MagicGizmo

Have you ever heard someone say “my hands are too small to do card or coin sleights”?  How about “I am too old to learn new effects”; my voice is not strong enough; I have no stage presence and I am too awkward.  I don’t look like a magician or entertainer.  I cannot learn from reading books, I am too short, too tall, too fat, or too skinny.

Well, these are just some of the myths in magic.  We will take a look at these myths and bust them for you.  It is important to point out that these are my opinions and mine alone.  I have been in magic over 50 years and have been a performer, a critic for young magicians, an article reviewer, and I am most proud of being a magic mentor.

These are not necessarily in the order mentioned above.  Let’s tackle the physical figure first.  There is no such thing as being “too” anything except boring and even that is fixable.  You can disguise your stature with the right clothes whether you are heavy or skinny, tall or short; they make clothes that will accent “you”.  Your personality also plays a big part in your physical make-up.  If you are confident and walk tall, you will be observed as a confident and interesting type person; if you slouch, keep your head down and if you are shy around people, they will perceive you as someone they are not interested in and probably will not give you the time of day.  You might not even get their attention.  My advice has been, find someone who knows clothes and know what looks good on you and compliments your skin tones.  The clothes do not have to be expensive, they just have to look good on you and you must keep them looking good.

I am the perfect example of being short and overweight, yet most people think of me as a sharp dresser, interesting, fun to be around and very talkative.  I was not always likeable; I had to work at it and even take some acting and speaking classes.  I got lessons in what clothes to wear, how they should fit and most important how to care for the clothes.  Of course, this all changed once I decided on a persona and the clothes were not appropriate for me.  I was able to pick out a new wardrobe to fit the new me.

While we are on the subject of “you”, we need to discuss briefly the personal hygiene one must practice in order to fit the “you”.  Facial complexion is very important, you must wash and clean your face daily and they do make products for men (women also) to help in this category.  You must keep your hands and especially your fingernails clean and looking good.  This is very important, unless you are the masked magician, then it would not matter.  You should at all times have a pleasing fragrance and not too overpowering; remember, “a little goes a long way”.  People should not be able to smell you coming from a mile away, pleasantly or otherwise.

One final comment, but not everything, you need to have one good pair of shined but comfortable shoes.  Someone once said, “if your feet hurt, you are miserable all over”, that also equates to your personality/attitude.  You can find some really comfortable and affordable shoes, you just need time and the willingness to look.

The second myth let’s bust concerns the size of your hands, whether they are small or large.  This is one case where size does not matter.  One of the greatest, if not the greatest card manipulators was Max Malini.  He had some of the smallest hands and shortest fingers ever.  He did not let that bother him and he went on to be the best.

There was also Talma “Queen of Coins”, she had really tiny hands, but coins in them just seemed to appear and disappear, turn over, roll around and just flat out amaze you.  It seems the key to having small hands/fingers and still doing manipulative magic is confidence, attitude, hand and finger strength and dexterity and of course, practice, practice and practice some more.

One of the easiest and best ways to strength your fingers is by exercising them 2-3 times a day.  You start out by stretching them as far as you can, one by one.  Then you need to open and close them tightly and with vigor.  Another great finger exercise is to place one hand at a time on a flat surface and raise each finger one at a time while pressing the others to the surface, then change hands and do the same with it.  Hand strengthening is easy also.  You need to get a rubber ball and squeeze it slowly, then rapidly and then slowly again.  Reverse hands and start all over again.  A can also take a piece of wooden rod and tie a rope to it and on the other end of the rope you tie a light (1-2 pounds) weight on it.  You then take both hands and roll the weight up and down 10-15 times, about 2-3 times a day.  Be sure to keep your hands supple by using a moisturizing lotion every day, especially after doing your exercises.

The confidence builds as you practice and become skilled at the art of manipulation.  I always recommend starting coin magic with what feels comfortable in your hands and work your way to bigger coins.  As for cards, you just need to keep practicing until it becomes second nature to you.   There are plenty of DVDs and books on cards and coins that can really help you.  You also need to practice in front of a mirror once you get the basics down.

Lets now debunk the myth that you cannot learn from books.  First let me say I was one of those who used to always say, “show me, I just cannot learn by reading”.  I was totally wrong, I did learn from reading and even today I am learning new things every day from reading.  There are techniques one must learn in order to understand and be able to glean information from reading.  You must have no distractions, must have paper and writing instruments and the willingness to try.

People were learning from the written materials long before tapes and DVDs came along.   You must open your mind and read a little at a time and then re-read it and take notes.  I try to digest one chapter at a time, unless there are numerous amounts of information; then I will do maybe a ¼ to ½ a chapter at a time.  I read it, make notes and re-read if necessary, but I will try to do the  effect/ sleight while reading it.  If there times when you just cannot understand it and only after attempting to do it several times, you might try calling a knowledgeable friends in your area and see if they can show you.

The next myth is that ”I am too old to learn new effects.  Well, let me tell you, I am over 60 and I learn new effects and theories every week.  So, I do not want to hear anyone say they cannot learn because they are too old. 

Doctors from John Hopkins University conducted a research program on the learning abilities as people age and found no correlation between age and loss of learning abilities as long as the subjects kept inputting information to the brain.  So as long you keep reading, studying and exercising your brain you can always learn more things.

Now let’s demystify the myth of “I am too awkward and have no stage voice.  The awkwardness can be over come by going on-line and seeing what is available for help.  There are many ways that the on-line self-helps can help you overcome your awkwardness.  You just have to take it one step at a time.   As for voice control or strengthening a weak voice, there is a ton of help for you.  Just like keeping body in shape, one must exercise their vocal chords and tongue in order to strengthen their voice.  The tighter you can get your vocal chords the louder your voice will be.  You also need to learn how to project your voice from deep inside your chest cavity.  Again, there is a lot of self-help on-line and many books at the library on this subject.  You can take voice lessons from a vocal coach.  Basically, it all comes down to practice, practice and practice some more.

I saved the best for last, stage presence.  Stage presence has been said to be the quality, which allows us to hold a very public position in a relaxed manner. It is the quality that allows us to remain ourselves under intense scrutiny from others.  Almost all of the people I have taught magic or mentalism to, said they do not have any stage presence and they cannot control the audience or room.  The first way most teachers have of getting past this matter is by “doing”.  I tend to go a different direction and that is having them watch or observe other performers and take notes.  I always try to invite them to one or more of my shows and let them see what I am trying to teach them.  I also highly recommend taking acting and performing classes.  If they are old enough to also take communication and/or speaking classes in college or High School.  I think giving a person the basic knowledge of the stage layout, the parts of the stage and a chance to talk on the stage is very important and a great beginning.  The person needs to take small steps in order to know the stage and how to use it.  They can learn to control the audience by the way they manage the stage and demand the respect they deserve by showing confidence in all they do.

So here are two ways in which you can enhance your stage presence. The first is with practice – lots of practice, preferably with time for constructive reflection afterwards. The second way is to access your unconscious mind and begin to change some of your status signals from the inside.  Stage presence should be automatic and natural.

It's a kind of honesty, a true honesty that comes across and connects with the audience. It has to do with all the prep work you do beforehand. By the time you get onstage, you should be so comfortable that you no longer have to think about your performance, you have the freedom to take off in any direction.  You have to have the courage to go that extra step and share yourself fully with the audience-- that's stage presence.

I think stage presence can be taught. You have to feel like you are showing off. You have to feel like ”I am the best”, and “I want to show all the people, how good of a magician I am”.  People, who come to see you, buy tickets, and what you can give back is this kind of energy to let them receive it--even in a huge theater from the back row. They probably cannot see how many effects you do, but they can see this kind of energy; "You need to give the audience a chill."

Right when I go onstage, I get this really warm sense of calm, this huge sense of calm, and my senses are heightened. In that moment my imagination works powerfully. I try to give myself permission to not analyze while performing. While onstage I am having a dialogue with my imagination, the work I am performing, and the environment, which includes the people onstage, audience, space, and sound. I think opening myself up and having this immediate dialogue is a big part of what can engage an audience

I hope this has helped a few of you reading it.  I am always open to discussion whether you agree or disagree with what I have written.  You may contact me by e-mail at  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .


Bono Fortuna
Massimo
The Mental Institution™