This article will be in a few parts, So please bear with me.
Knowing your Style
Before venturing into the boundaries of magic, the magician who inspired me told me, "Know what you are getting into, and be a magician for the right reasons. Whatever it may be, stick to your reason."
Till this day, I still have the same reason. I am a magician to make people laugh and to entertain.
Most magicians are always asking, "Whats new?" and getting new things all the time to try and fit it into their style. This is not the way it should be. Instead, look into what kinda style you want to portray your to your audience and when at a shop, see what fits into the style. A quick example, I once met a magician who had a very good comedic performance. Midway through his act, he took out a few Tarot cards and decided to do some serious mentalism. Unfortunatly, after his hilarious performance, none took him seriously which deflated the rest of his act, as he thought he was not a good performer due to the failure of the mentalism trick.
I happened to chance on an old magician who has stuck by the same act for the longest time. but he loved to buy any new gimmick that came out. He was well aware of the saying that "Everytime you gain something, you lose something else." And this certainly applies to the volatility of the magic world. Do not ruch out to buy something just because everyone seems to be into it. Think about it first. Can it fit into my act? Can it work under the normal conditions where I perform? etc
If you use this approach, you will save yourself a whole lot of money and also, remember that at this stage, you will become less of a collector of props to amuse and become more of a magician which normal day items.
Developing your own style
A very important part of your whole act is to develop your own style. Why do I say this? If you look around, have you ever seen two magicians with the same style? This is to eliminate competition between the two of them also. If we both have the same style, who should the people hire to see.
Being funny does not necessarily mean that you cannot do mentalism acts. Lets take a look at Max Maven. He is one who has a comical effect to his mentalism acts. However, he has stuck to the same style and genre in order to show the audience that he is a person of many mysteries, yet he is human like the rest of us.
Next, we take a look at Steve Banachek. He is one of many mentalism acts, and always portrays the aura of a person who is happy go lucky. He looks as if he has not a single care in the world. Yet, he brings laughter with his mentalism acts.
Two different styles but bring about the same result. The examples above tell you that you should find your own way of doing things. Don’t copy other people no matter how successful they are, for you can be sure that people always remember the original.
Believing in yourself
The most important thing I believe in the field of magic is confidence. By saying this, I do not mean to say be over confident that tricks will fall into place whenever you snap your fingers. Instead, what I imply is that you know how long you have practiced, you know how the patter should be done, be confident in showing it off. Tricks work because of the confidence you have in yourself.
Persuation
Next, an important part of magic that people neglect. Persuation. Use body language to increase cooperation. Exude rapport and instant attraction.
Body language helps set the appropriate environment to persuasion. A master uses body language to subliminally influence his prospects. He creates irresistible messages that subconsciously persuade and control. Through special gestures, he communicates in a very subtle, yet forceful way. By combining verbal persuasion with subtle non-verbal persuasion, compliance becomes all too easy to obtain. Body language can identify you as calm, confident, and credible. Just as easily, it can reveal you to be shaky, unstable and questionable. The objective is to use body language that identifies you as cooperative,
likeable, charming and authoritative.
Here are some techniques to bolster your image building efforts. Use smiles like a magic wand to gain trust. Greet people in a friendly way regardless of their attitude towards you. Remember the principle of reciprocity? Smile at others and chances are, they'll smile back. Frown, and people will snarl back. Take the initiative: smile and be pleasant. In return, you'll receive wonderful reactions: smiles, laughter, a handshake and perhaps a new friend. Life is a chain of action and reaction. Begin everything with positive action!
Be presentable. Appear kept, neat and tasteful. You can wear simple clothes, but carry yourself with dignity. Stand straight, indulge in eye contact. Move with confidence and a sense of purpose. Act as though you know where you're going and that you have plans in life. To attract other winners, you must look like a winner.
Be enthusiastic. Brim with life. Look alive and be alive. Make you voice ooze with enthusiasm. Immerse yourself in the situation and enjoy it. People gravitate to exuberant souls.
Be poised. Reign in your emotions. Know what you are saying when you say it. Be logical and calculated. Relax. Appear that nothing can faze you. Ooze charm. Be warm, friendly and sympathetic. At the onset of conversations, try to agree with what your companion says. Minimize criticism. Develop a sense of humor and learn to laugh.
Be upbeat! You may have a load of problems, but the world hates to hear about it. Don't burden your companion with your anxieties. Discuss bright ideas. Shroud yourself in optimism. Empathize. Put yourself in their shoes. Grasp fully what they may be feeling and thinking. Try to understand why they say what they do and do what they do. Practice this skill regularly and you'll unlock
many closed doors.
I hope you enjoy the article :lol:
"This article is in The Competition. If you like this article, please vote for me with a follow-up post just saying "Vote""
"Vote" This article I find similiar and manybe I have read it somewhere but I forgot but you have my vote and its very well wrriten.. :D
NICE!! WELL DONE!
"VOTE!" B)
Dude... now you sure got substance and style! Way better than the crap Illusionist posted. Got my vote man!
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