By: J.D.
OK. . .a long time ago on this board (maybe 8-10 mos ago) I posted
about being very nervous performing in front of people. I thought I
was getting over it, but then I realized that I was performing in
front of the same group of people all the time. They would alway's
tell me that I HAD to show this person or that person too. I would
always refuse. I got very nervous and was always scared of screwing
up. There's only been a few (a very few) times where I got the urge to
perform in front of new people. Well the same still holds true
today. I don't want to wait for the "urge." I WANT to perform when
'beckoned.' When I'm at home practicing, I get all phsyched to do it
for people, but when the time comes, and it comes a LOT, I
freak. Sometimes I force myself and sometimes I pay the price. Other
times it works out fine and they want to see more. I almost always
turn them down. I figure to stop while I'm ahead. The problem is even
when it does work out fine, I don't want to continue because I'd have
a heart attack. Do I lack in confidence, or what's the deal? How can I
get myself to be the magician that I have the reputation for? I went
on this kick of doing a different trick or 2 everyday for maybe 2
weeks. I finally messed up and that was it. . .I was scared
again. Sure you have to screw up avery once in a while, but lately
it's been more of screwing up all the time. What do I do? Thanks, and
I'm looking forward to hearing from you BDC.
By: Magigal
You have great intellectual capacity to accurately assess your own
situation and responses...you are unusually open with sharing your
experiences and feelings and reactions and have very healthy goal
which you express very clearly....all of that is really, really good !
My guess is your "internal script" is your problem and the good news
is that you have absolute control over that process ! You can change
those internal scripts ! ..(.those unrealistic and unbased thoughts
that creep in and that you listen to , with the results being that you
are overwhelmed and those thoughts sabotage your enjoyment of
performing .) So, what do you do now ? Taaaaa-Daaaa ! You change those
scripts to healthy ones.! Think of it as playing a tape in your
head. Discard the negative tapes. Substitute new , positive and
supportive ones. You might want to try simple new "stuff" that you
say to yourself: " I am so lucky to be able to have this chance to
entertain people with my magic !
I am going to have fun with this magic ! This is way cool ! I am always learning more about people and Magic ! I love perfoming ! I want to share magic with lots of folks ! " Those are just a small example of new tapes to listen to ! You are totally responsible for your own thoughts and actions and feelings. Can you change the potential outcome of how other people react to your magic?
Maybe a little.( when others see you enjoying yourself , they might choose to match your mood ) But ultimately the only certainty is to change yourself !
I know you can do this ! You obviously love magic and want to share this passion with others, so you have a great head-start on being sucessfull with this temporary obstacle to your enjoyment. Very best wishes, JD
By: Raven
Confidence will also be enhanced after thoroughly practicing an
effect. Know you routine back and forth. Once knowing your patter and
slieght without thinking, you can then concentrate on entertaining!
Practice, Practice, Practice! Dont give up on the magic, you really
seem to have a passion for it. I believe all performers at one point
go through these same feelings!
By: Big Daddy Cool
JD, here's what I recommend: Find a local chapter of
Toastmasters. Toastmasters is a nationwide organization that helps
people from all walks of life with public speaking. Go to their
meetings-it's free. They can really help you in this area. If you do
not have Toastmasters in your area, look in the yellow pages for any
public speaking clubs or organizations.
If your fear is of messing up the slieghts, or the routine, then try and turn that fear into a part of the routine. How? Well, to tell the truth, I'm really not sure, but I found a wonderful book years ago that may help. It's "Stand-up Comedy, The Book" by Judy Carter. Now you may be thinking what does Stand-up have to do with magic, much less my confidence problem. Good question. Well, in this book Ms. Carter will guide you through the process of overcoming fears and actually turning it into material. It's really wonderful. There is a whole chapter on overcoming stage fright too. Plus, there is info on booking, getting on TV and more that translates to our field too. This is one of the few non-magic books that I feel should be in every magician's library.
Also, sometimes you need to just fail. Believe it or not, failure can be a great teacher, and in your case it may be good. If you perform magic, and get caught, then you will relize that it is not the end of the world. This will help you put your fear in perspective.
The last thing I would recommend is watching the movie "Dead Poet's Society". You'll know why after you watch it.
By: Kevin
I know your feeling very well. I would often think to myself, "I
really hope this one works or it's not going to fool them." One thing
which I have found helpful is going into a routine/performance with
the attitude that this is something that the specators & I will be
sharing together, a common experience, rather than "magician
vs. spectator." When you & your spectator walk the road together, it
is a lot more enjoyable for both of you and a tremendous pressure is
lifted from your shoulders.
Remember-magic is beautiful and wonderous. Allow yourself to enjoy it as much as your spectators seem to be doing.
By: TJ
Here's what works for me. Most of my performances are in front of
family and friends that come to visit. For some reason, I am never
nervous performing for them probably because I know them. My 2nd real
performace (non-house guests) was for my SYM. It was thwe 1st meeting
I attended and wanted to prove myself early. I was literally shaking
at the begining, but after hearing some "wows" ooohhh and aaahhhhs., I
realized they were enjoying it. I then lighteneds up and had a
ball. Remember, they want you to amaze them. 1st get comfortable
showing your parents or siblings, then someone you know outside your
imidiate family. And once you're comfortable doing that, try on people
you don't know. It will be a lot of fun and a great learning
experience. Hope that helps!!
By: Frank Yuen
I don't know what type of effects you do but perhaps for now maybe you
could restrict your actual performance pieces to fail safe magic.
Magic that will absolutely work 100% of the time. I think this will
let you concentrate more on having fun and the presentation which
wouldn't hurt anyone. You can keep working on the sleight of hand
stuff in private until you build your confidence.
I believe most nervousness in magic comes from the fear of being caught. As you get better that fear will lesson but everyone screws up a trick now and then. It's not the end of the world if you do. If you are a likeable person the audience will still have fun and when they tell others they'll be talking about the great time they had and not that you screwed up.
Are you a good magician? Honestly ask yourself that and if the answer is "No" then practice more before you perform. But if you can answer, "Yes" then realize that you are using principles that people have no knowledge of. They don't know the tools that you are using and therefore have no real possibility of figuring out your effects. I personally believe that is the strongest arguement for doing sleight of hand magic.
This fear of screwing up may actually be what is causing you to make mistakes. Magigal talked about your inner script. You may be so busy saying to yourself, "Don't screw up" that you don't concentrate and thus make mistakes.
I don't know if I helped but I do know that magic is a PERFORMING art and even if you are an amateur you have to get up in front of people sometime.
By: Earl Nelson
Frank gave a very thoughtful post. I'll go in a slightly different
direction. I feel there is too much pressure applied by other
magicians to perform. You must perform. Not necessarily so.
Two of the finest card workers in the world are not performers, and they are content with this. Magic needs people in other areas, creating, writing, building, teaching,etc. We have a lot of performers.
If you are really uncomfortable performing, don't feel bad, there's plenty else to do.
By: Michael Grey
The subject of my post is a well known one, stage fright. I have been
preforming cold reading and such for several years now and they are
one on one. About 4 months back, I was preforming a card trick for a
woman and her daughter, I was prefoming a double-cut when my hands
began to uncontrollably shake.
It was obvious to all of us present, and uncontrolable too. I knew the card trick quite well and enjoyed preforming it before, but always for one person, never a group. I thought this was a "fluke" as it were, but again I was only misleading myself. Two weeks ago I was selected to read a report infront of my Honors English class, one on space exploration, this report I was very fond of and asked the teacher before hand if he could choose me that day (traditon you see).
So I began reading my report and received great reaction from it, laughs at all the funny parts etc. Then I heard a girl say in the backround "Is he shaking?" I then realized, unknown to me, I was shaking from head to toe. I'm a very good speaker and recived a ovation and extra credit (something my teacher never hands out) for my delivery of the report, and the quality of it. All turned out great accept for the fact that I could not contol my shaking.
I feel very embarresed because I love to preform, and enjoy speaking to groups, but sadly I can't. Can someone please help me? I must also admit that I did not post a valid Email address for the simple reason I do not have one, I promise to get one as soon as possible, thanks for understanding. Thank you for all your help in advance.
Sincerely, MG
Post Script,
I ask you to please forgive my spelling, it is horendous and I am quite ashamed of it, sadly my computer has not been functioning properly and I could not spell check it.
By: Gianni
I can sympathize with your problem. I used to be a trial lawyer and
can't remember getting nervous more than a few times in the years I
did that. But when I started to perform magic in front of a few people
I got nervous and a bit shaky like you described.
I have attacked this problem by getting in front of a crowd every chance I get. The more often you do it, the less nervous you will be. You will be surprised that this is the case even when you blow a few tricks, or get a tough audience member. These problems will cause you anxiety but you will learn to take them in stride and perspective.
So my advice is to put yourself on the firing line every chance you get. But be as prepared as possible when you do. Don't force it. I think you will shake less over time, and eventually, your shaking will be rare.
By: Marti
I used to go into these really slieght of handish routines "pass, then
DL, then this, then that" you know...
But I was a beginer, and it scared me to "do the moves" so I would shake... and it kind of gave away the fact that "oh look, there he did something, some MOVE".
So what was a poor magician to do? How did I fix my fright? I started doing trick I knew I could do well. Like a simple Scotch & Soda with the coin appearing under the mat, or the coin threw the dental rubber "coin in the glass".
Simple tricks that gave me great reactions, then I slowly worked my way up. I started doing Slydini coin vanishes "gosh he has some good ones". All in all, just do some simple basic magic you KNOW you can do with your eyes closed.
By: joe ferranti
In answer to your question, what happened to you is known as "Fight or
Flight Syndrome." The theory being that this is somewhat instinctual
and was a good thing when we were cavemen, especially when
encountering a saber tooth tiger. It is somewhat less useful today,
but who knows? the way things are going it may come into vogue again.
The solution is not for me to suggest. Certainly performong more often may be helpful. Go back to one on one and see if things return to normal.
By: Shane Cobalt
After performing a lot you will slowly shake it off. I had the same
problem it is something that happens until you deeo down inside feel
that you are prepared for an audience you can't feel this way until
you perform often and get some experience under that belt. What I am
trying to say is we have all been there and all would be there you are
nervous and the confidence isnt there cause you are unsure of peoples
reactions thoughts etc. So Just keep doing what you are doing and you
will slowly shake it off. (No Pun Intended)
We would all feel that way if we had to perform for the late Dai Vernon, Ed Marlo, or Slydini and numerous others.
So it is something everyone has or had and comes out all the time. Personally I stopped shaking just a few months ago. But then it came back not for everything just for my watch steals! Luckily that presided after I stole everyones watch I could see. So with time it will go! Keep at it!
By: Glenn Lawrence
On Bryan's magic.about.com site,
he has an article on this very subject that you will find helpful!
Good luck!
One article by Bryan
Another article by Bryan
By: Ralph Bonheim
I may come in for criticism for bringing this up, but many public
speakers and performers with persistent, substantial stage fright use
drugs called beta blockers to help themselves get over the hump. The
drug most often used for this purpose is propranolol (trade name
Inderal).
Beta blockers interfere with the body's physiologic responses to adrenaline (aka epinephrine). They are NOT sedatives or tranquilizers. In the absence of side effects (see below), they will not interfere with mental sharpness, and the performer will be as excited or frightened as usual. However, the adrenaline-induced shakiness, sweating, and heart-pounding caused by the excitement will be greatly diminished.
Beta blockers are ordinarily used to treat high blood pressure and/or rapid heart rate. They can cause dizziness, especially (though not exclusively) in people with low blood pressure. Taking one's first-ever beta blocker before an actual performance is a dumb idea. Also, they should never be used by people with asthma or certain other conditions.
They are NO SUBSTITUTE for any of the excellent nonpharmaceutical advice already given in this thread and in Bryan's linked article. They're not a magic bullet, and they're certainly no substitute for knowing your routines cold (or remembering that your audience is rooting for you, etc., etc.). But you may as well know that there are a lot of professional performers who use beta blockers in special circumstances; in the classical music world, with which I have some connections, I know both singers and instrumentalists who will take a beta blocker prior to a performance in which they have an especially nerve-wracking solo. And I know at least one magician -- me (a lifelong lone-wolf amateur who suddenly found himself doing a run of shows off-off-Broaday) -- who has taken a propranolol prior to a performance when I knew there was a reviewer in the house.
The best advice is probably to forget I ever mentioned this, but the truth is that beta blockers are a part of a comprehensive discussion of how some performers deal with stage fright in some situations.
By: Glenn Lawrence
I don't think anyone should criticize you for bringing up chemical
solutions to the stage fright issue. I meant to myself in my response
but forgot. Indeed many a performer has had a shot or two of booze to
"take the edge off" before a performance. Not saying this is what I
recommend, but I have known some that have and I suppose it may have
worked for them. I'm sure others got drunk and humiliated themselves
in public!
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