Can anyone help support a young aspiring female magician grow?

[MissMagic_photos]

Hey all,
I've been doing magic just over 12months and I practice as much as I can sometimes even 3/4 hours a day and I have really learnt a lot in this time and I have so much respect for everyone in this industry who have magic as their full time job...I'm just a teenage girl with a dream I have become obsessed with magic as it was a way out of bullying and depression, I used magic to take my mind away from negative thoughts. Since I have become more and more obsessed and having magic on my mind 24/7 pretty much I've had inspiration to try to combine two things I love one is taking photos/videos and the other is magic. So I recently set up a YouTube channel and I've been working really hard learning how to edit and all the other hard work that goes into making one video I was just wondering if anyone on here could help me out with achieving my goals even if it's watching 1 of my videos for even a split second I would greatly appreciate it my channel is about doing performances and when I've built up the courage I'm going to go on the local streets and video a performance I'm not into any of that making a tutorial stuff on someone else's hard work and revealing something I just like to show performances of what I have picked up on and how I am improving always sorry this is so long and boring but please if anyone would give my channel a quick check or even SUBSCRIBE I'd love it if you would help me on my journey to success

 

[Gabriel Z.]

I can't help but I can give some solid advice if that counts. I've been handling cards for just under 5 years now, and their are a lot of resources out there. The young Youtube magicians seem to be very competitive and have one thing on their minds(Becoming the best) . You multiply this by a couple of thousand times maybe more what do you get? .... A lot of people doing the same thing you are... I have a youtube channel as well( Mostly abandoned but it's still there https://www.youtube.com/user/Zudeck1985). I think that the best plan is to study the masters and not worry about displaying your skill to the entire world. I made the same mistake , looking back I should have just kept practicing because all the videos that I filmed took up a chunk of time that could have been spent practicing. I mean think about it, you have to set up the camera you have to get the light just right etc. From the looks of it you like cards , so everyday you wake up you should be waking up with a deck of cards in your hand. I don't know if you have seen the documentary DEALT with Richard Turner, the card mechanic (Best in the world)... Well anyway in the film one of his friends described that he once saw Richard Turner a sleep in a recliner he woke up and continued shuffling ....I'm not saying you should be this obsessive , but the closer the better. 3-4 hours is a good start. I read somewhere that Darwin Ortiz practices at least 4 hours a day religiously so this is a good goal. Jason England is my favorite Card Magicians he has a video that is free https://store.theory11.com/products/what-to-read-jason-england Hope this helps. Hope this helps and Welcome to Theory11.com.

 

[Lord Magic]

Hey all,
I've been doing magic just over 12months and I practice as much as I can sometimes even 3/4 hours a day and I have really learnt a lot in this time and I have so much respect for everyone in this industry who have magic as their full time job...I'm just a teenage girl with a dream I have become obsessed with magic as it was a way out of bullying and depression, I used magic to take my mind away from negative thoughts. Since I have become more and more obsessed and having magic on my mind 24/7 pretty much I've had inspiration to try to combine two things I love one is taking photos/videos and the other is magic. So I recently set up a YouTube channel and I've been working really hard learning how to edit and all the other hard work that goes into making one video I was just wondering if anyone on here could help me out with achieving my goals even if it's watching 1 of my videos for even a split second I would greatly appreciate it my channel is about doing performances and when I've built up the courage I'm going to go on the local streets and video a performance I'm not into any of that making a tutorial stuff on someone else's hard work and revealing something I just like to show performances of what I have picked up on and how I am improving always sorry this is so long and boring but please if anyone would give my channel a quick check or even SUBSCRIBE I'd love it if you would help me on my journey to success

don't worry,
THE WHOLE MAGIC COMMUNITY STANDS BEHIND YOU!!! XD
no srsly tho, there's a lot of support in this industry...a LOT. Mostly because we HAVE to keep stuff to ourselves, we are more tightly bound than any other community, singers, dancers, actors, whatever...
And so, try to get more LAYMEN notice you.
Reveal one or two simplest of tricks, like a pen sticking to your hand and that sort of stuff...why? Because it gets people to notice you...although if you don't wanna, I understand.
And then, am sure you'd make it to trending someday
I'll drop in a sub sometime

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

My advice (this ended up kind of all over the place - sorry about that, I haven't had enough coffee yet):

Keep working at what you enjoy doing. Look at other examples and learn from them. You'll have to copy people for some time, until you get the feel for what works for you and what doesn't. Then you can really start developing your own voice and mode of expression.

Put your work out there for people to see, but don't take things personally. There's going to be jerks responding to your videos and posts, ignore them. You're also going to encounter an annoyance specific to being female. Magic is still largely a boy's club and you will probably encounter some unpleasant comments relating to that as well. Ignore those, too.

Check out Ekaterina Dobrokhotova (I think I got that right), Carisa Hendrix, Fay Presto, Misty Lee, Angela Funovitz, Ning Cai - all excellent performers who are quite successful. Oh, and the Sacred Riana is gaining a lot of popularity since she did so well on Asia's Got Talent.

It's good to have people to look up to, and I'm betting at least a few of them would be happy to email with you regarding how to progress in this field. They will have insights that men just don't have.

Keep at it!

Also, remember this: If you get subs by revealing tricks, those people will stop paying attention when you stop revealing tricks. You don't want people who are happy to take free stuff from you (knowledge, in this case), you want people who are happy to support you for real. You may want to look into Patreon down the road. It's kind of the bastard love child of YouTube and Kickstarter.

Oh. And look for critiques from people you trust, and listen to them. Nothing will help you grow faster than someone who knows what they are talking about pointing out your errors. It can be hard to listen to, but it's important. If the only feedback you get is "This is great!" you need new people to look at it. If someone can't see anything negative about what you're doing, it means one of three things: 1) You've perfected it (unlikely - we're all, always able to improve), 2) The person is afraid to give you honest feedback, or 3) The person doesn't know any better and can't see the flaws.

Don't worry about picking up the newest greatest thing all the time. The best material is already printed in books, and most of what comes out now is just variations of that material. I'm not saying never buy new stuff, just be aware that you don't have to. The next trick isn't going to make you the master magician you want to be - mastering magic will do that, and you "master" magic by practicing, rehearsing, and performing - and then refining. I spent the weekend reading Maximum Entertainment by Ken Weber and Strong Magic by Darwin Ortiz - not one trick taught in either, and I learned more from them than I have in months.

Study magic theory, study theater skills, learn how to present magic effectively. No matter how good your tricks are, no one will care if you can't present them well. The nice benefit of learning how to perform well is that you will end up more confident and self-assured in general. When you know you can stand up in front of a hundred or a thousand people and captivate the audience, most of your life will seem pretty easy in comparison.

And again - Keep at it! Explore. Learn. Practice. Perform. Express yourself.

 

[Lord Magic]

My advice (this ended up kind of all over the place - sorry about that, I haven't had enough coffee yet):

Keep working at what you enjoy doing. Look at other examples and learn from them. You'll have to copy people for some time, until you get the feel for what works for you and what doesn't. Then you can really start developing your own voice and mode of expression.

Put your work out there for people to see, but don't take things personally. There's going to be jerks responding to your videos and posts, ignore them. You're also going to encounter an annoyance specific to being female. Magic is still largely a boy's club and you will probably encounter some unpleasant comments relating to that as well. Ignore those, too.

Check out Ekaterina Dobrokhotova (I think I got that right), Carisa Hendrix, Fay Presto, Misty Lee, Angela Funovitz, Ning Cai - all excellent performers who are quite successful. Oh, and the Sacred Riana is gaining a lot of popularity since she did so well on Asia's Got Talent.

It's good to have people to look up to, and I'm betting at least a few of them would be happy to email with you regarding how to progress in this field. They will have insights that men just don't have.

Keep at it!

Also, remember this: If you get subs by revealing tricks, those people will stop paying attention when you stop revealing tricks. You don't want people who are happy to take free stuff from you (knowledge, in this case), you want people who are happy to support you for real. You may want to look into Patreon down the road. It's kind of the bastard love child of YouTube and Kickstarter.

Oh. And look for critiques from people you trust, and listen to them. Nothing will help you grow faster than someone who knows what they are talking about pointing out your errors. It can be hard to listen to, but it's important. If the only feedback you get is "This is great!" you need new people to look at it. If someone can't see anything negative about what you're doing, it means one of three things: 1) You've perfected it (unlikely - we're all, always able to improve), 2) The person is afraid to give you honest feedback, or 3) The person doesn't know any better and can't see the flaws.

Don't worry about picking up the newest greatest thing all the time. The best material is already printed in books, and most of what comes out now is just variations of that material. I'm not saying never buy new stuff, just be aware that you don't have to. The next trick isn't going to make you the master magician you want to be - mastering magic will do that, and you "master" magic by practicing, rehearsing, and performing - and then refining. I spent the weekend reading Maximum Entertainment by Ken Weber and Strong Magic by Darwin Ortiz - not one trick taught in either, and I learned more from them than I have in months.

Study magic theory, study theater skills, learn how to present magic effectively. No matter how good your tricks are, no one will care if you can't present them well. The nice benefit of learning how to perform well is that you will end up more confident and self-assured in general. When you know you can stand up in front of a hundred or a thousand people and captivate the audience, most of your life will seem pretty easy in comparison.

And again - Keep at it! Explore. Learn. Practice. Perform. Express yourself.

Katherine Mills!

 

[Al e Cat Dabra]

Miss Magic,
You handle the cards well, and nice production quality on the video. It says a lot about magic that it can be a vehicle for bringing someone out of the huge challenges posed by bullying and depression - and it says a lot about you that you have been able to rise above the negative and direct your thoughts positively and constructively by identifying and pursuing a dream. To become truly great in magic, in fact, any of the arts, takes dedication, perseverance and yes, obsession. You have that. I have been obsessed with magic since my first show at age 6. Always believe in yourself and follow your dream. You CAN achieve it! I will be looking for great things from you!

 

[TylerScottIllusionist]

So I really liked your editing of your videos! The way you blended the lighting and music in some of them meshed really well. Also you were very wise in choosing a blank background for the video you shared on here. I can tell you have quite a bit of skill when it comes to shooting an editing.

The only thing I would suggest is to put a little more of yourself into your videos. What I mean by that is what we see is a bunch of hands holding cards. I didn't watch the video you shared on here all the way through because it was hard to keep focused on a 9 minute video without any kind of connection. What would have hooked me is if you would have spoke while doing cardistry and basically turn it into a review. Another video you had called street magic, although it was artistically very pleasing, I was disappointed to see that there wasn't any actual street magic that was performed. And that's about all I would recommend to improve at this point.

I think you just need to keep at it and you will definitely grow your subscriber base. Also look into Jen Kramer. She is a magician in Vegas that I respect a lot as a performer.