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Cory Gallupe Inner circle Nova Scotia, Canada 1272 Posts |
Hi, I am not very confident in my magic, and would like to be able to go up to people I don't know and do magic to them without me be scared or messing up. Thanks.-Cory.
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Patrick Differ Inner circle 1540 Posts |
How old are you?
Will you walk into my parlour? said the Spider to the Fly,
Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy; The way into my parlour is up a winding stair, And I've a many curious things to show when you are there. Oh no, no, said the little Fly, to ask me is in vain, For who goes up your winding stair -can ne'er come down again. |
Corey Harris Inner circle Kansas City, MO 1229 Posts |
Cory, I have a little bit of the same problem. I don't perform much because I am not comfortable performing. I am my own worst critic and I always see a flaw in every effect that I do. If I do something flawlessy I try to find something else that could have been done better. If you go to the new to magic area you will find a topic on this that I brought up last week with some great advice.
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=41 |
Cory Gallupe Inner circle Nova Scotia, Canada 1272 Posts |
I am 14. And I too would like to have a job as a professional magician in the near future. Thanks a lot Corey, I got a lot from that thread. Wish me luck, and good luck to you too! And if anyone else has any cures for being nervous, please post them, I'm interested in hearing them!
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mike paris Regular user 179 Posts |
I would use your age to your advantage, I would say, would you like to see a trick, and state ,,,I'm not very good as I'm quite new to magic, this will put them at ease and be on your side, now if anything goes wrong they won't laugh, but it won't go wrong because you show them AN EASY TRICK that you like and do well, and they will be impressed. Now you will feel good ,and your confidence grows, confidence comes with experience of doing things right, so carry on with the EASY tricks for a long while ,and now and then introduce a trick that is a bit more difficult to perform. Also don't do no more than 2 or 3 tricks to one person or group. You must not get into the situation, show me another and another etc. You can give someone 20 dollars and make him happy, or you can give 20 people a dollar each and make 21 people happy.21 lots of confidence. Think of a trick as a dollar.
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Reis O'Brien Inner circle Seattle, WA 2467 Posts |
Getting confidence is quite easy. You simply have to stab a confident person to death and then drink their confidence as is seeps out of their chest wounds.
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BroDavid Inner circle America’s North Coast, Ohio 3176 Posts |
Confidence like wisdom comes from failure. But with a slightly different twist.
Wisdom comes from making mistakes, and learning that there is another way. If everything you did, worked for you, you would never seek a better way. Now how does that relate to confidence in magic? Learning that nothing you do, (unless you are doing fire and other death defying tricks) will kill you if you mess it up. And then also learning that when you mess up, nobody but you really know that you messed up. I make mistakes, mess up all of the time, and use those opportunities to get a laugh. I might just start a trick, and then I realize that I lost the pinky break, and the card really is lost. So what do I do? Hand the deck to the spectator and tell them to find their card. When they do, I say, OK, but that is the easy way. Let me show you the hard way now. And I start it again. Or I drop the deck into my table, and say, No, Wait. I gotta show you this rope trick. You are gonna love this! And 3 minutes later, nobody, not even me remembers that I started doing a card trick. You get confidence from performing. And surviving the mistakes. I love performing for strangers. Not that I don't try to do it right, but people and situations, gravity, and rain will all vary from performance to performance, so it isn't a case of asking what do I do is something goes wrong?, it about what can I do when somethings goes wrong, because it will some time, some place, go wrong. Be ready. Then if I mess up, so what, I tried, and I will probably never see these people again, so who cares. Perform for anyone at any time. Perform for everyone at all times. Be ready. As McBride says, Magician, 24/7, and perform. Carry enough stuff to do 10-15 minutes at the drop of a hat. Then if nobody else gives you the opening, drop your own hat. Walk up to someone and tell them you are a magician, and you would like to show them a magic trick you just know they are going to love. Tell them you have been a magician for 30 years, but you did this go back in time trick, and now are stuck at 14 for the rest of this year. Have fun, show them some good stuff. Just do it. Also drop over at the Street magic forum, where they talk about guerrilla magic, hit and run, entertaining strangers. You will find a lot of folks there talking this very issue. And some will tell how they got over it, and some will still be looking for an answer. But you will be among kindred spirits. It is OK to be afraid. But it is not OK, to stand still and do nothing about it. Just get out and do it. Think about it after every time, what do you need to do better, what do you need to stop doing, and what can you do that you haven't done yet? Think! You are the only one who can give you confidence. It comes from facing fear, and still moving forward. BroDavid
If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.
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rossmacrae Inner circle Arlington, Virginia 2475 Posts |
Quote:
[I] would like to be able to go up to people I don't know and do magic to them... Possibly one of the worst ideas you could have. Let THEM come to YOU ... otherwise, for many people, their primary thought will be "Omigod, a magician ... now I'm sorry I sent those mariachis away ... maybe if I play dead..." You need a place to practice, practice, practice ... and you need an audience whose expectations match your ability. Volunteer to do free shows, join a club, anything you can do to let your skill level rise until it overshadows your concerns ... dealing with people is an intimidating thing, and the prospect of it can amplify your concerns about your skill. Join a magic club and listen particularly to more experienced performers talk about where they first found congenial audiences, and where they find them now. |
Donald Dunphy Inner circle Victoria, BC, Canada 7563 Posts |
Reading and implimenting the ideas in books like "How to Win Friends and Influence People" (Dale Carnegie), "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living" (Dale Carnegie) and "The Magic of Thinking Big" (Dr. David Schwartz) will help you with your self-confidence and people skills.
You can also take theatre classes, and public speaking classes. Once you become confident with who you are as a person, the rest will follow. Build on every positive experience. As you talk with others and make friends (there are great ways to do this without doing all the talking), think about how rewarding that was. Then go out and repeat it. - Donald
Donald Dunphy is a Victoria Magician, British Columbia, Canada.
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Jonathan Townsend Eternal Order Ossining, NY 27297 Posts |
Quote:
On 2005-09-09 16:03, themagicman101 wrote:... to go up to people I don't know and do magic to them... When you change one of those "to"s into a "for", other things will change as well.
...to all the coins I've dropped here
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Patrick Differ Inner circle 1540 Posts |
Astounding insight. Instead of thinking you are doing magic TO people, think instead that you are doing magic FOR people. Although subtle, this difference in thinking can and often makes a profound change in your self-image. Magic is about evoking emotions, not about conquering a foe.
Donald Dunphy also hits it right on the head with public speaking classes. Study oratory, expository, and extemporaneous speaking. Study impromptu and humorous interpretation. Take some classes on them in school. I did in high school. I can tell you that they were the single most important classes I took. I can speak in front of three or three hundred people and my pulse never goes over 80. Ever. Take some classes in theater. Drama and acting are important parts of magic performance and also do wonders for self-image. Besides, they are a heck of a lot of fun!
Will you walk into my parlour? said the Spider to the Fly,
Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy; The way into my parlour is up a winding stair, And I've a many curious things to show when you are there. Oh no, no, said the little Fly, to ask me is in vain, For who goes up your winding stair -can ne'er come down again. |
James Adamson Special user Deatsville - Holtville - Slapout, AL 945 Posts |
Quote:
On 2005-09-09 16:03, themagicman101 wrote: The above quote raises a red flag for me. (1) Are you not confident in performing the magic, or (2) are you not confident in being in front of audience performing? These are two different subjects with different answers. (1) Never Ever perform an effect in front of an audience that you are not Confident that you can perform! As stated by others do a simple easy trick that you know you can do with total confidence! The only way to get that type of confidence is in practicing the effect and practice until you are confident and then practice some more. You MUST believe in the Magic that your are performing. Also, as other people would say "practice perfect". (2) Others in the above posts have covered this area. James
Be remembered for performing what looks like MAGIC, not skill.
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Partizan Inner circle London UK 1682 Posts |
Themagicman101, You poor little sausage, 14 years old and looking for something that grown men seek into their late years.
I will give you some thoughts on how you might find this elusive resource but understand this, it takes a bit of hard work and a lot of character although the character you will gain from this is more than enough. First of all as you are only fourteen only do this one in a safe place or with friends etc. You need to find a busy place like shopping street or mall, prepare yourself with a clipboard and pen and some questions. The questions you ask might be like this, "Do you have any pets", "How big is your family", "what area do you come from", "Can I ask you what you have been shopping for", "what is your favorite food". Now you need to spend HOURS (the day preferably) stopping strangers and talking too them and trying to get them to answer your questions. Don't bother taking notes just scribble, you are not there to do a survey. The more people you can talk too and listen too the better. You might start "excuse me sir may I have a moment of your time, I'm doing a survey for my school project and I would like to ask you a few quick questions" or "Hello my name is XXXX and I am asking people here what their favorite food is, could I ask you what your favorite food is" If an old lady wants too talk at you for 5 minutes about her cats then listen too her and ask her about her cats. The object of the lesson is too dismiss poor confidence by understanding that the barrier you see does not exist. You should do this until you can take control of the situation and not feel awkward approaching ANYONE. The next step is to repeat the above lesson but now substitute the original questions for absurd questions/requests. You might stop someone and ask "Can you help me, I'm sure I felt a bug land in my ear and now I hear funny, could you look at my ear and make sure a bug didn't get into it" (you have to act it as well, like a bug really did come atcha), or "could you check my back for me, some kid ran past and I'm sure he put something there". You get the idea. What I would also suggest is to look at the police. They get basic training that gives them the confidence too deal with most people in a range of situations. you might want to ask an officer about how he deals with the public and if he has any advice. [I bet ppl thought ASK AN OFFICER YEH RIGHT!, but this action in itself builds character] You really need to deal with basic confidence before even trying to bust magic and stay happy.
"You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus."
- Mark Twain |
drwilson Inner circle Bar Harbor, ME 2191 Posts |
These are all very good ideas!
I would add that it might be very useful to limit the magic tricks that you are working on to two or three tricks. Choose carefully! Make sure that you love these tricks, learn them inside out and backwards, and make them fit you. Perform them many, many times in front of people. You might also consider effects that are slightly outside of what magicians consider magic: escapes, strongman stunts, mnemonics, all things that you can find discussed here at the Café. If you want an audience that will be glad to see you, volunteer at your local VA hospital or retirement community. Besides doing your magic, be prepared to listen to the folks there when they want to talk. Some of them will not want to see magic, so be prepared to go away and not bother them! If you join a local magic club, you may find a way to perform in a group setting, and it is possible that someone might personally mentor you to develop your performing skills. Yours, Paul |
Cory Gallupe Inner circle Nova Scotia, Canada 1272 Posts |
WOW!!! Thanks for all the suggestions, I will try them out! If ya have any more, keep posting, they are great!
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rnaviaux Loyal user 287 Posts |
You should read Tommy WOnder's thoughts on this in the "Books of Wonder"
Randy |
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