Be Clear and Concise

When speaking to your audience, enunciate clearly. Don´t mumble or speak softly. Also, don't drone on or be pedantic; be clear in speech, mannerism, movements and especially in your instructions.

Mum´s the Word!

Lie if you have to but NEVER tell them how a trick is done even if they ask you about a trick they saw Copperfield do. It's unfair to the other magicians in the world. You wouldn´t want another magician to reveal the secrets to one of your tricks.

Trading Performances

Develop a working relationship with other magicians; they'll be able to hand you performances they're too busy to do and vice-versa.

Misdirection is Your Friend

All too frequently, perfectly good tricks are destroyed by magicians who refuse to learn the basics of misdirection. Properly used, the knack of misdirection can allow you to make moves you could never make, if the audience wasn´t momentarily distracted.

Be Professional

Develop yourself professionally. Study magic, stagecraft, acting, speech, anything that will help you be a better performer. Knowledge that you bring in from other fields can only enhance your act and will make you a more interesting person and performer.

Close-Up Magic - A definition

Cards, coins, cups and balls, balls, thimbles and any other generally hand-sized tricks ar called close-up magic. Generally, magicians will specialize in one or the other of these different subfields; card people rarely socialize with coin people.

Don´t Let the Hecklers Get You Down

When faced with an aggressive heckler, just make sure you're ruder than they are. If they smell fear they'll attack again. Challenge them to perform the trick in your place; that usually shuts them up.

Siempre prepardis - Always be prepared

Never accidentally reveal a trick by being ill-prepared for unexpected contingencies. Always have a fake "double" so that your audience can examine it. Learn how to switch tricked decks and gaffed coins smoothly.

Be Prepared for Impromptu Action

You're a magician; act like one. Every magician is presumed to be an expert with a deck of cards and a pocketful for coins. Stay versatile, and be alert to your audience. Of course, being an insufferable ham does help matters.

Netherland Dwarfs

If you want to include a rabbit in your act, remember you will have to care for it as a household pet. Refer to a veterinarian or a good pet care book as to how to care for your bunny. The top choice of bunnies for magicians is the Netherland Dwarf, because of its small size and pleasant disposition.

Abracadabra

Did you know...

The word Abracadabra comes from the Hebrew expression ‘I create as I speak.' A variation of these words exist throughout the Jewish scriptures. Apparently, whenever God is about to create something, He will announce the creation before hand.

Always Keep Them Guessing

Keep your audience in suspense; never let them know what to expect. Unless it is absolutely necessary, never warn the spectator what to expect,e.g., "I shall now make this coin appear," or you'll sound like a caricature of a bad magician. Besides, what if the trick flops? You´ll have no way to cover.

Joining a Magic Organization

If you want to be a magician, join a magic organization; they frequently know of the best sources of sustained gigs. Join as many as you can. You´ll find it´s well worth the dues.

Be Wary of Unbridled Videotaping

Be careful about allowing video recording of your performance. People will be able to closely examine your routine at their leisure, ad infinitum. Remember that, when you're checking all of your angles and the flow from one move to the next.

Mentalism - a definition

Mentalism is "Magic of the Mind," that is, recognition, telekinesis, telepathy, psychometry, ESP and pyrokinesis among other mind-related effects. It`s one thing to pull four aces from a deck but it`s something all together different to divine how much money a stranger has in his pocket or what the headlines for the New York Times will be the following day.

The Shell Game

Preparation: You will need three identical shells: store-bought shells, bottle caps, walnut shells, or some such, and two identical coins. Glue a dark hair with a dab of clear glue onto one coin.

Make sure to perform this trick on a dark surface. Place the prepped coin under one of the shells. Turn your back to the audience and ask a spectator to mix up the shells. The hair should protrude, revealing which cap the coin is under. (The hair should be difficult to see.)

After showing where the coin was hiding, drop it into your pocket, with the other plain coin, leaving the shells on the table. If they ask to see the coin, show them the plain one. If they ask you to perform the trick again...refuse. A performer never shows the same trick to an audience more than once.

Volunteering for non-for-profit venues

Volunteer to do your magic show for non-for-profit organizations as often as you can; it's the best way to gain experience and to make yourself known. Hospitals, care homes, charity fundraisers and schools can give you a lot of "free" promotion.

How Many Card Tricks

There are lots of good card tricks, but some magicians insist on trying to do all of them at once. Three good card tricks at a time are plenty.

Business Cards

The best thing you can do for your career as a magician is to invest in 1000 business cards. Be generous with them when you think they will be of some use; at every show, pull a few out of someone's ear.