Productive Practicing

Practicing moves while watching television is a wonderful way of getting the moves down, which is very important to our art form. At the same time it can only improve only about 20% of the actual performance. The other 80% of the performance is made up of presentation, patter, and order of operation for the trick to be perfected.

When rehearsing for a magic trick it is important to practice the trick from the very beginning (how do I get into the effect?) to the very end (how do I get out of the effect?) It is more effective when rehearsing to not stop and start the trick over if an error occurs and instead continue on to the end of the trick. The reason for this is because you will get more of the trick practiced at the same time. This way you will not just be a master of the beginning of the trick, but you are also mastering the middle and end of the trick as well.

At the same time, instead of swearing and cursing because you missed your cue, sit back, analyze what went wrong and more importantly come up with a solution to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Some magicians like to categorize these as “outs.”

After you have mastered the trick from beginning to end, make up mistakes and come up with solutions to fix them.

This rehearsal time is crucial. This is the time to make your mistakes and come up with ways to trudge through the trick without being embarrassed in front of an audience.

The point is: When rehearsing, practice the trick all the way to the end. If an error occurs continue on and constructively analyze the problem so a solution can be found.

Also remember, “There is no failure, there is only feedback.”

Always wishing the best,
Adam White

Ebook