Magic Is All About The Show

Performing magic – or illusion – is really about more than just the trick that you do. There are certain magic tricks which, with the right amount of practice, we could all perform relatively easily. However, making a magic show is about a lot more than that. To really make it fly, you’ve got to be a showman as well.

This should not be taken as being a notice that to be a proper magician you need to wear a cape and a funny hat. In reality, this is not showmanship but just a fairly cheap way of making yourself look impressive. If you want to be a real showman – or show woman – it’s about making the tricks look easy and adding something to the show that makes people smile.

Many magicians combine their illusions with something approximating a stand-up show. You don’t need to be the funniest person in the world to make this fly, simply have a few jokes which enable your show to be something more than a guy on a stage with some tricks. You can improvise things like pretending you’ve forgotten the trick – a false finish which makes the crowd laugh and applaud when you reveal that you knew it all along and had given the finish some thought.

One part of showmanship which cannot be ignored is involving the crowd. Illusion is often unimpressive if you appear to be running through the motions. If you manage to keep up some repartee and even pick someone to be a sidekick, then you can make a big difference to how impressive your act is.