It's happened to us all and if it hasn't happened yet, it will happen to you too - especially if you're a beginner (although no-one, even the most experienced professional is immune to the possibility). What am I talking about?
I'm talking about when a perfectly good magic trick, a cool effect that you've practiced well and are really confident with, goes badly wrong right there in front of a live audience.
What do you do when that happens?
Do you swear and cuss? Do you blush a rosy red colour and sputter self-deprecating apologies? Do you shout at the audience because it was their fault for distracting you? Do you burst into tears and run off the stage? I hope not! So, seriously, what do you do?
The general consensus amongst professional magicians (people that really do live magic in the real world and whose livelihoods depend on it) is that you: keep calm and carry on. Sounds simple enough, but I appreciate that it's going to be more or less easy for some folks - especially beginners who can all to easily have their confidence undermined at the outset. So what I want to do in this article is give you some insights and good advice into how to keep calm and how to carry on.
Firstly, let me remind you that this will happen to you sooner or later, so you'd as well be prepared.
There are several factors that influence how you keep calm and carry on:
1. Why the trick went wrong
2. The kind of trick
3. The audience
4. Your personality & style
Let's look at each of those in turn.
Why the trick went wrong.
Did the trick go wrong because you fumbled a move, or forgot to load or ditch an element (coin, card etc.), failed the force or misjudged your timing?
In those cases, you clearly need to make a mental note to get back and practice some more! But we are all human and things can still go wrong even after years of successful performance. So when something goes wrong for a technical reason like this, you need to think quick and see if you can rectify the situation. Keep your patter going, using your misdirection techniques, guide the audience away form the problem and see if you can fix it. With a bit of experience and as your confidence grows this will become almost an automatic response. When that happens it goes off smoothly and no-one will ever notice that anything was wrong.
In the rare situations in which you can't misdirect your audience whilst you fix the situation, you've got three other possibilities to try.
Remember that you are strongly recommended to think of your tricks not so much as a series of moves but as a form of storytelling, a narrative event with a plot and a satisfying, surprise conclusion. That gives you the chance, if something 'goes wrong' to simply improvise a new story element that can bring the narrative back on course, or move it off in a different direction altogether - a direction in which the fumbled move is a natural part rather than a mistake. This is quite high level stuff but seriously worth your time thinking about and trying to practice.
Another option is to do what many magicians call 'jazzing'. Basically, it is to reinvent the effect entriely on the spur of the moment, using any moves and plot elements that you are already familiar with. rather like a Jazz musician who is experimenting with a well known melody and turning it into something else. To do this, as the musician will need to have really practiced his scales, the magician who wants to 'jazz' needs to have spent plenty of time perfecting all his basic moves and techniques.
And the third possibility is to brush the whole routine aside with a joke and move on to your next pass without too long a pause. Don't underestimate this. There was a very famous British comic magician called Tommy Cooper who turned this very thing into an artform and garnered a huge international following and prime time TV slots for decades by comically mis-performing magic, with the catch-phrase, "That one never works!"
The kind of trick
If you're using a big stage effect that relies entirely on the functionality of the equipment and that doesn't work well, you need to fire your magic designer or at least have some serious words with him. But I'm assuming that most of you are not in this position!
So, if the trick you are doing is an 'impromptu' style street magic event, most of the advice given above should apply to get you out of any scrapes.
If it's a more formal situation before a seated audience and the trick is one which relies on an atmosphere of elegance and mystery, then again you should try to improvise the choreography of the trick to cover your error. Failing that, just keep in control and move on to the next illusion.
The Audience
If you are working for a juvenile audience (a bunch of kids) then you really can have a much more relaxed approach, lay on plenty of humour and even capitalize on making a fool of yourself - if you don't want to be laughed at even a little bit then you shouldn't be working with kids. Really. Working with kids is almost entirely dependent on the quality of your rapport with your audience. If you've built a good relationship with them, got them on your side and they like you, you can get away with anything.
If the audience is very critical and 'burning you' (ie, trying to catch you out) then you need to get them on your side. They don't want to be fooled, this lot. Essentially, they are nervous and insecure. You have to put them at ease and befriend them. In this case, your error can really work to your advantage. Firstly, relax. Always relax in this situation. Pause in the routine if you can, literally take a step back and smile. Say something like. "You guys know exactly what I'm doing, don't you? I can see that you've got me there. You saw me slip the coin under the card, right?" What will happen is they will feel pretty smart, they will relax, now that they have the superior position. That gives you plenty of misdirection to fix your trick (in my example, slip the coin back out from the card and load in some more surprising place!). Then, surprise them! Thank them, tell them that they're putting you through your paces and they'll be with you from that point on.
Your personality and style
This can be critical to how you fix a mistake.
If your persona is a serious one of 'mystery man' then clearly the crack-a-joke option might be harder to pull off. With that you are going to have to re-choreograph, 'jazz' it or subtley abandon ship.
If your whole persona is a laugh-a-minute, wise-cracking king of comedy, then really you've nothing to worry about. In a certain sense, nothing can go wrong!
Most of us, however, aren't going to risk passing ourselves off too seriously as Mr. Mysterious or want everything we do to be for laughs. I suggest always that you capitalize on your own natural personality. Don't be shy, go ahead and ask your friends and colleagues which aspects of your personality they most like and trust. Then make sure that those are the qualities you et shine through in your 'magical persona'. Be as natural as possible. The advantage of this is that you will build a much stronger, healthier rapport with your audience. If they like you, they'll want you to succeed because it'll be a journey you are all on together. In the ambience of such mutuality and goodwill, most likely you'll find it easy to fix your error without anyone noticing there was an error in the first place - and if it really can't be done, it's okay because you're among friends. They'll forgive you and be more than willing to trust you still, as you carry them off on a different magical journey.
There's probably a deal more to be said on this but I think that covers the main points.
With experience, you'll build up your own ways of fixing these situations that best work for you.
The main thing to remember is that you shouldn't take it to heart, take it too seriously. Just relax, do your best and everything will be fine.
All the very best with your magic!
Austin Hackney is a performing magician, entertainer, theatre practioner and writer of many years standing, always keen to share his experience and encourage the novice. His website, www.magic-tricks.ws is a great resource for magic tutorials, articles, selected books and more. Why not subscribe and start to learn magic now!
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