How does this come into play in magic performances? Technically, in magic, you are deceiving, then, can you be deceiving sincere or sincerely deceiving. Sounds contradictory?

Sincerity in performance should not be seen as a way of deceiving but rather in the way the deception is presented. Leizpgn said: “People don’t mind being fooled by a gentlemen.

Here is an excerpt from Dale Carnegie’s classic book, How to win friends and influence people(1936). This book, by the way, is the No. 2 all-time best selling book in history, second only to the Bible.

Here it is in Mr Carnegie’s own words:

“ I spent an evening in the dressing room of Howard Thurston the last time he appeared on Broadway - Thurston was the acknowledged Dean of magicians. For forty years, he travelled all over the world, time and again, creating illusions, mystifying audiences, and making people gasp with astonishment. More than 60 million people had paid admission to his show, and he had made almost $2 million in profit.

I asked Mr Thurston to tell me the secret of his success. His schooling certainly had nothing to do with it, for he ran away from home as a small boy, became a hobo, rode in boxcars, slept in haystacks, begged his food from door to door, and learned to read by looking out of boxcars at signs along the railway.

Did he have superior knowledge of magic? No, he told me hundreds of books had been written about legerdemain and scores of people knew as much about it as he did. But he had two things that others didn’t have.

First, he had the ability to put his personality across the footlights. He was a master showman. He knew human nature. Everything he did, every gesture, every intonation of his voice, every lifting of an eyebrow had been carefully rehearsed in advance, and his actions were timed to split seconds.

But, in addition to that, Thurston had a genuine interest in people. He told me that many magicians would look at the audience and say to themselves, “Well, there is a bunch of suckers out there, a bunch of hicks; I’ll fool them all right.” But Thurston’s method was totally different. He told me that every time he went on stage he said to himself: ‘I am grateful because these people came to see me. They make it possible for me to make my living in a very agreeable way. I’m going to give them the very best I possibly can.’

He declared he never stepped in front of the footlights without first saying to himself over and over: ‘I love my audience. I love my audience.’

Ridiculous? Absurd? You are privileged to think anything you like. I am merely passing it on to you without comment as a recipe used by one of the most famous magicians of all time.”


What do you think? It is a good idea to reflect upon your own performances. Do you thank your audience for watching your show? Do you say so sincerely? This is not to suggest that you must thank and patronize your audience after every effect. But there are certain times in a performance when sincerity can be shown.

Performers like Copperfield, Lance Burton, Brett Daniels, Mark Kalin, J C Sum (cough… cough…) all have moments/ points in their show where they address the audience to convey their thanks and sincerity to the audience.

Sincerity may seem difficult to communicate if your stage persona prevents it. Penn of Penn & Teller plays an obnoxious pompous ‘bully’ most times and Criss Angel would generally scare or intimidate the average viewer. However, both these performers still find a way to ‘break character’ and communicate sincerity during their performances. More often than not, the sincerity is communicated through a heartfelt passionate script regarding something they are about to perform.


Here are a few examples of appropriate times to convey ‘moments of sincerity’:

- When introducing a routine, you might want to tell the audience how much it means to you (maybe, your first trick you ever learnt). Tell them that it means a lot to show it to them.

- When someone loans you an object. This is actually common courtesy but it must be backed by genuine sincerity.

- When thanking a volunteer who has participated on stage. Be genuinely grateful because in an audience participation effect, the spectator plays a major role in making the routine a success. Be sure to walk the spectator all the way to the edge of the stage if it is a stage show.

- At the end of the show when you bid the audience ‘goodbye’ and thank them for their attention or having you at their event.

Note: I should point out that I’m talking about sincerity in the context of a show (at least 30min) not just a 5 – 10min act. An act is generally too short to communicate multiple emotions and feels.


In conclusion, I personally do feel that sincerity in your performance can only add another positive dimension to your show.

One word of caution: over doing the sincerity factor with sad stories regarding loss or death that do not seem genuine can backfire on you. Audiences are sophisticated enough to see through badly presented sincere routines. These types of presentations will then sadly be perceived as cheesy or cheap attempts to evoke emotions in the audience.

Just be yourself when you are genuinely sincere and you will be fine.


Yours sincerely,

J C Sum

Now THAT is food for thought. B)

Great post!

Thanks for the well thought out article and advise.

Very well written, totally agree!

It is very easy for the audience to tell if a performer is performing for the sake of money or performing for the sake of entertainment, sincerity play a major role in any performance or show.

Personally I do believe in performing as myself rather than performing as a character, I've tried performing on the street for the sake of earning some money but it just didn't work. But days when I perform because I wanted to, I actually earn a lot more than usual.

This is what I always tell people who came to me:

Stranger :Alan, can you teach me street performing?
Myself :Why do you want to do street performing?
Stranger :I want to earn some money...
Myself :Go get a job...

Yes, there's nothing wrong with earning money but it just don't work in the show if it's for the sake of money, your audience can sense it! Many have tried and tell me it is impossible to earn from the streets but look at me, I've been doing it for 5+ years already and I'm getting better.

I've seen very skilled magician/juggler etc... doing street performance for the money, and also a newbie who just started trying, guess who earn the most? It's the newbie...no doubt the show wasn't as nice or perfect but his sincerity is shown on his face, it is something money can't buy and that is what makes him become the topic of the day.

The next time you want to perform ask yourself this question: "Are you performing because of money or because you wanted to?"

-Alan-