes with a feeling of the unknown, insecurity, and dread. That feeling reduces over the years, but never goes away completely. However, It's the way that a professional deals with magicians nerves that can make all the difference. A few simple breathing techniques can transform your attitude and fear of performing in public. Anyone can do it, so there is no reason whey magicians nerves should ever stop you from going out, performing magic, and realising your ambitions.

How can we help?

The Merchant of Magic isn't just a magic shop. It's here to help you become a better performer and to motivate you to do more than practice magic in private. Being a magician is about getting out there and performing. If you have any questions or if there is anything we can do to help you get to where you want to be with your magic, just let us know. You can get individual help and tips by joining our free andvice and support sevice using the link below:

 

5 Quick Tips for More Confidence When Performing Magic Tricks

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Confident performing magic tricks

By Dominic Reyes

Many magicians feel nervous before they start performing their magic tricks. Here's 5 Tips to help you gain more confidence.

Magic isn't just about the method of the trick, it's also about being a confidant magician. Even the best sleight of hand expert can struggle to entertain people with the magic that they have spent years learning. Good magic is as much about the performer as it is about the magic tricks. Being relaxed, presentable and communicating a positive attitude is very important. Even today, after many years of performing magic professionally, I still sometimes feel magicians nerves just before I start performing. It's usually when there is something unusual about the gig. I take my time and wander around the event for a few minutes, getting a feel for the venue and the situation. After a short tour of the room, I move up to my first group of spectators and find I relax as soon as I start performing. Getting ready to perform doesn't start at that moment. There are things you can do whilst setting up for your show, or getting your props ready for a close up session. Let's look at a few things you can easily do before you perform your magic:

 

1) Breath, Relax, Meditate.

Suffering from nervousness before you perform can get in the way of your presentation, but it can also reduce your ability to perform sleight of hand. If you are stressed and unsure, your muscles will also be tense and that's not good for your performance.  Take a few moments to stop and breath. Slow breaths in and out can really help you to relax. Breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Count your breaths slowly as you do this, counting to ten and then returning back to 1 again. As you do this, try to focus only on your breathing. As your mind wanders, gently return your attention back to your breath.

Many performers also find that a simple visualisation can help. As you breathe out, imagine all the fear, negativity and doubt being breathed out along with the breath. As you breath in, imagine confidence and positivity are slowing flowing into you via your breath. Repeat this for a few minutes and see how it makes you feel.

2) Use a affirmation.

Lift both arms up into the air, as if you are running through the finish line in a race. Say to yourself


 'I feel fantastic, and everyone will love my magic.'


You will be surprised about how this makes you feel. There is a lot of research in publication about positive affirmation and posture to gain confidence.

3) Laugh and smile.

Before you perform to your first group of spectators, take a moment to tell  yourself a joke, or remember something that made you laugh. Bookmark a  few websites that have funny memes or stories that you can read just  before the show. Laugh and remember that feeling and keep it with you as you start your show.


Remember to be smiling as you perform. Even if you are focused on the mechanics or the situation around you, remember to keep a happy expression. You need to communicate that you are having a great time, so that those around you do the same.

4) Act energy.

You may be tired, stressed from traveling, or feeling a little ill, but you should not show it. If you feel tired and have no energy, fake it! You become how you act. Bound up a few steps to the entrance to the room, check the mirror before you walk in. Imagine feeling fantastic and full of energy and you will really feel it.  

5) Be playful

Remember that it's really not that significant. You aren't a brain surgeon, you  have nobody's life in your hands. It's just a bit of fun and entertainment for everyone. Nobody is taking is as seriously as you do yourself, after all your years of practice and angst. If something goes wrong, the whole room isn't going to stop and point at the door for you to leave. In reality, you can just shrug it off and carry on. Don't give yourself a hard time. Once of the most common reactions from magic students that do their first live gig, is a sense that it was all worry over nothing.

I hope this helps you

Dominic Reyes

 

 

Recommending Magicians When You Perform Magic Tricks – Dominic Reyes

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Magic Shows on TV

Should magicians recommend other magicians when they are performing magic for the public?

Dominic Reyes recorded this short video about an experience he had at a recent event at which he had been hired to perform magic. He was chatting to another magician at the event, who was complaining that he was being compared to several magicians on TV. Here's what Dominic told the magician about using that situation to his advantage:

 

As a magician, you might not like the fact that people compare you to magicians they see on TV, or that the magic you perform live, is different to much of the magic presented within a TV show. Dominic thinks that it doesn't matter what other performers think about TV magicians because they are not the target audience of the magic shows. Instead, he feels that it's far more important that people are being entertained by magic in general.

Dominic uses this to his advantage by recommending TV magic shows to his spectators. At the end of a set, he will tell the group to check out an up and coming TV show about magic that they won't want to miss. He puts down the details on his business card for them.

"Recommending a magic show that's about to be aired on TV has really helped me. I've noticed it directly in my booking rate. If I've been promoting a show at events leading up to a new series, I notice recontact emails from new clients spike in the few days after each TV episode. Clients are most likely to contact me just after they have seen me live, but by recommending a magic TV series, I pop into their heads, each time they watch that show. That's a lot of extra 'touch points' being created, and it's repaid the time I've taken to tell people about the magic shows many many times over. I hope it does the same for you." – Dominic Reyes

Recommending shows for his audience to watch, means that he remains in their minds much longer after his performance. He has found a way to HELP THEM further, and at the same time, become associated with their experience of magic long after they have seen him perform.