We always hear about what we should do when performing magic, however, less of what we should not. In this blog, I talk about FIVE simple things to avoid when performing magic!
Think having just 'ONE' to calm the nerves is a good idea?
Adding profanity will make you look cool, RIGHT?
They won't mind if you're a COUPLE of minutes late!
If you said YES to any of the above, THEN pack your bags and go home! You are hired to entertain, not get drunk, swear or be unfashionably late! If you stick to the basic five rules below, you’ll make it a lot easier to get REPEAT bookings and will look super professional!
1. SWEARING
This is probably one of the WORST things you can do. If you swear at anyone during your performance to look cool, think again! It makes you look totally unprofessional and the chances of you getting a repeat booking are super slim. Saying that, I do know some magicians that swear and have incorporated blue humour within their act, which works for them. However, for 99% of us, our target audience is the average person who does not appreciate phrases like "Go on, pick a card you f$%king idiot". They want to remember your magic, not your profanity, so keep it clean!
2. LATENESS
To turn up EARLY is to be on time, to turn up on time is to be LATE, and to turn up late is to be FORGOTTEN! Make sure that you bolt on sufficient time for traffic, a tyre blowout, adverse weather conditions and poo poo/pee pee breaks. It is awful arriving at a gig in the nick of time, sweating with worry and starting for performance all stressed out. If you're going some distance, add at least TWO hours for any hiccups.
3. ODOUR
If you smoke, DON'T do it right before a gig. If you have to, wash your hands, take aftershave and plenty of mints. However, don't chew gum or anything else during your gig, it is bad manners. If you've had a heavy night on the tiles and have a gig the following morning, remember that you might still smell of alcohol. A complete NO NO is to drink whilst performing, including that 'one' just to calm the nerves. If anything, save it for later when you've finished and can switch off.
4. MATERIAL
If you've cobbled something together and failed to practice, then you'll spend more time worrying about the moves, patter and the routine. Make sure you either know your stuff, or that you use easy material, which is powerful and fail safe. LUCKILY, we stock a range of professional tricks that are mainly self-working and pack a punch, check out some of gems HERE.
5. SMILE
It is essential that you make eye contact and smile, this will help connect with your audience and appear GENUINE. Try and avoid tricks where the audience has to look down at your hands. Instead, move the effect to chest height, so that you can involve as many people as possible. This makes for a more enjoyable experience for everyone, not just those that are within close proximity.
I hope you enjoyed this blog on things NOT to do when performing magic. It's the little things that count, so if you can take these into consideration, you're on the right track.
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Keep it real,
Vinny