Child Magic

Becoming a magician is the dream of many little boys and girls, either because they have been mesmerized by illusion or as a result of playing with a box of magic tricks.

Magic comes in all shapes and sizes, ranging from the simple card trick to an out of this world illusion, see David Copperfield making the Statue of Liberty disappear as an example.

As well as Copperfield, other great influences include Harry Houdini, Penn & Teller and David Blaine, all of which are masters of their crafts and have the audience eating out of the palms of their hands. At the heart of it all, they are entertainers that thrive in the spotlight by wowing audiences.

The appeal is obvious and one that captures the imagination of many. When you decide that magic is your calling in life, a lot of training and sacrifices are to be made, but the look of a speechless crowd makes it all worth it.

What Type of Magic will you perform?

If you are truly serious about becoming a magician, you need to think about what genre of magic you will perform to the audience. Do you see yourself as an escape artist? Perhaps you can wow an audience up close on the street or perform seemingly daredevil tricks on the stage?

Being a magician is much more than being able to tell someone what card they are thinking of, and it’s a lot more complex than having a trick up your sleeve. When you explore the history of magic, you realize that no two magicians are the same. If you want to be successful, you cannot be anyone else but yourself.

Street Magic

Starting Out

Beginning your journey as a magician is akin to stand-up comedy. Develop an act and practice in front of a group of friends and family, asking them to give an honest performance of your entertainment. The next step is to trial your act on stage, or on the streets, when the pressure is on.

All magicians rely on an unwavering sleight of hand, and the ability to contain your nerves is important for you to be a success. Experience can only be gained by doing this over and over again, even if the first, second and third shows were far from great. Ask any entertainer about their first show, and the chances are they will tell you they bombed.

Pick yourself up and learn from what went wrong, as this will help to hone your craft and find out what works and what doesn’t work.

Experiment

To push yourself to be as good as you can possibly, do not be afraid to experiment and take yourself out of your comfort zone and experiment with new styles and tricks. You never truly stop developing, with the best acts able to reinvent themselves before they become stale and to keep them ahead of the game.

As you start out with magic, while you may have an idea of what you want to be, you may find that you enjoy and excel at something completely different. Remember that inspirations are just that, and you will do well not to try and be an exact copy of your favorite magician. It is important to be unique and bring something new to the table.

Listen to Advice

As you gain more experience you will likely come across other magicians that will have more experience. This can be invaluable and listen to their advice can help you to kick on in your new career.

If you do not happen to come across any other magicians by chance, then seek them out as the majority of people in any profession will be happy to offer advice to newcomers. Social media makes this incredibly easy to find contacts in the industry, which is what you will have to do in search of work once you become more serious.

Being a magician can be one of the most rewarding gigs in the world as you make the audience question everything they think they know. If you have patience and perseverance, you too can make it in the world of magic.