I'm very, very new to magic (a year), and I've been getting lots and lots of pressure to go into this talent show. Everyone wants to see the D'lites, and I have the Hippity Hop Rabbits. The show is for an audience aged 10 - senior. I don't want to be up their too long because everyone on the Penguin Magic forum is telling me to skip it because I'm not ready. It's just I'm getting so much pressure from friends, parents, and teachers who want to see me perform. I was wondering if this would make a good performance:

Walk out with music doing D'lites. This will last about a minute, then start eating D'lites and finally pull mouth coil from mouth. Then music ends, and I perform standard Hippity Hop Rabbits. The End.

The show is March 10.
I kinda want to do it, and it would be a shame to ditch it. Anyways, I hope you can help me out.

Thank you so much!

Well...you never really know how deep the water is until you jump in!

Cheers!

If you want to do it, do it. It is a very short piece you have planned. If you feel ready, then go for it. It's not like your whole career is over if you don't do well. For what you plan, a year's practice should be more than enough. I'm presuming your Hippity Hop Rabbits are not the miniature size, but a size that can be seen from stage. Also, if you plan to do D'lites on a stage, how bright is the stage? They may not be visible, and you may need the stage lighting dimmed. Since it is a talent show, you don't have to do a full show, just a couple of tricks.

Talent show performances aren't that long anyway, maybe a single song or a quick bit of juggling or dancing, so your routine should fit in time-wise.

You might think about a third trick for an encore. If you do really well, and actually win, you might be asked to do something else at the end.

If you feel that you can do the show, then just do it. Even if you aren't "successful", you will learn so much that you will wonder why you didn't do it before.

The only one who knows if you're ready is you. Don't let anyone pressure you into or out of anything. If you want to do it, do it. And as Photius said, you may want to check out the lighting to see if it can be dimmed for your D'lites (but brought back up for your mouth coil and Rabbits, of course).

It is humorous that everyone on the penguin forum says no and everyone here says yes.
Lets put some reason to it.
The two extremes of what can happen is this. You do a great routine and everyone enjoys it then you haven't lost anything.
You do a terrible show and you have the opportunity to hopefully learn form it and get better. You may read my post again afterwards and say I wish I hadn't perform and abc was wrong but then you didn't learn anything.
You may also decide not to do anything and then wish that you did.
Do it and learn from it. You have nothing to lose.

Do it!

It sounds like you want to perform, and with the two effects you're after you should be able to just practice, practice, practice up until the show.

I think a lot of magicians who are just learning magic (i count myself among this crowd) are really afraid to just get out and perform...but it's really the only way you'll ever learn HOW to perform. As abc points out there really isn't failure, just learning.

Years ago, in my magic infancy, my brother-in-law put pressure on me to perform at a family party.
I had some doubts but was well practiced and decided to give it a shot.
Let me just say that it didn't go very well.
However, I learned few things about prop and audience management as well as what I could have done differently.

Give it a shot.
You have nothing to lose at this point in your magic journey and probably much to in front of a live audience.

Good Luck,

If you feel Comfortable with the routine, DO IT...if is a Talent Show and you are the only one doing magic always people like magic.The point of Photius is very acceptable,why bright is the stage? If you have many lights doing the d lites the people will thing you are doing some strange dance...The Hippity Hop is a good prop, If I were you I switch the order,first the introduction and the rabbits routine and for FINALE the mouth coil (Peoples always like it) but its only MY OPINION,
Thanks and Good Luck,
Hansel!

Wow! thanks guys! I think I will do it. Don't worry about the lighting as it is set up in such a way that the lights are always dimmed and the stage lights can be brought up when the performer asks for them to be brought up. Really the main reason I was intimidated is that it popped up so soon. I only learned about the show 2 days before my first post. I think I'll have some music with my d'lite routine...

THANKS FOR THE INSPIRING ADVISE

Be sure to dress up in something that makes you look like a magician, and you will win them over before you even start.
Come out with good energy, and have fun.
Magic, after all is meant to be shared.

Enjoy,

Mike

Best of luck Tom,

Enjoy!

Do it! There's nothing to loose, and if it goes bad that will be a good expeirence for you!

Zach

I definitely think that you should go for it. I did my first stage show after having been harassed by friends and family for months. It did not all worked out, but it end up being quite good. There is lots of thing you can only learn while performing on stage and this seems like a perfect opportunity to do it.
I hope you have fun...

Do it, but let us know how it turned out.

Also, it does not matter how many effects, so long as what you do has the showmanship element to it, and you create a theme that let's them know that it will be short, but awesome.

Good luck!

Tom:
Just jump in and do it. You'll probably do fine. Get in some more practice between now and then to help assure your readiness and DO IT!!! Good luck.

Hi Tom,

I've got a suggestion but maybe you're already doing this. I would suggest rehearsing it exactly the way you plan to perform for the show- with music, costume, patter- everything- start to finish. It sounds like you're familiar with the stage you'll be performing on, if so, you can even rehearse with its layout in mind. From your entrance to your exit. You may find the actual performance doesn't go exactly as you had planned during your rehearsal- there may be some things you'll have to work around- but you'll have a good foundation to go from. That should make you feel more prepared for the stage. Best wishes, whatever you decide.

Excellent advice so far. The only thing I would add is to record yourself doing the routine, and then watch it with a critical eye. I haven't done any public magic shows, but I have a lot of experience with other types of presentations. You would be amazed at what you can learn about your mannerisms by watching yourself on tape. Until I recorded myself, I never realized that I fiddled with my rings when nervous. It was very distracting to watch, so I now remove my rings before doing any kind of large presentation.

Good luck.

Just an update on my show,

Ok, well I did my audition and they loved it. Now a problem has been raised. They liked it so much that they want more, I think I'll tell them that I don't want to do more. Then my drama teacher told them that I could juggle (which I can) but I'm not as good at juggling as I am at magic. I can juggle 2 in one hand, three in both hands, and four in both hands and I know a couple of 3 ball tricks. The problem is I don't think I am confident enough with my tricks to actually do them on stage. Usually I just juggle in hallways and on sidewalks to whoever watches and if I drop
one it doesn't matter to much, but now I'll be on stage so I think I'll just tell them I won't juggle for the show.

Just wondering what you guys thought.

I suggest putting together a routine and then sticking with it. If you want a longer routine, then work on a longer routine. Things are better when one thing flows into another, or there is an overall theme. Is there a reason to combine your juggling with magic? I think it's too soon to try to put together a combination routine, but it's something to work on.

Great job.