5 Great tips for a live magic show

Hi everyone!

As a performer I strongly feel that magicians are an important part of our community. Today I would like to share some helpful tips for a live magic show with you. A friend of mine, who is a magician himself, helped me write this post:

Practice as much as you can. Believe me, this is the main key to success. Practice helps makes your tricks polished, flawless and perfect in front of your audience. It doesn't matter how difficult a trick is, all that matters is how perfectly you executed it in front of your audience, something that can only be achieved through constant practice.

Keep your eyes on the audience. Keeping your eyes on your cards or props the entire time will not make a good impression on your audience. Keeping eye contact will help you understand your audience.

However don't just look at your audience the entire time, interact with them while you perform. Try to start a conversation and keep them engaged, make them a part of your act by asking for volunteers. Again this is something that can only come through practice and experience.

Try to create and maintain a sequence in your performance. Your tricks must be structured, where one trick would lead to another and so on. You can achieve this through the usage of a story or theme. Saving your best tricks for the end of the show is also a great idea.

Keep the anticipation alive. Always give the impression that something even greater is coming next. This helps you prevent anticlimax in your shows and keeps the audience on their feet, eagerly anticipating the next trick.

Illusion, distraction and misdirection are your best friends. They are as much a part of a magician's tools as his/her props are. If employed properly they will give your performance that final push towards perfection.

Please give your feedback :) 

The Magic Castle Review

If the world of magic has a center, it lies in a classy Victorian mansion in Hollywood that's known internationally as The Magic Castle. The Castle is many things: a showcase for the world's best magicians, headquarters for the Academy of Magical Arts and an exclusive club for magicians and fans of magic.

To visit the Castle, you must know a current member who can give you a guest pass, which gets you into the doors. Once you're in, you experience dinner and a full evening of magic that's presented in three different theaters and can consist of up to seven amazing acts.

 Magic in the Air
The Magic Castle itself is an elegant old house with a mysterious air. The labyrinth of hallways may bring to mind a graceful Winchester mansion, and the tradition of magic is everywhere. In one room, Irma, an invisible, ghostly piano player will play almost any tune you can think of, and answers your questions in humorous song. Also part museum, The Castle features areas that honor magic's best, including Blackstone and Dai Vernon, and there are magic and show biz relics on display.

You can see stage acts in the Palace of Mystery. Here, on any given night, you're bound to see a conjurer with birds, and two other magicians performing either a stand-up act or working with large-scale illusions. The Parlor of Prestidigitation offers stand-up magic, with two separate acts a night. Magicians here perform miracles with ropes, cards, rings, and more, and may blow you away with some amazing mind-reading. Finally, there's the intimate close-up gallery, where you can watch the cards, coins, and more as a magician works the table. Acts change weekly, and there are shows seven nights a week. And beyond the theaters, you're likely to catch magicians performing impromptu throughout the Castle.