A Few Tips For New Magicians

Last week I wrote about all the kids exposed to magic and doing magic these days. Some of them pick it up on their own and have no guidance so I wrote out a few “rules” for them. I probably forgot a lot of stuff so let me know if you think of anything else.

There are certain “rules” you should know about performing magic before performing magic.

Perfect MAGIC RULES

1. You must learn how to keep a secret.

How do you keep your friends and still keep secrets from them?

What do you say when they ask you how you did that trick?

Possible answers.

• It’s part of the magicians code not to tell.
• It would spoil all the fun for you, if I told you.
• Never mind that, let me show you this.
• YOU learn a magic trick and if you are serious about magic we can discuss it.
• Ask them “Can you keep a secret?” (they will say yes). Then say, “So can I.”
• Go to a magic shop and buy the trick and you’ll find out.

If you tell them how it’s done, next time you do the trick, they might say, “I know how you did that.” And they might tell everyone the trick, so not only do you spoil it for them by telling the secret, they spoil it for you when you perform. This brings us to the next situation.

2. Let’s say someone else or a magician comes to entertain you and you know the trick they are doing. What do you do and what do you say? 

Correct Answer: Nothing. Not even to your best friend. Even after the show. If you have to tell someone, tell your mother.

It may be hard not to tell your friends, but if you want to perform one day, you will understand why it’s important not to tell.

3. Why Do A Magic Trick at all? Put a check mark in one of the following.✓

• To fool people? ☐
• To show how smart you are? ☐
• For everyone to be surprised and for them to have fun. ☐

4. If they ask you to do the trick again, what do you do?

Don’t do it again. The first time you do it you have the element of surprise. The second time they know the outcome and are only trying to catch you. Tell them they already saw it and show them something else instead.

5. What do you do with a trick after you have performed it?

Put it away. If it fits, put it in your pocket. If it doesn’t have a shopping bag or some kind of case that you could put it in. Do not leave it lying on the table. People are curious and may want to handle it. It’s yours. You are always the boss of your magic. No one else should play with it. If your magic tricks are out of sight they are less tempted to go over to touch them. There are special tricks you can leave out because you want them to handle them, because that will make them more puzzled than ever, but most of the time put them out of sight. 

6. What do you do after a trick when everyone claps?

You look at your audience and smile, and say Thank You. They applaud because they liked what you did. You smile and say Thank You to show that you are happy they liked it.

7. How Does A Magician Become Really Good?

Practice and Preparation and more practice and even more practice.

It’s easy to do magic when you are alone, but when there’s an audience it’s different. You should think more of the audience than of your trick so you have to know it inside out and backwards so that you can focus on the audience.

What is Patter and When & Why Do You Use It?

Patter is what magicians say while they are performing. What do you say while you are performing a trick?

Talking is a form of misdirection. When you talk they are listening so they are not 100% focused on what you are doing. Also if you say something amusing, they will laugh. That means they are having a good time and are likely to like you more as a performer. When they laugh you get a brief moment to make a move you may not want them to see. Timing is everything.

8. What do you do if you mess up the trick?

It’s might be a good plan to say a magic word like ” and Abracadabra” and you produce whatever. If it doesn’t work out, you can say,”See what happens when you use the wrong word?” and laugh and just move on. If you don’t worry, they don’t worry. (I’m not talking about big illusions here!) It called “Outs”.

So these are a few of the things I thought might be of help. If any of you old pros have something to add, I’m sure it would be appreciated.