how... can you overcome, get the guts to go out and perform.. if you mess up what then?
Grandmaster Nike says: Just do it.
There are certain things you can only learn by doing them. That's all there is to it.
As far as messing up goes, that's mostly what you're learning in the first few performances. That and dealing with hecklers.
Let's use the standard "pick a card" card trick as an example. Rule number one of these card tricks is "always force a card". Rule number two is "hedge your bets".
If you force the card, you already know what it is, and then if you screw up the trick - like you REALLY DO lose the card in the deck - you can just pretend to read his mind: "I'm getting a red card... it's a heart... not a face card... it's a middle card, somewhere from five to seven... it's an even number... is it the six of hearts?" Anything else you do is gravy.
Hedging your bets means that when you force the card, have a trick ready that doesn't
need a forced card, just in case you screw up the force. Something simple and easy that you can do no matter what. Practice blind shuffles and cuts so you can have the spectator place his card on top of the deck, and then maintain it on top through an apparently real shuffling process.
These two rules basically mean you
can't screw up. You're going to force a card, so you always know his card no matter what, and even if you screw that up - you're prepared to track and later locate his card no matter what it is.
If you're still not that confident, dealing with screwups is mostly about getting used to the reaction when it happens, so try this one: do the "pick a card" trick for that jerk you think will make the most fun of you for screwing up the trick, have him sign it, and deliberately pretend not to find his card (even though you really know exactly where it is). Let him poke fun at you for it. Put up with it, then say "let me try a different trick" - and force his card back on him.
and there are always those stuborn people who just dont get amazed, what to do with them.... is there such thing as "being out of trick"?
There's a point where you'll know enough principles and effects to invent things on the fly, and then that never happens again. But if someone isn't into magic, there's nothing you can do about it; just don't do magic for that guy.
Keep in mind that in bars, magic tricks are frequently a lead-in to the sucker bet. It may not be that the guy isn't into magic... he might just think you're trying to get him greased up and ready for a good screwing.
