The late pianist Liberace said this in an interview once.

I still am nervous walking onto a stage. Only the first laugh, applaud, or gasp calms me. I think stage fright is normal. After all, you are walking onto a stage and saying I can do something you can't. Now you have to live up to that idea.

Nothing will cure stage fright better than just doing it. I recognized some speaking ability in a friend once and encouraged him to give it a try. He would literally stand and weep like a baby for about four or five minutes before he could say a word. Eventually he overcame his fear and was able to speak and is a pastor today.

Be encouraged!

Just find places to be bad and keep honing your material in front of an audience. There are plenty of charities that don't have entertainment budgets for their events - perform for them. It's hard to stay motivated unless you get out and perform, regularly. Sure, you should rehearse until you get the material as good as you can get it, but performing in front of an audience will do things that you can't do in the sterile environment of a rehearsal.

The byproduct is confidence, which will do wonders for getting rid of stage fright. As you figure out how to handle challenges during performances, you will feel that you can handle almost anything. Confidence tends to come before a reason to be confident occurs. In other words, confidence gives you the attitude necessary to be a better performer.

Great topic! Sorry, to bring up an old thread, but it really hit home for me. I have always loved magic since I was a kid. I never even knew my husband liked magic until a few years ago when our daughter first fell in love with it. It has been a family affair ever since.

The problem for me, is that I am terrified of performing. I am really comfortable in front of kids, and have no problems with them (probably comes from the "mom" in me) but in front of adults, I get extremely nervous. I remember when I had to audition to get into our local S.A.M. assembly, my hands shook so bad I'm surprised I didn't have cards flying everywhere!

The hard part for me, is that I know it is something that I can do. I practice, I watch myself on video, and I KNOW that my performance is ready..that I am ready.

The problem with fear is that you can't let it rule your life, or make your decisions for you. This is a lesson I have spent a long time learning. You see, I have suffered from panic attacks since I was a very small child. For absolutely no reason, all of a sudden I would panic. I never understood it. It wasn't until I was an adult that I learned how to overcome them. I have now been panic-free for over 9 years. YAY! The point of my saying this, is for me, getting up on a stage is a huge deal. It goes beyond the normal stage fright. For me, it is a matter of overcoming one more obstacle that I won't let stand in my way. This is something that I WANT to do.

Next month I will be entering a stage contest at our local assembly in the amateur division for the first time. It is all about following your desire, and not your fear.

Hey I also get really nervous. So what I do right before the curtains open I close my eyes take a deep breath. I still get really nervous and shake but while I perform I try to keep my mind on the main goal....pleasing the audience. I know that before every show I get so nervous that I start to feel like I am going to throw up. But if you love performing enough you put it aside and try to do the best that you can. I have not found a way to completly get over being nervous, no matter how many people I ask. It is not a bad thing, so treat it like it is all part of the routine, that's what I do. I hope I helped some
Smagic

That's good advice Lee.

Eugene Burger used to use the line, "Sell them the secret later" when he was caught at the restaurant by an observant person with a good angle...

A great tool for managing the phsycial symptoms of anxiety? Self-hypnosis and relaxation traing. These skills can help you regain physical control over anxiety in a matter of seconds while on stage...

Magic106,

I'm not certain this will answer your question, but I have two suggestions. If you have done these already, please disregard this.

The first is enroll in a beginner's Theatre class. Many community colleges offer this. I have done this. My instructor taught among other items of stagecraft, relaxation and warmup techniques. I have found this extremely helpful. Obviously, the stagecraft you learn is invaluable, regardless of the type of magic you perform. Honestly, I want to take a few more courses in Theatre.

The second is...join Toastmasters. The purpose of this group is to help you gain confidence in speaking in front of others. You learn speech writing and presentation skills. But you do speak in front of others on a frequent basis. That alone will help you cope with the jitters. I have been a member for about 1 year. It has helped me with stagefright, as well as developing elements for a speech. Although I haven't performed my craft in front of the group, the skills you learn are definitely transferrable (sp?) to performing. The link is:

http://www.toastmasters.org

You can locate a club near you. They are worldwide. Chances are there is a chapter near you.

The dues are minimal, the experience is valuable.

Please check it out. I recommend both tips highly.

I want to thank everyone for the excellent advice in this thread even though it is quite an old one. I have been having the same problems as many of the people here and all of your advice has helped a lot. I think we often get stage fright because we are not confident in our skills. In this case maybe we do need to practice more to build our confidence but many times performing once will give you enough confidence to keep performing.