For many people, the first time that they witness magic being performed triggers fanciful dreams about performing their own tricks, much the same as Oliver B, who has gone on to become a renowned close-up magician both in London and across the UK.
Whether you are captured by magic at the age of 6 or 36, the moment that you are handed your first box of tricks is an exciting one. A magician never forgets the first time that they leave an audience in amazement; it is an addiction that can only be satisfied by completing more and more performances.
Aspiring magicians soon realise that when they begin to take magic seriously, the game changes and a great deal of commitment is required in order to be a success.
Practice Makes Perfect
Practice! Practice! Practice! It’s a clichéd phrase, but practice really does make perfect. When it comes to the sleight of hand needed to pull off a complex magic trick, truer words simply could not be said.
Search for new tricks and do them over and over again. Once you have mastered the trick, do it again, and again, and again until you can perform it expertly – even with your eyes closed!
Create a Routine
Once you have a number of tricks in your repertoire, construct a routine that you can perform. When creating a new routine, you should aim to build up gradually through your tricks. Never start with a bang and end on something that is easily forgettable.
For example, when Oliver B performs close-up magic in London, he captures the audience’s attention with a relatively simple trick before eventually moving through the gears in terms of difficulty and how impressive a trick is.
Perform to your Friends and Family
Performing in front of a close circle of friends and family is an ideal way to build up your confidence. Your loved ones will always be the most patient and understanding of audiences.
As a new magician, making mistakes in front of strangers who may heckle you can be soul-destroying. Instead, your friends and family will offer constructive criticism that you can then go away and learn from – remember, being a magician is more than just being able to competently perform tricks; you also have to be a showman.
Learn from Mistakes
The very best magicians can still make mistakes and even the legends of the game made mistake after mistake when they first started out. It is easy to become frustrated, but important to view mistakes as an opportunity to learn.
Put simply, if you never make mistakes, you will never learn. It is learning that will make you a better performer.
Take it to the Street
Once you have followed all of the above steps, it is time to leave your comfort zone and perform on the streets, a location where the best magicians of our time learned their craft. As a close-up magician in London, Oliver B has performed out on the streets of the capital countless times.
While street magic is undoubtedly the hardest to perfect, it is also the most rewarding as the magic is stripped back down to its essence. You never know, it could soon be your performance that gives somebody else the magic bug.
