Great advice on this thread - do you guys realize it was started in 2002 ?
But what the hey, anybody still learning will get something from it.
My preferred M.O. is to practice the moves and techniques first until they're second nature -
that frees me to concentrate on the presentation without the distraction of worrying about the moves, and that's where rehearsal comes in. That's a good distinction to make.

There is no substitute for practicing and trying sleights and efforts for laymen.

Holy Cow, this thread is nearly three years old! Well I will only add that messing up is part of the learning curve and part of life. Let's be thankful we ain't practicing brain surgery.

Sorry, I was referring to rehearsals. Too sleepy when I posted.

The Rope routine I performed Rannie, is a conbination of Richard Sanders 3 Ropes and A Baby and Dan Garrets ending for the Professor's Nightmare, I think it's called Professor's Day Dream.

Another way to get over the fear of messing up is to script some messing up into your act!

Doc Eason does a wonderful "Sam the Bellhop" routine where the audience is completely convinced he's hosed the whole thing. Emotionally, they are on his side, waiting to see how he'll get out of his mess. The climax with the poker hands is great!

If you write a routine that looks like you messed up, and watch how the audience pulls for you, I'm sure it'll change the way you look at the consequences of messing up for real! It worked for me.

Hello:
I have looooong version of this elsewhere, but here's the short one: Put screwing up into perspective. What's the worse thing that could happen to you? What's the worst thing that could happen to the world? Will wars start? Crime go up? Babies stop being loved and fed? I mean really, bro, it IS just a magic trick. We love 'em, but I guarantee your world won't change at ALL if you mess up a trick. Use it as a learning experience and get on with it. Best,

I'm a "hobbyist" myself, meaning I don't get a lot of chance to perform for real audiences. What I've learned is that confidence isn't just about knowing the moves. You don't need to be confident only about what to do with your hands, but what to do with your body, and what to say. You need to know where to stand relative to your spectator, and the direction to face, to get rid of angle issues. You need to know when, why, and how to misdirect. And you need to have a truly solid grasp on your patter, enough that you can say it in your sleep.

I once heard an interview with a figure skater. She said that while it looks so graceful and easy, just smiling and skating to the music, in her head the whole time is a running commentary almost... "skate forward, forward... JUMP, land and spin, turn around, don't hit the wall, crouch, left leg up and HOLD..." and so on.

I find the same thing goes on in my head while I'm doing some magic tricks. I'm never focusing on what I'm doing at the moment, I'm focusing on what my spectators are doing, and what I need to do next. If I don't have my patter down, and need to stop and think about what to say, or if I have the patter fine, and stop to think about my next move, it ruins the flow of the entire thing.

My best performances have been the ones where I have the whole thing so solid that it's all automatic. Performing Color Monte, for example. The patter was rolling off my tongue without having to think about the story, and instead of looking at my hands and concentrating on my moves, I was looking at the spectators, and watching for good times to perform D***le L**ts and other moves. My attitude was casual, and it was almost as if the cards were secondary to the story, just an illustration.

And you know what? My specs were blown away. It's one of the best reactions I've had yet. (One of the others was a performance of Twisting The Aces. I was just as prepared, and it went off just as well.)

Didn't meant to ramble there, but I hope my experiences help. =)

Messing up ,it happen to everyone . I used to do a trick that made people think I was messing right to the end ,then it work. Just get the right fame of mind and think of all the fun you are having. I saw a tape where I was working a late show
at a club ,and boy people were right if you know what I mean. I did the show ,and felt great and got good reaction from the people . But you know what I look at the tape of the show and caught things that was not right ,but no one knew that but me ,not even the people who seen the tape ,seen the mistakes. Just go on no will ever know but you if you mess up.Acting and more acting will help. Plus a lot practice .
Be yourself and other will enjot your magic along with you. Alson

[quote]On 2002-03-03 07:06, Peter Marucci wrote:

You might be concentrating too much on the trick and not focussing on the presentation.
[quote]
exactly... the trick is not the thing... people don't remember what you did ...they remember how you made em feel...

when I first muffed up Sam the Bellhop, I could feel the difference in the room... they were on my side and wondering how in the world I was going to get out of it... when I successfully pulled in to the station at the end... the cheers were out of proportion to what I had done...

the line I use when something goes awry... "Let me do one I know..." then follow it up with the invisible deck or something that is going to make their jaws drop...an easy one that packs a wallop...this works for me.

doc