Owen, don't take what magicgrandpa said literally! It could be a real show stopper!

It sounds as if you've already got a good number of tricks already. Building a routine out of them and developing some presentation are, ultimately, the important parts.

As a beginner, I really don't think that they expect you to know how to do Unshuffled or any complex sleights just out of the gate.

While the local SAM I joined did not require me to do such a presentation as a condition for joining, I have used the club meetings as my springboard to practice and polish some routines both old and new. As a matter of fact, I learned the Oily Thoughts trick out of the April GENII and performed it in front of them. It is the most technical trick I've performed to date. I'm just proud of the fact that I did it and they didn't see the sleights because of all the practice I put into it.

As for being afraid to perform in front of other magicians, don't give it a second thought. Most of them, if they are any good at all, have seen quite a bit already. It is very doubtful that you will perform a trick that at least one of them hasn't seen (or at least a variant). If nothing else, consider this an opportunity to get some of the performance jitters out of the way so you can be on your way to performing in front of "muggles"!

While I echo magicgrandpa's sentiments, if you MUST break a leg, don't break it too hard!

Just be honest. Do what you know. If you get in, great. If you don't, more than likly you are not yet ready for that club and you would probably feel out of place there. You also would probably not be able to contribute very much and the purpose of clubs is mutual benifit.

If your application for membership is declined ask them if there are any other clubs for someone of you skill level. Also ask them what you can do to get to that level.

Hello, I think if you just be yourself and show them that you are a serious student it doesn't really matter what tricks you do or the mistakes you make. They'll understand that you are thier to learn, and that performing to peers is really nerve racking. The pure magical effect that can be done with coins or spongeballs done properly should be enough. Did you ever consider a good rope trick ? Like a cut and restored rope? When performing you want to keep it to the effects that you know inside and out, because your going to be nervous, you want to put the body on automatic so you can talk to the audience.

Good Luck

Gardini

One issue I had to address when performing for a magic club was coming up with a parlor trick, instead of the closeup stuff I usually do. You can't perform closeup magic as effectively for 20 people as you can for one. Especially when many of those 20 people are older and have poor eyesight. This was brought home to me when I did 8-Card Brainwave last month. Next month, I'm going to do Professor's Nightmare, which is more appropriate to the audience.

///ark

Smile and just be yourself. Don't put to much pressure on yourself. Remember to keep it short and sweet. Less is more.

There is a trick to performing for other magicians: Treat the audience AS IF they are NOT magicians. This does take some work mentally, but can be achieved. I discovered this upon turning 21 and shortly thereafter going up to the Magic Castle in Hollywood to do my 'tryout'. 21 guys trying out that night. I was number 16 so the wait was like having a skinned knee that the doctor has decided needs cleaning with a wire brush. Well, it wasn't quite that bad, but very nearly.

I had decided when forming my routine for my tryout that the best way to approach the thing was to 'act' as if I was performing for 'regular' folks and that is exactly how I did the performance. By placing myself in the same frame of mind that I was used to in performing for laymen I was after my opening effect quite comfortable with the rest of the performance EVEN though I got NO response from the committee watching! I just literally pretended that they were in fact responding in the way that I knew would be normal under more normal conditions.

You will have observed that the 'best' lectures are almost always done in this fashion and the response is almost always singularly more positive. The fact is that most magicians WANT to see magic done as if they do not know anything about magic. I know that I do as it enhances my appreciation of what is done. I want to see it with a laymans eyes to fully comprehend the affect upon both my mind and emotions.

So...always treat a magic audience as IF they are not in fact that audience, even if you feel that it will seem silly or even insulting to do so.

The only...ONLY...exception that I can think of is if one is performing material especially designed FOR A magic audience. In that case there are any number of reasons why one might want to do and say things differently so as to both misdrect in a specialized manner the audience and to increase the novelty with 'in' jokes, etc. Best regards,

Slow down your patter. Preforming at first can make you want to move fast. But those few routines combined with proper patter can easily cover 10 minutes.