New Magicians, Listen Up!

Turning your dreams into reality is often a difficult task. To try and make it a little easier for all you aspiring magicians, we’ve put together a list of tips and advice!

Practice Makes Perfect

This one goes without saying. If you want to be good at something, you have to put a lot of time perfecting it. Before you even think about showing anyone a trick that you have learnt, make sure that you have mastered it. This will give you a much better chance of performing the trick successfully.

Become an Entertainer 

There are a lot of close-up magicians out there in London and across the world. You need to develop your act and become an entertainer if you want to become one of the best magicians out there. People pay to see magic but they expect a show; they don’t expect the magician to be on stage without engaging with them, you have to perfect this art if you truly want to become a great magician.

Let the Magic Speak

Although you need to put on a show for your audience, it is important that you let the magic do the talking as well, you don’t want to bore your audience by adding in needless comments. Perfect your script and then practice it until you start to remember it off by heart.

Not Everyone Likes Magic

As wonderful as we think it is, not everyone is a fan of magic, in the same way, that not everyone is a fan of football or rugby. If you didn’t like rugby you wouldn’t want to watch a rugby match. Therefore don’t force people who aren’t interested in magic to watch your performance. You want the best possibly audience you can get so try and get people who love magic as they will be supportive and polite!

Slow and Steady

Slow and steady wins the race. If you are able to slow everything down and make your magic slightly clearer to the audience they are going to be much more engaged. This might take some practice as when you are nervous you normally tend to rush through things, but eventually, you will get it.

Don’t be a Pest

As excited as you are about magic, it doesn’t mean that your friends and family are going to want to see you perform every single trick that you learn. Try not to “burn out” your friends and family and perhaps only show them a few tricks a week at a time that is convenient for them, not just you!

Learn Everything You Can 

There are plenty of books and films about magic as well as an endless amount of information online. Try and learn as much as you can about magic, the more than you learn then the more you are able to understand and develop your own style of magic. You could also look at purchasing books and tricks from your local magic dealer if you are lucky enough to live near a magic shop.

Never Reveal Your Trick 

I know that it is so tempting to reveal the magic that makes the trick work, especially to your friends and family as they will probably be pushing you to tell them. But don’t, the chances are they will be disappointed and you will almost definitely regret telling them afterwards.

Mirror

Take time to practice your magic tricks in front of a mirror, this way you are able to see what the trick will look like to the audience and this allows you to polish your act. This single bit of advice has the potential to take you from a good magician to a great magician 

They Look Where You Look

This is crucial if you want to start performing stage magic in front you large audiences. The audience will look at whatever you look at, so when you are performing a secret move that you don’t want them to see, look elsewhere or at the audience.

Surprise

Never tell the audience what you are going to do before you do it, otherwise, you run the risk of getting caught. It will also ruin the surprise and the atmosphere that the trick is generating.

Performing

Simply knowing the trick doesn’t make you a great magician, this is very important to remember. Anyone can pretty much learn a magic trick, but the real art comes from performing it in a way that makes the trick unexplainable to the audience.

Your Magic Moment

Every magician should have some sort of moment that identifies when the magic is about to take place or when it has just taken place. For example, many magicians walk off after they have performed this trick, having said that this only really works if you’re performing close-up magic on the streets to the public.

Being Funny Isn’t Important

Many people feel like they simply aren’t funny enough to become a magician but it really doesn’t matter, at the end of the day people are paying money to see magic not to see a comedian. Make your act entertaining but you do not have to be funny, witty or silly.

Natural

This ties in with the last tip, if being funny doesn’t come naturally then do not worry about it, just be yourself and everything will be fine. It is also important that you look natural when you are performing the trick, no sharp movements or awkward gestures which could potentially give the trick away.

Nerves

Everyone gets nervous, it’s natural. Don’t let your nerves get the better of you and especially don’t let them stop you from sharing your magic with your friends, family or even members of the public. The more experience that you get then the easier performing will be in the future.

Rely On the Crowd 

Try and get the audience involved as much as you can, even if its just simply letting them shuffle the cards. The more that you get them to do then the more they will engage with you and your magic 

Rehearse 

Rather than just practising the magic over and over again, practice the act as well. Practice what you’re going to say and when and make sure that you are able to get the timing spot on. This will really take your act to the next level and give you a much more professional look.

Too Easy

Whatever you do, don’t make your magic look too easy! Take a lesson from professional jugglers, whenever they can make their act look more challenging that it really is they do! People will be so much more impressed in the magic looks hard to perform.

Oliver B is a close-up magician in London who is available to hire for a range of events. Oliver has previously performed in front of some very impressive people, including Simon Cowell, Rodger Federer and Andy Murray. On top of this, Oliver was also the magician for O2’s Refresh campaign. If you are looking to hire a magician for your wedding, corporate event or even just a party, contact Oliver B today!