I'm in the eighth grade and I am the only magician in the whole school not to mention a girl. So I was wondering are people as judgmental about magic in the real world as they are in the eighth grade. If I make the slightest mistake when I practice in rehearsal for something it is non-stop pestering and ridicule. I want to them to try to do what I do everyday. They sit there and are judging you in practice with out knowing the complexity.
Ashley
Sorry for the spelling.

Scooter,
People are judgemental everywhere, but you ARE working with the hardest age group for an audience that there is in my opinion. At least with the younger ages, they still have that hero worship thing going lol. Darwin Ortiz states in his book Strong Magic that you should ALWAYS ignore hecklers.

I personally think it's a prestige issue. They have to respect you. One way to get them to respect you is to be really good. People are drawn to talent.If you are really good then people are going to be impressed and even if someone heckles the other spectators gathered around will tell them to be quiet, because THEY really want to see. They will take care of the heckler for you.

The other thing is that the more formal a setting you perform in the less people will tend to heckle. If you walk up and say can I show you a trick, that's pretty informal and boundaries of politeness are different. Before using a volunteer, ask their name, and introduce yourself, look them in the eye as you say Very nice to meet you. This high level of politeness generally stops any rudeness.

If it's any solace, just about everyone on this site has met up with a heckler or two. If it was not extremely common, magicians like Ortiz would not be writing about it. Hope this helps.
Peace Beth

I remember being an 8th grade magician... My situation was a little different. I moved halfway through 8th grade and only had 1 friend at my new school. I had known him for years from the magic shop I went to every other weekend. I had one friend and he was a magician. We were fortunate enough to have a magic shop a few blocks away. So, we would meet for lunch, do magic, and then when school got out, we'd go to the magic shop and work. Magic helped me to make friends. People may have found me strange at first for being a magician, not to mention they thought I was British(This still plagues me today...everywhere I go, someone thinks I'm from England). Anyhow, after a while, I think it made people want to get to know me.

I have more memories of that semester that involve magic than memories that involve class. By time I got to HS, I joined the theatre group to overcome my shyness and it changed my life in more ways than I can begin to explain.

By time my senior came around, that strange, shy female magician was voted most talented of her senior class and most likely to become famous. So, don't let the judgemental people ruin your joy.

My advice is to try to find a few close, trustworthy friends who you can show your work to, but don't show them until you think you're absolutely ready. And don't show the rest of the world until your friends think you're absolutely ready. It may seem like you'll never show anything to anyone that way, but I promise that's not the case. I have a few things I've been practicing for years that no one has seen--just because I'm still not comfortable with it. However, the work I do present to the world now is polished and hecklers are rarely a problem for me This doesn't mean that I don't make mistakes, but I'm confident enough to handle them and most of the time the audience doesn't even notice.

Keep us posted on your progress! I'm sure you'll do great things...

Thanks to both of you, You gave some really great advise and still work in my small town (total student in my school= 600tops)I do have one or two friends that are just as weird as me. I'm going to see if my library can get a hold of Strong Magic and I'll definitely keep you all posted.
Ashley

7th and 8th grades can be a very tough group to perform for. You might try performing for an audience that doesn't know you personally. A neighboring town library or rec center, etc. People are not just judgemental about magic but about all things. They might just be envious of a talent you have your courage to perform in front of group.
John

Scooter,

Congrats on performing. Keep up the good work. I am not sure if you know this, but there is a place for kids to learn magic. It is called the Society of Young Magicians. It helps teach and mentor kids from ages 7-17. It is a wonderful organization and can help you further your magic. I do believe there might be an assembly in your area. If you would like more information, you can contact Jann Goodsell (she is the director) at bravesjann@comcast.net. You can also go to http://www.magicsym.com

If you do get in touch with Jann, just let her know Kelly Peron referred you. She is a good friend of mine.

Look forward to hearing from you

Kelly

That sounds like fun. I'm in the IBM with my dad who is VP of our ring. They help me out a lot. I'm trying to figure out how to get into just the youth part of the IBM because I'm all ready a member.
Ashley

Teens are tough.

and to face them you should either ignore them or echo their toughness. If they heckle you, it's best to ignore them. BUT if they start to pester you, put the odds on them. How? Get a trusted stooge, and 'manipulate' him. Be an acting magician. Maybe, you could scare them.

If they don't believe in your 'hocus pocus', give them the blank face, and eventually, as months progress and they see your 'powers', they'd turn about and retreat.

wishing you all the best, girl!
Cyssa

Maybe you shouldn't practice in front of any one. Try to make sure you can do the effect right before you perform in front of any one. Audiences that age group are tough to perform for. I remember doing it when I was that age an it was tough. Even tougher because I was a boy. Girls seem to have a better time of it. Keep at it and you'll probably be one of the future stars of magic.
Ray

I usually get ridiculled during rehursal for a show which is about ten times worrse because it is usually in front of everone and it's more of a large group mokery.
Ashley
(ignore the spelling)

Practice is for learning and refining your routines.
Rehearsal is when you go over the tricks you learned in preparation for presenting them.

Don't practice and rehearse in front of anyone.
Make sure you're ready to present your magic and then show your stuff.
This don't have to be a whole show, it may be one trick at a time that you feel you know really well.
If you get mocked it's part of the learning experience. Ask yourself why that happened and go back to the drawing board.

Thanks Jaz
Ashley

If your father has a video camera, you can tape your practices and your rehearsals in front of the camera. It's a very forgiving audience and it gives you great feedback when you're trying to figure out how to improve your act.

Ashley
It sounds like you are working out the performance in front of folks. Like Nel, raywitco and Jaz say, practice separately from performing.

Like Greenladymagic says, the video camera will help, and be sure to tape yourself from different angles not just the front. You will see if you are flashing anywhere, and then can work on how to improve what you are doing.

When folks see you practicing, it is not like clarinet or flute, where they see there is skill. Magic becomes something more about "putting one over on them" regardless of the skill you have to master and learn. You know it takes skill to do what you do, "they" see you have a 'simple thing' to fool them. It bruises the ego.
This is why we do not tell people how it is done. They become upset about being fooled by these little things.
Hang in there, and only show folks when you are ready to perform!
Good luck
Kay

I logged on and was surprised to see this post up here. Im now a high schooler, have an assitant and building my own show, in addition to being a assitant myself. my skills and pesentation have improved dramatically. Its been an iteresting seven months sence I was at that point in time. I appreciate all the advise I was given. I not only used it to improve my magic but also my over ability to suceed. I recently placed nationaly, state and locally in Future Business Leaders of America. Practice isn't a rehursal. I'm going to just leave you with one thing and let you take it in your own way. If 1 million people each day touches someones heart with magic of any kind, for one week how long would it take for it to reach every corner of the earth?

I do wish to remind you that the simplest thing can be magical. Even a smile.

Ashley