I’m Shy Doing Magic Tricks For Friends

I asked Scott: What are you struggling with right now?

Here’s how he replied:

I’m an older guy, but a beginner magician. In my professional life, I present material in front of crowds and run meetings all day long – and fearlessly. But, when it comes to debuting my new little magic trick to friends I am uncharacteristically shy – I can’t bring myself to do it.

This failure to perform is affecting my practice, since it’s non-motivating to spend hours on a trick no one will see. This lack of confidence also leads me to over-thinking – is the patter right, what other tricks should I link it to, etc.

Just spelling out the problem gives me stuff to think about, but I was touched by your request and thought I’d make myself respond.

Thank you for any thoughts you have, Scott

Scott talks in front of a crowd professionally, and runs meetings all day long… But in those situations he is a different person. He are in a professional role, playing a ‘part’.

Many of us become shy doing magic tricks for friends, because they see us differently. We are seen and treated differently by different groups of people… Our friends see through the magician BS.. We are laid bare.

Your friends know you don’t really have powers.. They feel comfortable heckling you. Why shouldn’t they? There’s no need for them to play by the same rules that your audience or meeting members have too. Their social norms are different..

All this can throw magicians off their game, and it’s usually why beginners struggle.. The toughest audience is our family and friends. Ironically, that’s the very audience most beginners face first of all.

If you can relate to this is your own life and find you become shy doing magic tricks for your friends or family, read this free ebook as its full strategies that will help

The Pitfall of Performing to Family and Friends – by Dominic Reyes

I hope this helps you

Dominic Reyes

How to Get Reactions Like Dynamo

by Dominic Reyes 1 Comment

So, you want to learn how to get reactions like Dynamo? Doesn’t everybody?!!?

By Ben Williams

Below is a question we were asked through our customer support email. If you have any questions you would like answered to help you become a better magician please do not hesitate to get in contact

Hey, What makes Dynamo’s magic, so unbelievable? The reactions he gets are different to a normal magician, they literally go mad. Is it the way he does the trick or is it the trick itself? I have no intentions of being like him, but I just would love some tips on how to get reactions like Dynamo..

In order to get great reactions there are a few things you must be aware of first. These have nothing to do with magic or magic tricks, this advice is purely about you, it will help you in all walks of life, with anything that requires meeting other people.

Presentation of yourself

First and foremost, are you presentable? We don’t mean: are you in a suit and tie?, It’s more basic than that. Have you showered? Are your fingernails a mess? Have you styled or brushed your hair? Have you cleaned your teeth and have fresh breath? Personal hygiene is something that nearly everyone judges straight away. Make sure you aren’t judged negatively before you have a chance to show them what you can do. Be completely honest with yourself here, would you like to be approached by someone who looked like you? Whether you like it or not, first impressions count, it is in human nature to make a snap analysis of whoever you meet. This is set into our genes, it is part of our survival instincts, you cannot avoid it. If you cannot avoid something and it stands in your way, you have to learn to understand it so you can work with it.

Secondly, make sure you look like someone people want to be around. Smile, be pleasant, polite and always thankful to people you meet. Use common courtesy and manners, after all, these things are free and go a long way. If you are courteous to people and polite then they are more likely to open up to you. If someone will not open up to you then you will never get a great reaction from them. You must break down any social barriers before they will open up and give you that moment you are searching for.

The presentation of your magic tricks.

Magic tricks aren’t what will give you that great reaction, they can help for sure, but it’s more than that… A good, well presented, and thought through magic trick is obviously better than a poor magic trick that is not well thought out. However, even an average magic trick performed well, is better than a great magic trick performed poorly. Presentation, patter and timing; all of these things go into making a strong performance, which will in turn get you better reactions.

Make sure you know how you are going to present your magic. The problem with a basic, ‘just watch’ presentation is that the execution must be perfect, and you will most likely open yourself up to a whole pile of questions and queries after your performance. This is not good, and it will quickly diminish any reaction you have. Dynamo has the opportunity to walk away after he performs, this is great for him and for his show, but will not work for most performing situations. Dynamo has a film crew staying with the spectators and recording reactions.. If you walked away, you wouldn’t know how they reacted!

Present the ‘moment’

When using minimal patter, what you are presenting is a ‘moment’, not an experience. When you patter and hook people into what you are saying you are making their brain work so you have more opportunity to get them to focus so you will be able to build your routine and build their anticipation before the final moment when the magic happens. They will be so caught up in your presentation so you will have a much better chance of getting a great reaction.

Non verbal communication.

The human race speaks to each other in many ways other than talking. Body language can go a long way.. Learn to be confident and open with your gestures, you may see lots of people use a gesture with their arms spread open when they finish a routine, this is called an applause cue, you are secretly cuing them to give you a round of applause. You can also act shocked and be animated to raise the energy in the performance. By moving quicker (or slower if your routine is that way inclined) you can control your spectator’s energy levels, if you present yourself well initially, you will have built some rapport with the spectators, so they will follow along subconsciously and their energy levels will increase too. Build energy and at the moment of magic, you will have a much greater chance of them reacting in a wilder way than they would usually.

Eye contact is your friend, you can definitely unnerve people and make them feel like something strange is occurring just by using eye contact. Stare at your spectators and let the stare linger for a split second more than what is comfortable, you will get used to this. Do not stare intently at them for a long time, think mysterious just a moment longer than usual. It is way too easy to come across as either flirty or over the top weird.. be aware of that.

The final last resort.

There is yet another way to get louder reactions. Simply ask for it. If you do this in a jokey fashion, for example, you say to your spectators,

‘Last time I did this, someone fainted and someone else ran away and changed religion.. Everyone else simply screamed! If you can all do that for me then I would appreciate it! Also, it’ll make that group of people over there freak out and wonder what is going on!’

This is a cheeky method, but done right it is cheeky and not cheesy. You are obviously being satirical with your comment as it is over the top, but if you ask for an 8 reaction, you may get a 7 or 6, so why not ask for an 11 and you may just get a 9! If you are going to do this, it works better if done a bit tongue in cheek. Don’t be too serious on them, the key is a cheeky playful attitude..

So there you go! Sadly, there is not ‘a trick’ or ‘a secret’ to getting great reactions, it certainly does not have a formula, but these are some of the things that work for many professional magicians . I hope they work for you too.

Image Source Nightmares Fear Factory

Creating Non-Awkward Patter for Magic Tricks.

by Dominic Reyes Leave a Comment

Taylor writes:

Hi Dominic! I wanted to definitely mention that your site is amazing as I’ve already downloaded 3 books you offered for free on magic. I’m still a bit of a novice but I really prefer card and up close magic, and I perform in front of friends a lot (already read your help on that by the way). I struggle creating non-awkward patter through my tricks.

Thanks for the kind words about the site. I’m glad it’s helping you. Unless you are performing to complete strangers, a great deal of ‘patter’ can come across as awkward because it seems to the audience that you are changing yourself.

For family and friends, it’s essential that your presentational style is authentic. It has to present a version of YOU that the audience already recognises. It you appear to change into someone else, it’s very difficult for people close to you, to take you seriously. The change in tone and personality shouts ‘fake’ and it pulls them out of the performance.

You need your presentation to be ‘authentic’…natural.. an extension of your real personality.

Imagine you are simply chatting with your family. You would be relaxed, open, and yourself. That’s how you should present your tricks.. If you are performing to family and friends you HAVE to be yourself. They already know and love a version of you, so you can’t change that.

You should still practice a presentation, but it has to be in your everyday style.

That’s one of the big differences between performing socially or commercially. Once you have an audience of the general public, that’s when you can use an alternative persona.

I hope this helps you

Dominic Reyes