Showcasing magic and learning through YouTube

[MissMagic_photos]

hey everyone,
I know there is a big debate about teaching magic on YouTube (when they don't have permission to do so) I totally get this but I'd like to showcase the skills and tricks I have learned over the past year and 3months to YouTube just for entertainment purposes and to show family friends and people in my local area what I am really about I've just uploaded a video about 20 minutes ago I would really appreciate the support if anyone could watch

 

[Biz]

1- Don't go off camera
2- Instead of a cardistry false cut, go for something more natural, like a false overhand shuffle, or if you're doing table magic, then you can definitely do a few false table cuts that look a lot more natural than the cardistry cut.
3- Why was it necessary to turn half of the deck face up to have a card selected?
4- Practice your double lift. You get a smooth double lift and suddenly your effects look much cleaner.

Post another video in 3 months and lets see your progress

hey everyone,
I know there is a big debate about teaching magic on YouTube (when they don't have permission to do so) I totally get this but I'd like to showcase the skills and tricks I have learned over the past year and 3months to YouTube just for entertainment purposes and to show family friends and people in my local area what I am really about I've just uploaded a video about 20 minutes ago I would really appreciate the support if anyone could watch

 

[Dockler]

I hate to seem so negative, so please try to take this as advice: this does not look like a year and three months of practice. One of the first things taught in beginners magic books is making things look natural, like you're not doing a move. Study how you normally pick up a card, or how you normally shuffle, and mimic that. Youtube is useful to an extent and it's how I got interested enough to buy books.

If you had practiced with books for a year and 3 months instead of with youtube, you could easily be so much better. Start off with card college vol 1-2. Most people recommend Royal Road, but having read both, card college just seemed easier to understand and got its points across more clearly

 

[Maaz Hasan]

What these guys said is true.
I don't want to demoralize you, so take this as constructive criticism:
The performance itself was pretty bad. You do need to work on your DL, and you exaggerated random movements and just made it look suspicious. And you did flash a bit. Furthermore, there was no reasoning behind the performance. You did just random stuff to accomplish this effect. The camera is not the best way to go, it'll just develop bad performance habits.

I suggest you do what @Dockler said. Buy the Royal Road or Card College (if you are willing to pay the higher price, Card College is the way to go. It'll teach you the same stuff as the Royal Road, but in modern fashion, and it goes super in depth) and just work through the basics. Your performance can be increased tenfold with just that.

 

[TylerScottIllusionist]

I think what everyone here is missing is the big picture: You are performing a card trick to a webcam/camera.

I have preached this consistently on here (granted it's just my opinion) that there is nothing more boring than doing a card trick to a camera. Plus it is one of the worst things you can do for yourself as a performer. There is no engagement or anything else for us to focus on, so our eyes will be burning your hands the entire time. It doesn't matter if you post another video on here in three months, the same exact situation is going to happen. We are going to burn your hands the entire time and notice any little thing that you do. I do agree that learning from books is a better resource than YouTube but I want to focus on the real issue that I see.

What I would suggest doing is having a friend filming you perform this live for someone. You can't really use misdirection on a camera (due to the fact that people can replay and watch as many times as they want) and it's a huge complication when I use eye contact/directions to misdirect people most of the time and on camera that doesn't work so well. If you share a video of you doing a live performance on someone we can critique on how you actually are as a performer rather than judge you based on burning your hands for an entire video. This will not be as easy to film; you will have to get over performance anxiety, you can't just do several reshoots (in fact you usually only get that one take unless you move on to someone else), and you will have to develop patter. But if you are willing to take on the extra challenge and film yourself as a live performer, I guarantee you will become better than 90% of the wannabes that seem to know everything on the internet.

Good luck!

 

[kennethcmerrill]

hey everyone,
I know there is a big debate about teaching magic on YouTube (when they don't have permission to do so) I totally get this but I'd like to showcase the skills and tricks I have learned over the past year and 3months to YouTube just for entertainment purposes and to show family friends and people in my local area what I am really about I've just uploaded a video about 20 minutes ago I would really appreciate the support if anyone could watch

Hey Miss Magic! I'm super super happy to see more female magicians posting on here. There are truly not enough of you guys (gals?), and I hope to see more of your work in the future. I can't imagine what it's like trying to join such a male-dominated discipline/culture.

What I like about your performance is that it's all very deliberate. I don't see a lot of fumbling (though DL's can always use more practice). If it were me, I would change the handling a bit, but the overall effect is nice, and you could turn this into a great routine.

I do agree with a lot of what these other guys are saying. I think overall it just looks like you're doing moves and being very careful with the cards, throughout the routine. People may not know exactly what you're doing, but performed as it is now, they will know exactly when you're doing something. Performing for real people will be the crux of figuring your presentation out. Yes your technique could still use some finesse, but the most important aspect of performing is controlling what your audience sees and when. Maybe you actually do better when you're performing for people, since it won't just be all eyes on the deck all the time. It's just hard to know what to think of this effect with no audience involved.

I can tell by your attitude that you're eager and able to dedicate a lot of time and effort to things--it shows. I think with further practice but especially with more performances for real people you'll gain the naturalness everyone is talking about. If you're brave enough for it, I would ask a friend to record you performing for another friend, and then watch yourself. You'll learn a lot!

...

As for everyone else, in the future I recommend the "criticism sandwich." People don't respond well to direct volleys of strong criticism. They'll more than likely get defensive, think you "just don't understand" or are just trying to shut people out of your precious "art." Instead, first point out at least one good thing about the work, show that you're truly on their side, then offer constructive criticism (avoiding not-very-useful generalizations like "bad"), focusing on the root issues of the work--cosmetic issues usually work themselves out with time. And finally, end on a high note, encouraging the person to keep it up and let them know that with some adjustments, they will be on the right track. Good luck!

 

[Biz]

As for everyone else, in the future I recommend the "criticism sandwich." People don't respond well to direct volleys of strong criticism. They'll more than likely get defensive, think you "just don't understand" or are just trying to shut people out of your precious "art." Instead, first point out at least one good thing about the work, show that you're truly on their side, then offer constructive criticism (avoiding not-very-useful generalizations like "bad"), focusing on the root issues of the work--cosmetic issues usually work themselves out with time. And finally, end on a high note, encouraging the person to keep it up and let them know that with some adjustments, they will be on the right track. Good luck!

Thank you for reminding me about this.

 

[Maaz Hasan]

I think what everyone here is missing is the big picture: You are performing a card trick to a webcam/camera.

I have preached this consistently on here (granted it's just my opinion) that there is nothing more boring than doing a card trick to a camera. Plus it is one of the worst things you can do for yourself as a performer. There is no engagement or anything else for us to focus on, so our eyes will be burning your hands the entire time. It doesn't matter if you post another video on here in three months, the same exact situation is going to happen. We are going to burn your hands the entire time and notice any little thing that you do. I do agree that learning from books is a better resource than YouTube but I want to focus on the real issue that I see.

What I would suggest doing is having a friend filming you perform this live for someone. You can't really use misdirection on a camera (due to the fact that people can replay and watch as many times as they want) and it's a huge complication when I use eye contact/directions to misdirect people most of the time and on camera that doesn't work so well. If you share a video of you doing a live performance on someone we can critique on how you actually are as a performer rather than judge you based on burning your hands for an entire video. This will not be as easy to film; you will have to get over performance anxiety, you can't just do several reshoots (in fact you usually only get that one take unless you move on to someone else), and you will have to develop patter. But if you are willing to take on the extra challenge and film yourself as a live performer, I guarantee you will become better than 90% of the wannabes that seem to know everything on the internet.

Good luck!

This is perfect advice. I'm quoting it just to emphasize it.