Nerves
When was the last time you got nervous when you performed? If you’re anything like me… the answer to that question would be the last time you performed. I have problems with nerves… butterflies, doubt in myself… no visible symptoms, though.
If you are having problems, don’t worry, there are ways to fix it.
First off, here are some symptoms of nerves:
-Shaky hands, legs, etc.
-Stuttering
-Getting the butterflies
-Doubting yourself
-Telling yourself not to perform
-Pacing, if you’re like me
-Profuse sweating
Now, here are some methods of dealing with nerves:
-Practice, practice, practice, until you’re confident enough with yourself to start performing for strangers.
-Perform the material that you are most comfortable with
-Scripting your material so you’re even more comfortable with the material you’re most comfortable with.
-Most importantly… perform as much as you can. At family gatherings, for your household family, for your friends, on the streets, in school, at McDonald’s… whenever and wherever you get a chance!
Hopefully some of these things will help you, and your nerves will be gone. Getting rid of nerves will help you greatly for performing in school, for a couple of reasons: A) you don’t have to say you learned the trick in Alaska B) Your peers will notice that you are more confident of yourself. If you’re always shaking when you’re performing, or stuttering, or anything like that, they will think you’re not very confident in yourself, and therefore that you are not very good.
Remember, you are a good magician! Have confidence in yourself… don’t try to compare yourself to more famous magicians, compare yourself to how you were a year, month, week, even a day ago!
Non-Supportive Parents
I have heard some teenagers say that their parents aren’t supportive of their magic… that they don’t want to buy it, watch it, or even hear about it. Once again, I’m lucky… I have never experienced this. My parents have always been behind me 100% in my magic.
Before I really get into this subject, I want to tell you a story about my cousin (let’s call him X just to make things simple). A couple of years back, my Dad bought me Nicholas Einhorn’s Practical Encyclopedia of Magic (great, great purchase… tons of info for only $5). I immediately got to work, learning, practicing, and performing. X caught wind of this, and thought magic was a cool hobby… so he decided he wanted to get into it, as well. So my Dad and I took him to the bookstore and bought him a copy of the Encyclopedia. He studied it, studied it some more, and really put a lot of time and effort into things. He loved performing, and up until about 4 months ago, his Dad was fine with it (you know where this is going, don’t you?). I introduced X to Penguin Magic, taught him a few things, recommended some great books (The Royal Road to Card Magic, Bobo’s, etc.), and he looked into buying them. However, as soon as he started wanting to spend more money on magic… his Dad “turned” on him. Now X isn’t allowed to buy any magic, and his Dad even gets mad when X is up in his room practicing. The moral of this story? There isn’t one; it was just a story that fit into this chapter.
There isn’t really a way around this… except to ask your relatives for magic stuff for Christmas/Birthday. I don’t know what it’s like not being able to buy new magic, but I can imagine how frustrating it could be. The only possible thing I could think of suggesting is to study the material you already have over and over and over again, and then perform every chance you get… especially when your parents are around. Maybe your parents will turn, and be supportive of you magic. You never know, it could work!
No Money!?!
So, you want to buy some new magic… but the problem is you don’t have any moolah, and your parents won’t help you out. What do you do? Go out and get a job! If you can get a job doing magic… that’s great. However, most people won’t be able to, so they’ll have to settle with, “Do you want fries with that?”
Having no money can be a real problem, but there is a quick fix to this. Save up $20, buy Mark Wilson’s Complete Course in Magic, and study it while saving up until you can make your next purchase. With this method, not only will you be able to purchase what you want, but you will also learn tons of great material… and because you’ll be studying it so much, you’ll know it like the back of your hand.
Now… for the bad solution. Please, if you can’t afford to buy the new magic you would like… don’t go looking for exposure on YouTube or whatever site you would go to. I’m to come out and admit it here and now… when I very first started magic, I thought exposure was “cool”, and it was the way to go… YouTube was my favorite site. I’m embarrassed to say it, and if you knew me now, you would never have guessed it, but it’s true. Please, refrain from using online exposure. All you’re doing is cheating the creators and distributors out of money. It’s just plain unethical… don’t do it.
Now I’m sure you’re probably wondering… “Drew, what kind of a jobs could a guy like me possible get hired to do?” So, I’ll give you some ideas to get your brain thinking:
-Mowing yards
-Working at a grocery store
-Babysitting (no, it’s not an “only girl” job… just like magic is not an “only guy” job)
-Cashier at a store
-Busboy at a restaurant
These are just some ideas that popped into my head… maybe you can try them out and see what works best for you! Good luck!
Running Out of Material
Have you ever been asked to perform in school… only to realize that you don’t have anything to show them that they haven’t already seen? I have, and let me tell you, it’s not a fun situation to be in. It can be embarrassing, and can put you in a very tough situation. You can seriously lose your reputation when someone says, “Hey, can you show me some magic?” And you have to say, “Sorry, I can’t.”
The first and easiest method of getting rid of this problem would be to limit how much magic you perform in school for each person. For example, maybe make it a rule to not perform for the same person more than once a week. That way you will pretty much always have something new to show them.
Another way, and one that I don’t recommend, is buying new material constantly. Although you will always have something new, you’ll get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of material, and not put enough practice into each effect/sleight. Then when somebody wants to see an effect, you will be able to show one to them, but it won’t be very good.
So, when performing in school, limit the amount of material you show to each person… it will help you in the long run.
Running Out of Time
Let’s pretend for a moment that you’re performing for someone at school, and you’re approaching the climax of the trick… the finale, if you will… and the bell rings! Of course, you have to stop the effect there and leave to make sure you get to your next class on time. What do you do in this case?
The simplest solution for this problem would be not using long effects, or plan on using your whole routines. I usually plan on performing only one effect, and I try to make it as quick as possible if I know the bell will be ringing soon. Now, this doesn’t mean take away from your presentation to make the effect shorter, just talk a little bit quicker, and be a bit more deliberate in what you do.
Another solution to this problem would be not performing during school, but rather before or after. If you perform before school, you could obviously still run into the problem of running out of time, but if you get there early enough, you’ll have plenty of time. Another problem I have with performing before school is people are often tired, and don’t really care to watch you perform. Now, there will be people who don’t want to watch, but say they do just because they don’t want to hurt your feelings. You probably won’t get the reactions you would have if it was say, at lunch, when they had been awake for a couple of hours.
However, yet another problem arises when you perform after school… most people have to get on buses, or get to their ride before they get left, so they won’t have time to watch you perform.
So… because of all these problems, I’m not going to tell you not to perform in school, because that would defeat the purpose of this whole essay, but rather to time your performances so that you won’t run out of time, and you won’t have to shorten your performance to make it fit.
When was the last time you got nervous when you performed? If you’re anything like me… the answer to that question would be the last time you performed. I have problems with nerves… butterflies, doubt in myself… no visible symptoms, though.
If you are having problems, don’t worry, there are ways to fix it.
First off, here are some symptoms of nerves:
-Shaky hands, legs, etc.
-Stuttering
-Getting the butterflies
-Doubting yourself
-Telling yourself not to perform
-Pacing, if you’re like me
-Profuse sweating
Now, here are some methods of dealing with nerves:
-Practice, practice, practice, until you’re confident enough with yourself to start performing for strangers.
-Perform the material that you are most comfortable with
-Scripting your material so you’re even more comfortable with the material you’re most comfortable with.
-Most importantly… perform as much as you can. At family gatherings, for your household family, for your friends, on the streets, in school, at McDonald’s… whenever and wherever you get a chance!
Hopefully some of these things will help you, and your nerves will be gone. Getting rid of nerves will help you greatly for performing in school, for a couple of reasons: A) you don’t have to say you learned the trick in Alaska B) Your peers will notice that you are more confident of yourself. If you’re always shaking when you’re performing, or stuttering, or anything like that, they will think you’re not very confident in yourself, and therefore that you are not very good.
Remember, you are a good magician! Have confidence in yourself… don’t try to compare yourself to more famous magicians, compare yourself to how you were a year, month, week, even a day ago!
Non-Supportive Parents
I have heard some teenagers say that their parents aren’t supportive of their magic… that they don’t want to buy it, watch it, or even hear about it. Once again, I’m lucky… I have never experienced this. My parents have always been behind me 100% in my magic.
Before I really get into this subject, I want to tell you a story about my cousin (let’s call him X just to make things simple). A couple of years back, my Dad bought me Nicholas Einhorn’s Practical Encyclopedia of Magic (great, great purchase… tons of info for only $5). I immediately got to work, learning, practicing, and performing. X caught wind of this, and thought magic was a cool hobby… so he decided he wanted to get into it, as well. So my Dad and I took him to the bookstore and bought him a copy of the Encyclopedia. He studied it, studied it some more, and really put a lot of time and effort into things. He loved performing, and up until about 4 months ago, his Dad was fine with it (you know where this is going, don’t you?). I introduced X to Penguin Magic, taught him a few things, recommended some great books (The Royal Road to Card Magic, Bobo’s, etc.), and he looked into buying them. However, as soon as he started wanting to spend more money on magic… his Dad “turned” on him. Now X isn’t allowed to buy any magic, and his Dad even gets mad when X is up in his room practicing. The moral of this story? There isn’t one; it was just a story that fit into this chapter.
There isn’t really a way around this… except to ask your relatives for magic stuff for Christmas/Birthday. I don’t know what it’s like not being able to buy new magic, but I can imagine how frustrating it could be. The only possible thing I could think of suggesting is to study the material you already have over and over and over again, and then perform every chance you get… especially when your parents are around. Maybe your parents will turn, and be supportive of you magic. You never know, it could work!
No Money!?!
So, you want to buy some new magic… but the problem is you don’t have any moolah, and your parents won’t help you out. What do you do? Go out and get a job! If you can get a job doing magic… that’s great. However, most people won’t be able to, so they’ll have to settle with, “Do you want fries with that?”
Having no money can be a real problem, but there is a quick fix to this. Save up $20, buy Mark Wilson’s Complete Course in Magic, and study it while saving up until you can make your next purchase. With this method, not only will you be able to purchase what you want, but you will also learn tons of great material… and because you’ll be studying it so much, you’ll know it like the back of your hand.
Now… for the bad solution. Please, if you can’t afford to buy the new magic you would like… don’t go looking for exposure on YouTube or whatever site you would go to. I’m to come out and admit it here and now… when I very first started magic, I thought exposure was “cool”, and it was the way to go… YouTube was my favorite site. I’m embarrassed to say it, and if you knew me now, you would never have guessed it, but it’s true. Please, refrain from using online exposure. All you’re doing is cheating the creators and distributors out of money. It’s just plain unethical… don’t do it.
Now I’m sure you’re probably wondering… “Drew, what kind of a jobs could a guy like me possible get hired to do?” So, I’ll give you some ideas to get your brain thinking:
-Mowing yards
-Working at a grocery store
-Babysitting (no, it’s not an “only girl” job… just like magic is not an “only guy” job)
-Cashier at a store
-Busboy at a restaurant
These are just some ideas that popped into my head… maybe you can try them out and see what works best for you! Good luck!
Running Out of Material
Have you ever been asked to perform in school… only to realize that you don’t have anything to show them that they haven’t already seen? I have, and let me tell you, it’s not a fun situation to be in. It can be embarrassing, and can put you in a very tough situation. You can seriously lose your reputation when someone says, “Hey, can you show me some magic?” And you have to say, “Sorry, I can’t.”
The first and easiest method of getting rid of this problem would be to limit how much magic you perform in school for each person. For example, maybe make it a rule to not perform for the same person more than once a week. That way you will pretty much always have something new to show them.
Another way, and one that I don’t recommend, is buying new material constantly. Although you will always have something new, you’ll get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of material, and not put enough practice into each effect/sleight. Then when somebody wants to see an effect, you will be able to show one to them, but it won’t be very good.
So, when performing in school, limit the amount of material you show to each person… it will help you in the long run.
Running Out of Time
Let’s pretend for a moment that you’re performing for someone at school, and you’re approaching the climax of the trick… the finale, if you will… and the bell rings! Of course, you have to stop the effect there and leave to make sure you get to your next class on time. What do you do in this case?
The simplest solution for this problem would be not using long effects, or plan on using your whole routines. I usually plan on performing only one effect, and I try to make it as quick as possible if I know the bell will be ringing soon. Now, this doesn’t mean take away from your presentation to make the effect shorter, just talk a little bit quicker, and be a bit more deliberate in what you do.
Another solution to this problem would be not performing during school, but rather before or after. If you perform before school, you could obviously still run into the problem of running out of time, but if you get there early enough, you’ll have plenty of time. Another problem I have with performing before school is people are often tired, and don’t really care to watch you perform. Now, there will be people who don’t want to watch, but say they do just because they don’t want to hurt your feelings. You probably won’t get the reactions you would have if it was say, at lunch, when they had been awake for a couple of hours.
However, yet another problem arises when you perform after school… most people have to get on buses, or get to their ride before they get left, so they won’t have time to watch you perform.
So… because of all these problems, I’m not going to tell you not to perform in school, because that would defeat the purpose of this whole essay, but rather to time your performances so that you won’t run out of time, and you won’t have to shorten your performance to make it fit.
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