In order to become a magician, first of all you need to learn how the tricks are being done. This is quite simple; you get a book or a DVD and start learning the tricks. Practice them until you could do it flawlessly. Learning how to do the trick is different however from performing it.

Most magic books or DVDs would only deal on the methods on how tricks are done and little attention is given on the showmanship. This results in a dilemma for beginning magicians. This dilemma however could be solved by studying how to entertain audiences by proper showmanship.

Magic as we know is also a form of entertainment. The goal of magic is to entertain at the same time mystify. A magician who knows how to do the tricks flawlessly would certainly mystify others but he wouldn’t entertain them if he simply presented the tricks. Entertainment would only come if you have mastered showmanship as well.

Showmanship is important because it completes a magician both as a presenter of tricks and as an entertainer. Most magicians would agree that being entertaining is more important than to master all the tricks. Even the simplest tricks, if presented in a very entertaining manner would look much better than a complex one.

Being an entertaining magician is not easy, but here are some tips that could help aspiring magicians to become entertaining ones.

1. Mastery of the Tricks

   A good magician before he becomes an entertaining one should master how to do the tricks flawlessly. He should fully understand how his tricks work because if he does not then the chances for failure and exposing the trick would be great thus making the magician a bad magician. Also a magician should be able to do not just tricks with the same objects e.g. card tricks, coin tricks, mind-reading tricks etc. He must be able to do tricks with various objects so that the audience will stay interested as you perform.

2. Organization of the Tricks

   Once you have mastered various tricks it’s time to organize them into a routine. The first factor to be considered here is to organize them according to the type of object used. For example when you start performing a card trick, the next one should be another card trick. If you perform a card trick then a coin trick then another card trick again, the audience will find this boring and this is what you should avoid as a magician.

   The next thing is how you would organize the tricks under the same type. The easiest is to create a beginning trick, a middle trick and an end trick. Look at the tricks you could do and try to organize them which would be a good opener, a good middle and a good ending.

   A good opener should capture first the attention of your audience. This is very important because if you haven’t done this they would be bored throughout your performance. A good middle should be able to keep the audiences interested in your act. A good ending is something that should leave your audiences mystified. In order to find out which are good opening, middle and ending tricks you should start performing those tricks to your friends and family and look at their reactions and form there you could determine which tricks should be openers, middles, or endings.

3. Patter

   Patter or the talk is very important in magic. Not only it functions as a good misdirection, it also gives your trick depth and meaning. If you have organized your trick as having a beginning, middle and an end then it would be easy to create the patter needed for it.

   If you have created the patter necessary, then it’s time to practice it with your trick. Practice it alone in front of a mirror, although you might feel uneasy doing this, it is the only way for you to check if you are acting natural while performing. Practice speaking it until it becomes almost second nature to you. Doing this would make the audiences interested and entertained.

4. Rapport

   When it comes to performing you should be bale to establish a good connection with your audiences or rapport. By doing so you could keep your audiences interested and entertained throughout your act. One of the simplest ways to do it is to remember their names. This may be hard for some so here’s a tip: keep calling the name of your volunteer for three times. Here’s an example “Now Jane, I want you to pick any card you want, now then Jane put the card back in the deck. Now I will find Jane’s card in the deck…” By repeating the name three times surely you will remember the name and of course by this you could establish rapport with your audiences.

So there are some tips on how to be an entertaining magician. Remember that magic is a form of entertainment and a good magician is an entertaining one. It’s not only how you do the tricks it’s also how you perform them so that you audience will believe that your magic is real.