Build self-confidence and perform a great magic show.

Anyone can mess up a magic trick. The trick, if you will, is to do most of your messing up at home in front of a mirror and not in front of people you’re trying to impress with your magic abilities. But the facts are the facts. Nobody will do their magic tricks perfectly every time in front of an audience. How you handle those mistakes is what will make you a better magician.

 

Messing Up In Front of an Audience

 

The biggest fear of a beginning magician is messing up a card trick in front of an audience. Messing up could mean accidentally displaying in plain view how a trick is performed. It might mean forgetting how to do a trick or doing it incorrectly. It might just mean dropping something. In most cases messing up a trick is simply embarrassing. 

 

But fear not. Every magician has messed up a trick at one point or another. In some cases it was the very first time they performed a certain trick. In other cases they had performed the same trick dozens – maybe even hundreds – of times without a hitch. You never know when you’re going to goof up. It’s best not to live in fear of it. Be confident in yourself and your skill at the tricks you perform.

 

What to Do When Something Goes Wrong

 

If you mess up a trick, don’t panic. If you show that you’re upset the audience will know right away. In many cases the audience might not know. If they do know, they’re probably not going to boo or hiss. Most audiences are friendly and will understand that you’re a beginner.

 

You don’t need to worry about having tomatoes thrown at you. Just move on and maintain your composure. This saying is as true in the performance of magic as it is in the performance of music. Musicians are taught that if they make a mistake in a song, they should just keep going and show no signs that they’re upset. Often times, the audience won’t pick up on a mistake unless you do something that screams Hey, I just screwed up.

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Go to Your Next Trick

 

The best thing you can do if you mess up is to have another trick ready to go. Even if the audience notices the mistake, they’ll be much more forgiving if you can follow it up by performing the next trick successfully. They know that mistakes happen. Nobody’s perfect. But they are there to be entertained. So, by God, entertain them.

 

Don’t Make the Same Mistake Twice

 

If you mess up a trick, that means you need to practice the trick a little more until you know you can do it perfectly every time. It may mean temporarily retiring the trick until you get all the kinks out. You don’t want to make the same mistake twice during the same show.

 

Practice Makes Perfect

 

If you mess up your magic show, practice those tricks over and over. You want to be completely confident in your abilities before your next show. Performing your magic tricks correctly will enhance your confidence as a magician.