What You Need To Know To Become A Magician
by David Fishman
Elaborate stunts and illusions. Beautiful assistants. A crew of well trained exotic
animals. You are intrigued by the magician's life and have decided to give it a shot.
Well, don't be fooled by the magicians you see on T.V. There is more to the profession
than that, and you need to learn it from all different perspectives in order to be a true
success.
In addition to stunts and illusions, you need to understand the basics. Palming
techniques. Small tricks. Not all of your shows will require you to use your big tricks.
A true magician knows a combination of both, and knows them all well.
Here is what you need to know to become a magician.
Learn the Basics. Learning the basic techniques is very important.
Simple card tricks, coin tricks, and small tricks with props like ropes and
hats are good to learn. You can learn from a book, take a class, or learn
from a DVD or instruction online. The methods you choose will depend largely on your learning style.
Keep in mind that it can be very helpful to have an expert show you how to do it and critique your technique.
Get a Mentor. In your road to becoming a magician, getting a mentor can be a tremendous help.
A mentor will not only teach you how to perform tricks and illusions, but will also assist you
on the business side of being a magician. Most are self employed and are responsible for booking
their own engagements. It can be a big help to also learn things such as marketing, etc from your mentor.
Go to School. Yes, there are magic schools. Some are part of clown school. Others are designed as
enrichment programs in middle school and high schools. Attending a school that focuses completely
on magic can help you learn quickly and put you on a schedule for success.
What Kind of Magician? What kind of magician do you want to be? Each successful magician out
there has some kind of niche. Do you want to be a clown/magician? Would you like to do elaborate stunts?
Or maybe you want to focus entirely on card tricks. It's up to you. Once you define exactly
how you envision your future career, you can take the steps necessary to achieve it.
Your Tricks. Each performing magician has not only a broad knowledge of their field, they also have
a select amount of tricks that they master. Granted, depending on the performance, you will want to
vary your lineup. However, if you have a few tricks you can depend on, it will make your job a lot easier.
Stage presence. Being a technical magician won't get you far. You need to develop a stage presence.
Each trick and illusion you learn needs to have a routine attached to it that will captivate the audience.
You can be a mediocre magician and still entertain the crowd with your jokes and anecdotes.
What truly matters is that your audience has a good time.
About the Author
David Marc Fishman has started bornasuperstar.com.
Talented performers will submit there videos and the public will vote to determine the winner.