Hand shaking in magic.

OliveroG · 04-26-2012, 08:52 AM

I've been a magician for quite a long time, i've had many experiences in public, i have worked on parties, on stage and even for random people in a magic store, with all of that, i've managed to not care about performing for public in general.

But...

For some reason, almost everytime i perform for other magicians, i get this annoying handshaking... my hands simply start to shake, that's it, and i'm not really nervous, i can still perfectly be infront of the audience. I believe it's because i feel tested (this mostly happens when i'm infront somebody who knows my area, or who has a really big career supporting them).

After some performances in front of magicians, i am now able to kinda control it AFTER it has started, but in the beggining it's always pretty annoying, so my general question, has this happened to you? and if it has, how do you manage to control hand shaking when performing? i personally stop for a second, get a deep breath, relax all the pressure in my hands (while talking) and when i come back, it's all a little bit better.

Thanks in advance for your answers.

la0o9 · 04-26-2012, 10:56 AM

well, for other magicians i don't really get those hand-shakes, i do get them sometimes when i do it for audience, and if i do get shakes, i simply divert, or try to, their attention away from me for a bit( a joke, a bit of audience involvement, whatever works), after that i usually regain my composure.

Fin · 04-27-2012, 01:22 AM

Sounds like you've worked out the problem, and can control it, but you want to control it better. I would sit down and think hard about a few things.

1) Why do you get nervous in the first place. If it's because you feel tested then work out a way to get past that in your head. I would acknowledge it. Say to yourself "ok, this performance is slightly more testing because there are skilled magicians watching. Now, time to have some fun.". Sometimes just openly stating to oneself what the problem is can help one to move past it.

2) Get out of the habit! By this I mean UN-learn this habit you have taught yourself. You did it unknowingly but you have taught yourself to react this way. "I'll be more nervous for magicians than for laymen for reason x, y, and z."
Analyse WHY you think this way. What are x,y and z? And why are you chosing this type of reaction rather than, for instance, the way I react, which is as follows: I am completely the opposite to you. When I perform for magicians I am much more relaxed. This is because I personally feel that messing up a trick for a magician is not half as bad as messing one up for a layman. Because a magician knows half of the secrets anyway - seeing a flash during your pass is hardly going to send them into deep shock and floods of tears as they realise that magic isn't real. A layman however could be completely caught up in your magic, then spot a glaring error, and it could quite easily COMPLETELY ruin the entire experience for them. See, I'm thinking about what is happening in their heads. A magician will just realise I need more practise, whereas a layman will see a "secret" and the magic is completely ruined. What's worse?

3) Free yourself from the pressure of other people's opinions. I have nothing to prove to other magicians. I enjoy sharing, comparing, getting jealous of other magicians etc.. but as far as performing goes I think it's much more important to worry about what laymen think of you rather than what fellow magicians think. Magicians will be ultra picky about various things that laymen wouldn't care about one bit. Magicians will also often try to get you to do things "like I do" because they think their way is the best way. This is most often actually quite damaging for your magic. Originality, among artists, is often met with derision and ridicule. So, don't put too much emphasis on what other magicians think. You may already be way ahead of them!

OliveroG · 04-27-2012, 05:23 AM

Those are great advices, thank you guys!

KGaborMagic · 04-27-2012, 03:52 PM

I think hand shaking can only be eliminated if you perform, perform and perform.
This is the case when performing to laymen, but also when performing to magicians. You will soon get used to the situation, and then you won't have problems with it.

Pig · 04-28-2012, 05:27 PM

Hmmmmm so I'm not alone eh.

Fin · 05-01-2012, 12:47 AM

Its all mental.. like me

TheWezku · 05-11-2012, 09:37 AM

I used to have some hand shaking back in the days when i performed to my school techers i dont have that problem any more because im more confident of my skills

Wyattsb · 12-24-2012, 10:04 AM

Confidence fixes that, I used to get it quite a lot, the worst was with card to mouth, probably the boldness of it, but now its just gone. Occasionally if I'm trying something for the first few times it comes back a little but soon it just goes again.

TheSecretFire · 01-03-2013, 09:59 PM

Like Fin said, adapt the mindset that laymen generally expect a magician to do magic, while magicians generally expect cool tricks.

So when performing in front of magicians, don't let them test you- just test yourself. And since magicians usually know what's going on, you can do really bold stuff (if your intention is to fool them), like doing tabled doubles, or spreading the invisible deck on the table (after finding their named card), or put a double or gimmicked card in their palm, etc.

As for the shakes, I used to get those so bad that I could barely hold the deck. So here's what I did to get rid of them faster: do a very fast set of 30-40 pushups then rehearse the routine while forcing your body to relax (or pullups or some other exercise that will make your arms and hands shake). This will help you to have greater control over your heartrate, so when you perform, getting your body to relax will be considerably easier.

Hope this helps!

04-26-2012, 08:52 AM	#1
OliveroG Marcos Olivero Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Venezuela Posts: 103	Hand shaking in magic. I've been a magician for quite a long time, i've had many experiences in public, i have worked on parties, on stage and even for random people in a magic store, with all of that, i've managed to not care about performing for public in general. But... For some reason, almost everytime i perform for other magicians, i get this annoying handshaking... my hands simply start to shake, that's it, and i'm not really nervous, i can still perfectly be infront of the audience. I believe it's because i feel tested (this mostly happens when i'm infront somebody who knows my area, or who has a really big career supporting them). After some performances in front of magicians, i am now able to kinda control it AFTER it has started, but in the beggining it's always pretty annoying, so my general question, has this happened to you? and if it has, how do you manage to control hand shaking when performing? i personally stop for a second, get a deep breath, relax all the pressure in my hands (while talking) and when i come back, it's all a little bit better. Thanks in advance for your answers.

04-26-2012, 10:56 AM	#2
la0o9 Move monkey atm Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Not where you'd want to go :P Posts: 747	well, for other magicians i don't really get those hand-shakes, i do get them sometimes when i do it for audience, and if i do get shakes, i simply divert, or try to, their attention away from me for a bit( a joke, a bit of audience involvement, whatever works), after that i usually regain my composure. __________________ "Doubt isn't the same as saying people are bad, it simply means you actually care, 100% trust is nothing more than ignorance"~ Akiyama Shinichi- Liar Game "It's not the destination but the road to it that is worth the trip" "Be careful what you wish for... it might just come true"~ old saying "It's a small world, but only relatively" "Reality is not the world, it is the way humankind depicts the world, thus when you alter a person's way of seeing the world, you alter reality itself"

01-03-2013, 09:59 PM	#10
TheSecretFire Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Texas Posts: 7	Like Fin said, adapt the mindset that laymen generally expect a magician to do magic, while magicians generally expect cool tricks. So when performing in front of magicians, don't let them test you- just test yourself. And since magicians usually know what's going on, you can do really bold stuff (if your intention is to fool them), like doing tabled doubles, or spreading the invisible deck on the table (after finding their named card), or put a double or gimmicked card in their palm, etc. As for the shakes, I used to get those so bad that I could barely hold the deck. So here's what I did to get rid of them faster: do a very fast set of 30-40 pushups then rehearse the routine while forcing your body to relax (or pullups or some other exercise that will make your arms and hands shake). This will help you to have greater control over your heartrate, so when you perform, getting your body to relax will be considerably easier. Hope this helps! __________________ -Was it the Queen of Hearts? *-Wow! How'd you know that?* *-Check your pocket.*

04-27-2012, 01:22 AM	#3
Fin Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 530	Sounds like you've worked out the problem, and can control it, but you want to control it better. I would sit down and think hard about a few things. 1) Why do you get nervous in the first place. If it's because you feel tested then work out a way to get past that in your head. I would acknowledge it. Say to yourself "ok, this performance is slightly more testing because there are skilled magicians watching. Now, time to have some fun.". Sometimes just openly stating to oneself what the problem is can help one to move past it. 2) Get out of the habit! By this I mean UN-learn this habit you have taught yourself. You did it unknowingly but you have taught yourself to react this way. "I'll be more nervous for magicians than for laymen for reason x, y, and z." Analyse WHY you think this way. What are x,y and z? And why are you chosing this type of reaction rather than, for instance, the way I react, which is as follows: I am completely the opposite to you. When I perform for magicians I am much more relaxed. This is because I personally feel that messing up a trick for a magician is not half as bad as messing one up for a layman. Because a magician knows half of the secrets anyway - seeing a flash during your pass is hardly going to send them into deep shock and floods of tears as they realise that magic isn't real. A layman however could be completely caught up in your magic, then spot a glaring error, and it could quite easily COMPLETELY ruin the entire experience for them. See, I'm thinking about what is happening in their heads. A magician will just realise I need more practise, whereas a layman will see a "secret" and the magic is completely ruined. What's worse? 3) Free yourself from the pressure of other people's opinions. I have nothing to prove to other magicians. I enjoy sharing, comparing, getting jealous of other magicians etc.. but as far as performing goes I think it's much more important to worry about what laymen think of you rather than what fellow magicians think. Magicians will be ultra picky about various things that laymen wouldn't care about one bit. Magicians will also often try to get you to do things "like I do" because they think their way is the best way. This is most often actually quite damaging for your magic. Originality, among artists, is often met with derision and ridicule. So, don't put too much emphasis on what other magicians think. You may already be way ahead of them!

04-27-2012, 05:23 AM	#4
OliveroG Marcos Olivero Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Venezuela Posts: 103	Those are great advices, thank you guys!

04-27-2012, 03:52 PM	#5
KGaborMagic K. Gábor Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 229 Donor Score: 110	I think hand shaking can only be eliminated if you perform, perform and perform. This is the case when performing to laymen, but also when performing to magicians. You will soon get used to the situation, and then you won't have problems with it.

04-28-2012, 05:27 PM	#6
Pig Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 9	Hmmmmm so I'm not alone eh.

05-01-2012, 12:47 AM	#7
Fin Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 530	Its all mental.. like me

05-11-2012, 09:37 AM	#8
TheWezku -W Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Finland Posts: 34	I used to have some hand shaking back in the days when i performed to my school techers i dont have that problem any more because im more confident of my skills

12-24-2012, 10:04 AM	#9
Wyattsb Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Australia Posts: 32	Confidence fixes that, I used to get it quite a lot, the worst was with card to mouth, probably the boldness of it, but now its just gone. Occasionally if I'm trying something for the first few times it comes back a little but soon it just goes again.