Max,
One of the things I have been most impressed by in your performances is your incredible sense of timing. The effect seems neither rushed nor dragging. You seem to have adequate time to convey all suggestions and instructions, as well as a great sense of finish that queues applause very well. In your books, of course, this sense of timing doesn't come across, but in your videos it does. To be honest when trying to duplicate your effects from books before I got an idea of your sense of timing, I felt the effects weren't going as well as I thought they should. From your videos I study your timing as carefully as I do the patter and the actual mechanics of the effect. I have found that incorporating that timing has greatly improved the overall performance of the effect. Can you give us any insight into how you developed your sense of timing, pure experience of trial and error, or some other method?

Timing is one of those things that is almost impossible to learn other than by getting out there and doing it. There are performers whose timing is really good. For example, Carl Ballantine is astonishing. By watching Carl you can learn just how good timing can be, but you can't use his timing because it won't fit you.

Timing is a technique built on experience and informed instinct.

If you're looking for a fun way to say "experience and informed instinct", the German word for the concept is "fingerspitzengefuhl". I first heard the word at a chess tournament when a German player told me his hands knew where to put the pieces even when he hadn't worked through a move sequence.

The term literally translates as "fingertip feeling", but it means so much more.