Amy Cuddy gave an excellent TED talk showing how body language can change not only how people see you, but also how you feel about yourself and your own abilities. For magicians, this is essential advice.

I highly recommend you take the time to watch her talk on this subject:

Close up magicians cold call social groups and attempt to form a relationship many times each booking. As you approach each group, you are making a first impression, in much the same way as a job interview. In the first few moments of your introduction, spectators are making assumptions about you based on your appearance, posture, expression and behaviour. A positive and confident approach goes a long way towards smoothing your introduction into the group and their willingness to give you attention.

Problems for magicians.

When a magician approaches a new group of people, he or she has several obstacles to overcome including:

Capturing attention.
Developing a rappor.
Dealing with alpha spectators in a power play for group attention.
Overcoming stereotypes.
Engaging interest in the magic.

That's a lot of work to do, in the first few seconds of your introduction. Even established professional magicians experience a form of stage fright when they first start performing at a gig. This stage fright can often present itself as a nagging doubt in your own abilities, act, or the audience's interest in seeing your magic. Many magicians experience a fear of 'being found out' as if everyone will suddenly accuse them of not really being a magician. It's not so much about the magic tricks going wrong, but an irrational feeling that everyone will say. 'hang on, you're not really a magician are you!' This feeling stems from feeling that you are just playing the part of a magician, rather than actually being one.

Magicians need to establish their confidence and proficiency as quickly as possible. A slouched, closed posture signals insecurity. Spending time working on your posture, stance, and body language can radically transform your success as a magician.

Our own confidence greatly affects the overall reactions that our magic performance produce. That's why Amy Cuddy's advice is so useful to performers. If we send the time before a gig, ensuring that our own frame of mind is positive and confident, it will resonate throughout our who performance. Amy demonstrates that being aware of your body language, and accepting the ability to 'fake it until you make it' can lead you to 'fake it until you become it!'.

How to Be Yourself as a Magician – Dominic Reyes Video

by Dominic Reyes 3 Comments

The Merchant of Magic Team are often asked questions about how to create a performing persona as a magician. Many magicians that have yet to perform their magic tricks to an audience worry about how to present themselves in an entertaining way.

Dominic Reyes has recorded a short video, in which he talks about how to present yourself in an authentic way, yet maintain a professional and entertaining persona as a magician:

4 Quick Tips on how to be yourself when you perform as a magician:

1) Most magicians, unless they have a specific character that dictates their performance, just need to be themselves. An energetic, happy, and enthusiastic version of yourself.

2) Try to avoid stock jokes and one liners, they usually come across as fake, unless they have been cleverly built into your presentation in a way that perfectly matches your personality.

3) Assume that the group of spectators already loves magic, and can't wait to see you perform. Appraoch with a sence of fun an excitment about the magic you are about to show them.

4) Remember that a close up magic presentation is really a conversation. Your smiles and eye contact are just as important as the magic trick you are showing. People want an interaction with someone they like, far more than the trick itself. Your personality needs to be authentic, so it feels genuine. It's very easy to spot a fake persona.

How Magicians Find Their Core Skills – Advice from Gary Jones

by Dominic Reyes 1 Comment

Dominic Reyes up with professional magician Gary Jones, and he took time out to record a short video about discovering your own core skills in magic.

Gary Jones makes a valuable point here. It's so easy to feel that we need to master every move in magic. This gets reinforced as we watch other magicians perform, especially if you watch a lot of magic DVD's. We see many magicians, each performing their own magic tricks with an expert ease. In truth, we are seeing each performers BEST material. The half practiced, off the mark, or near miss material never gets the spot light. As a result, it's easy for us to assume that each professional magician is a master of all the classic techniques, and we should be the same.

In reality, each person has different strengths and weaknesses. One performer may naturally have a talent for manipulation, another may excel at palming, a third may not have much dexterity, but they are highly empathic and express that though skilled communication. Although some magicians achieve perfection across everything they work on, most tend to find a few core moves of techniques that they find easy to use. Once they have this core set of skills, they adapt and develop magic tricks that use these advantages.

DO THIS:

Make a list of the techniques that you find easy to perform.

Look at your other magic tricks and think about how they coul be adapted to use the moves you already have mastered.

There's no need to reinvent the wheel. Use your existing strengths, adapt your material and make the most of what you already know.