Secret Methods For Practicing Magic Tricks
Posted: Monday, September 28, 2009
by Jeff LaDouceur
Magic Tricks Online
Most magicians will tell you the best place to start practicing your magic is in front of a mirror. Which is great but I like to take it to the next level, after you feel somewhat comfortable in front of the mirror then get the video camera out and record yourself doing whatever magic trick you are working on perfecting at the time. It also is great to do a little magic show in front of the camera as well. Now the reason that this is helpful is it really gives you a view of your whole performance and your patter as well. If you don't know what a magician's patter is I will explain.
This can be an important part of your performance of magic for many reasons which I will cover in a future article. OK back to what I was saying about recording your performance. We usually are our own best and worst critic, what I mean is that we will see flaws in our own performance that others will not see, due to the fact that we know the secret of the trick. We might think that we may have exposed the secret of the trick where someone watching you for the first time won't notice.
Which brings me to another point about never repeating a trick for the same audience, just like you will notice more mistakes and weak points in your magic performance as you watch yourself recorded, they will be looking more carefully the second or third time through as well and you will get caught.
As a magician you really want to guard the secret of the tricks, and there are many reasons for that as well which I will talk about another time.
I know it sounds like a lot of work to perfect a magic trick but if you don't want to look foolish then it's well worth the effort, plus it's kind of fun to see yourself perform on camera. Another important note about practice, is to practice the trick slowly especially in the beginning. As they say it's not practice that makes perfect but perfect practice makes perfect. Then speed up little by little as you build muscle memory pretty soon you will be performing the magic trick very smoothly. This also keeps you from getting in the habit of rushing through a trick, because you are afraid that they will catch you making your special move that makes the trick work. That kind of movement just makes the audience more suspicious. Most magicians need to slow down a little it makes for a much nicer affect if your audience sees magic happen right before their eyes in slow motion. Good luck in your practice.
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Top-level comments on this article: (7 total)Jeff, it sounds like you have a few tricks up your sleeve (smile). Thanks for sharing this tidbit of information with us, and I hope to favorite some more submissions.Thank you for the kind words and I will be sharing more as time goes on.Sounds like a winner to me, Jeff.
I do some kids magic and close hand stuff once a month at a local restaurant. I would just like to add that when I practice, I do so recording my back as well. If you are doing stage magic just the front will do, but if you are in between tables or on a street you really have to watch your angles almost as much as the front view. I promise the first time a kid behind you sees a flash and calls you on it will be the lowest point in your magical career! Thanks for the advice and welcome to Searchwarp!!!
Great article. My son is interested in doing magic tricks. He took a class at the local community college during the summer and really enjoyed it. I'll share this article with him. I'm sure he'll appreciate it!I hope he enjoys magic as much as I have over the years.
Great article, Jeff. My husband tells me I'm a great magician--I certainly know how to make money disappear!!!Welcome to Searchwarp.Thank you for your kind words, my wife has the same ability.
Hi Jeff, welcome to search warp! Thanks for these helpful hints. I learned something today, I had no idea what a patter was, now I do. It's obvious you enjoy majic, thanks for sharing your passion, I am sure it well help those are are just getting started. Blessings to you! Teresathank you for that warm welcome. I think I will like it here.
Hi Jeff.This sounds like a lot of work but a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing.Welcome to Searchwarp Writers' Community.Best to you.NenitaThank you for your comment
Interesting. I'm always looking for the "tell" in a magicians act.Thank you for reading my article. I look for that too, but even though I understand a lot of the principles of magic, I still get fooled. I love it when I do get fooled.
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