How many of you guys have practiced your act on a daily basis but then it is time to perform it and everything seems to go wrong. In fact the problems I seem to fix are over shadowed by new ones. I am realizing this may be the world of dove magic. I was in the local IBM contest and have practing for weeks . Everyday I nail my act til it is time to perform. I missed my dove on cane and one of my doves came out in my double dove harness prematurely which screwed my double dove production, yet my dove toss my bird came back!! I am so frustrated because I have performed this act many times yet something always seems to go wrong. Some say my act is to difficult yet why can I nail it sometimes and other times not. It goes back to that you need to perform your dove act everywhere in public which can be difficult. I can honestly say I can't practice my act any more then I do. Obviously I am venting here but I know I am so much better then what I was!!! Have you guys ben here or what?

You seem like your just trying too hard. If it's on your mind constantly its not going to help out any. I learned that the hard way.

I don't do competetions, I do close up, but I have played in bands all my life. I can totally see similarities in the two.

I think the adreneline of performing in front of a crowd can really screw a guy up. You get all jacked up and excited and shakey and the next thing you know you are losing birds (or in my case, dropping sticks, forgetting lyrics and so on)

The more I did the band thing (and the magic thing) the easier it gets to "be cool" in front of people. Before you go on take a few deep breaths, do your best to relax, and if you screw things up...just keep going. Most people don't know it when you screw minor things up so don't sweat it. Hope this helps.

Keith

YES! YES! YES!

A couple weeks ago I had a bird fly into the lights and get away during a show. The last time that happened to me was about ten years ago. Of course, I always have a backup bird I can produce, but it's like a pilot using his parachute. After over forty years of magic it is embarrassing. And the audience doesn't even know it is a problem. I just pass a loose bird off as "Look, that one is real!" It always gets a good laugh. They think it is just part of the act. (Anyone have a good recipe for magic dove in the microwave?)

You can over practice for the time. Sometimes it is good just to watch a tape and relax a little. Think how many people never get to be a magician. It must be awful!

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

Taddo, we've all been there. The major key is to relax. As Bob said, the audience doesn't know what you are going to do so you're in charge.
A few weeks ago I was doing a show. The act has been the same for years but somehow, a loop came loose. Then a bird fell out of the pocket onto the stage. That has never happened to me before. Still it is unnerving.

When something goes wrong, it's human nature to worry about it. That may have effected your routine after the first mishap.

When I'm performing, I forget about the audience and just do my routine as though I were practicing. My practice includes looking at the audience and pausing for reaction etc so in actual performance, it's the same thing.

While it's disappointing to do something wrong in competition, you just have to pick yourself up and move on. The next show you do will be fine.

Thanks for your support guys


taddo

If it will help your feelings, you should have seen what happened to Pete Peterson once when he was demonstrating Oscar to a group of magicians. He got his pretty volunteer (Dawn, wife of the Great Xavier), exchanged small talk and then fanned the deck of cards face up. She was asked to pick a card but tell no one. He closed the deck and cut it. Then he said, "Is your card the two of clubs?" Dawn said "Yes."

Pete never got to do the trick!

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

I had that problem years ago. I would practice the act at home and nail it and when I performed it in public I would mess up. My advice is to do your dove act at kid shows even though you are not getting paid to do it, just don’t do a dove toss. The performance experience in front of people does miracles and it is better to mess up in front of some kids than IBM. I used to do a full stage act plus kid tricks with assistant for $175.00 dollars just to get the experience of performing in front of people and to build my confidence. Now I have performed in front of 8,000 or more people in festivals and I nail my whole act and have fun doing it and I don’t get nervous.

Personally, I really liked Todd's dove act. Being mainly a close up magician, I had no idea what to look for and it all seemed fine to me. I don't do any birds or live animals at all, which is why it still looks magical to me and entertains me. I thought it looked good Todd, you're too hard on yourself.
Take care,
Bryan

Everybody is hard on them selves, even if you think you messed up a little bit by making a motion that looked too obvious for the steal. You have to have confidence in yourself and don't think about what happened the time before. I'm the same way, when I perform in front of magicians I freak and I think I always do my worst performance. A nice technique that Dale Salwak told me about was think of the person on stage before you as your opener and now you're going to go out there and knock them dead. You can practice your act for yourself all you want, but it really won't make a whole lot of a difference. You need to perform for live audiences as much as possible because that is what it's all about. When I practice I get my act booked in real venues as much as possible, sometimes even for free if I have to. But on the bright side, its exposure too.

sperris

Thanks guys, it just as you know gets frustrating when you practice all the time and screw it up and it brings ya down man!! Dan is right thought he only way to get comfortable is to perform in front of live audiences.


taddo

I think there is an art in "recovery" when something goes wrong. I wish someone famous would write about it in a book or magazine.

At a lecture many years ago I asked a famous magician who has written many books, "How do you handle it when you make a blunder"?
"I am not sure the question.", he replied.
"If you tip the method accidentally or the prop fails what is your advice?"

He scoured at me, "That should never happen. As a professional you must practice until...blah, blah, blah"

He made me feel small in front of the group at that time and I read all of his books and respected him so the bubble really burst.

I make mistakes so often, I think my "real" art is in covering them up so the audience doesn't know!
YES we feel your pain. Yes we have been there.