How to Start out as a Magician and Get Experience

Samuel didn't know how to start out as a magician

I received this email from a young magician:

'I emailed you about how to go about getting a first gig, and you told me that as I was 14, I should consider doing some charity events. I spoke to members of our towns committee about it, and they seemed more than happy to take me on. I am now getting lots of gigs, so I thought I should say thank you, as you gave me the original advice that started it all off. So thank you very much for your great advice.' – Samuel Prior

This got me thinking about the advice I game Samuel when he was 14. It applies to young magicians that are just starting out and are having trouble being taken seriously when they approach venues or companies to pitch their magic. However, I think the advice is solid for magicians of any age, when they have the catch 22 situation of needing experience, but struggling to get gigs because of that reason:

If you want to do magic as a paid performer, you HAVE to get out and start performing for the public. Nobody will come to you and beg to hire you, so you need to put yourself in public situations where you can perform professionally. The easiest way to do this is to HELP YOUR COMMUNITY by offering your services at local charity and community events. That first step will give you the confidence to market yourself, get your name out, and push forward to get future paid work as a magician. If you have been thinking about doing this for a while, now is the time to act. Contact your local community centre TODAY, and ask them about events coming up that could use some free entertainment. It's just a phone call, but it's that first step that you have to make sooner or later..

Do you know a keen magician that has been thinking about doing paid work, but has yet to take that first step? If so, email or text them a link to this page. A little push from someone that cares about them is all it might take..

Are you already a working magician and have some advice for magicians just starting out? How did you get your feet off the ground performing? Maybe you are in the same position Samuel was in, and have a question? Leave a comment in the section at the bottom of this page.

3 Mistakes Magicians Make Building Magic Trick Routines

by Dominic Reyes 2 Comments

Gideon contacted the Merchant of Magic because he is having problems routining his magic tricks

Gideon writes:

'I have my first performance in a month (I do mostly close-up magic) and I'm struggling with how to put together a cohesive routine.

Also, I'm having trouble with making my classic pass undetectable. Can you help?'

We can certainly help! There are 3 common mistakes that magicians make when trying to build their magic tricks into a cohesive routine or act.

1) Forgetting about pocket managment

When creating your routines, it's important that you think about pocket management. This is one of the most common mistakes magicians make. It's nice to have routines that all have an underlying theme, but for general close-up magic it is not so important. Make sure your tricks flow and and that you notice how much attention you pay to your spectators as opposed to yourself and your props.

Have you tried practicing your routines fully in whatever you will wear when you perform? Are you planning where every prop will go for the beginning of your routines, but failing to think about where you will ditch them or put them back when you have finished? If you are mid-performance and searching or fidgeting for props in your pocket, this can cause confusion and make you lose the flow of the routine. It is these moments that can knock you the most when you perform.

When practicing, wear you suit jacket or whatever outfit you will perform in. Run through three or four routines, and make a note of where you put things back at the end of the routine. Try to pay attention to keeping your props organised. This way, when you approach the next group you are not fidgeting around looking for a sharpie or a coin, or worse still an important gimmick like a coin bender!

2) Failing to remember that the tricks must compliment each other

Try to look at things that will compliment each other without cluttering up your pockets. Add a little variety, it can be boring to do three transposition magic tricks in a row. For a magician, it can seem interesting if tricks get gradually more impossible or use a different method each time. Unless you convey this point to the spectators, it won't translate.

3) Picking tricks that are secretly identical

Sometimes a magic trick can seem different to us because we know the method, but the spectators may see it as the same effect. For example, you could have one playing card in your wallet that your spectators somehow name. This is the same sort of trick as having your spectator name a playing card, and you then show it to be the only one reversed in a deck of cards.

Performing a perfect pass

With regards to sleight of hand moves such as the Pass. The pass, when it was first originally taught, was never meant to be seen. It was regarded as invisible because performers used it with the correct misdirection. Sleights like this were never meant to be invisible to a watching eye. On more than one occasion, I've stood still and paused (before needing to do a move with cards) when everyone was looking at my hands. I couldn't do the move without pointing it out. So I just sat there; relaxed, and said with a chuckle:

“Well, I'm not gonna do anything if you look that close!”

That's kind of a funny thing to say, but it can give you ample time to do a move under the laughs and misdirection.

Do not sweat the invisible-ness of your pass just make sure you are more engaging and entertaining to look at than your cards, and you will be fine. If you can perform a competent pass without looking or and fidgeting with the cards, then that will suffice. You can always use you body to cover actions such as the pass. Turn from side to side as you perform it. Sometimes when I am at tables, I will crouch down to the table edge, so I am more on their eye line, and it is when I crouch down that I perform the move. Think about this as well, if you've seen some videos on YouTube or the internet, of people doing really invisible passes. Imagine if there was more than one camera set up on them. You only see one angle. If you had 8 or 9 of those cameras chances were, you would see a massive flash of what's going on.

I hope this helps Gideon, great work on getting out there, just make sure you have fun. If you do simple things and have fun it will be better than you doing complicated tricks and being nervous or unsettled throughout your performance.

Please let us know if there is anything else we can do for you and let us know how the gig went!

Card Magic Tricks – The Elmsley Count – A Magicians Progress

by Dominic Reyes Leave a Comment

Just two weeks ago John Hutchison didn't think he would ever learn card magic tricks using sleight of hand.

However, he is working through our Sleight of Hand for Beginners course. We ask each student of the course to send in progress videos of their work drilling the techniques. John sent us this video and we think he has made excellent procress in just two weeks of drilling the techniques as the course has shown him:

'Just dropping a quick mail with my first ever recording of me performing the Elmsley Count – I've had to improvise a tripod with my webcam using a couple of coffee jars and some Blu-Tak 😉 Unfortunately the sound isn't too good, but at least it disguises my rather shameful patter! There are some things I spotted in there that still need work before I can unleash this on the public, but given that just two weeks ago I couldn't even begin to consider sleight of hand tricks, I'm really happy with the progress so far. Loving it so far, and really looking forward to months 2 and 3.' – John Hutchison

Great work John

Your timing is very good indeed. It really is all about the timing and flow of the technique. Not too rushed and not too slow. Try to focus lifting the ace lifting of the ace as natural as possible. Keep going with this, and remember say your patter loudly and clearly. Even when you practice, you should speak as if someone is actually there watching you. Begin to look away from the cards inbetween phases, and address the audience with eye contact, before doing the next phase. The patter should have energy so it doesn't seem focused on the mechanics.

Very impressive for so early in the drill process.

I'm also detecting some tension in your hands, that's because you are really concentrating. As you drill, you will find that the timing starts to remain constant, but your hands will relax a little more. It's a subtle difference, and not one that you can force. Just keep drilling and it will be the natural result of the drilling process.

Keep going and let me know how you get on

Dominic Reyes