Well! Welcome back! Happy to hear that my posts were helpful. Can you receive PMs?

I suspect that you were practicing, but not performing. THAT can be very boring. PM me, and, we can discuss the situation.

Dick

GREAT advice!

There is a difference between practicing and rehearsing the effects. If you are getting bored with practicing, then try rehearsing the effect from start to finish, while using your personality and how you wish to act, speak, and gesture with your hands, arms, and body. Imagine you are in front of spectators or an audience, visualize them in your mind. Speak the words you will say to them.

Practicing is usually only going over a move or flourish a number of times. Once you master the move, then include it in the entire rehearsal process of the total effect.

It is good you get bored practicing, it forces you to rehearse the total sequence of an effect/trick and have some fun with the total effect.

Then get out and perform for people any chance you get. Take notes of what you should work on more.

Hope this helps you to the next stage in your magic career.

To follow up on my friend, Bill's excellent thoughts, I'll try to "boil them down" to the ESSENCE...

PRACTICE TO IMPROVE S K I L L.

REHEARSE TO IMPROVE P E R F O R M A N C E.

8 words that say so much!!

That is a nugget of wisdom that should be printed out and hung in EVERY magic room of EVERY magician that WANTS to be better!!

Thank you Mr. Oslund

Yer welcome!

Gee! If I could have put that in a dvd, I "coulda" sold it, and, retired, a second time! hee hee

The key is in performing. You practice in part so as to not be a fool while performing. When I learn a new trick, I start roaming the stores to get in practice/performing opportunities. You'd be surprised at the number of times they thank you for showing them the trick, and they'll say you made their day. Most people go their entire life without seeing one decent closeup magic trick. Performing is the motivation for practicing, and performing also counts as practice.

As others have said (and in other threads)

Practice will help with the skills but getting out there and performing will go along way to helping you improve.

Plus positive feedback will give you a boost and and negative or criticism you can embrace, learn from and improve.

Also strangers don't know what to expect so you one step ahead of them at least. If it goes wrong they may not even know