You’ve heard me say it time and time again, magic is about being an entertainer, about showmanship. Well here is a real life example WHY it is your best friend as a magician.

My daughter had a show today to celebrate the 4th of July. She purposely arrived early (on her own time without pay) so that she could walk around the park and do some walk-around magic and drum up some excitement for the show – besides, she just loves performing for young kids and this gave her the perfect opportunity. It also allowed her to pass out a few business cards to the parents who were interested. The problem was it was 100+ degrees outside and by the time she was ready to perform, she was already drained.

After the introduction she takes the stage and begins. Right off the bat she experienced what every magician has, amateur or professional – her first trick went wrong. Midway through she realized the trick would not end the way it should, so knowing her trick as well as she did --- she was able to take it to a point where it would end well with none the wiser. Then, she moved on to the next trick – and what happens? Again, it went awry. Now, knowing my daughter as well as I do, I KNEW this was eating her up inside. However, not one audience member would have known it. She was grace under fire. She was poised, continued on, and again found a natural stopping point. The rest of the routine went like clockwork.

After the show we were approached by a very dapper gentleman who wanted to congratulate our daughter on her performance. After introducing himself he told us that he was a member of the Magic Circle here in our area and the Magic Circle of London. He told our daughter that she did a great job and that she performed better than a lot of adult magicians he knew. At this point she ‘fessed up that everything didn’t go quite according to plan and he told her that the crowd didn’t have any idea of it.

Later two of the event coordinators congratulated her on her performance, and one of them told her that she looked forward to seeing her back again next year. She also received her check --- twice the stipend she had quoted!

So young ladies and gents ---- that is what SHOWMANSHIP is about. Never let them see you sweat. Only YOU know when something isn’t going according to plan. Know your routine, know how to “saveâ€

Great story, and congrats to your daughter for pulling it off! I had a similar experience today, but it wasn't a paid gig or anything, so I wasn't too worried... I was still pretty ticked at my self, though. I wasn't really doing a routine, just kind of going with the flow, and I was doing Full Lotus from Jay Sankey's DVD Front Row Sankey (awsomest DVD EVER!), when I realized that I hadn't flipped over the deck for the Mercury Card Fold... meaning I had folded the wrong card, the wrong way (the face was facing outwards). At this point, I knew I was screwed, so I just fessed up, apologized, and told them that I would try to make it up to them. We were outside on my deck, around are patio table, and the rest of the effects went very nicely. All in all I think I performed: Full Lotus (should have packed my Invisible Deck!), Scotch and Soda, Blindsided, ACR, Superman Coin Bend, B-2 Bomber, Phoenix Effect (simply amazing), and for my finally... drum roll please... the Floating Dollar Bill! The Floating Dollar Bill simply floored the person. It was kind of dark out, and there were tiki torches around, kind of setting the mood. I borrowed a dollar, and told her that I was gonna try something. I crumpled up the bill... worried that I was gonna screw this one up, too. But, it went perfectly. She just sat there and watched me for a minute, then examined my hands, looked for magnets, all that... then she said, "That takes magic to a whole new level... even beyond the card tricks you showed me." I didn't really think about it at the time, but that statement made me realize how powerful that simple effect can be with the right presentation. Anyway, enough about me... anybody else got some good 4th of July Stories?

Yeah i love those shows, well not really but you know what i mean. One show i did about a month ago went pretty bad. I did the hippity hop rabbits and the rabbit.......(trying to find a way to say it without exposing)..... broke apart too soon. Everybody saw how the trick was done but it did not matter. I went with the trick like nothing happened and everybody still loved it because of all the funny stuff i did.

My next trick was the zombie ball where the ball fell. I made a joke that i have actually prepared for this exact situation. My routine is basically that the ball is actually a bird disguised as a ball and it is showing tricks. If it falls off (Which happens VERY rarely) i can simply say, "this trick is playing dead!"

Some other tricks also went wrong in that show, but at the end i was still highly thanked for doing the show. People could not stop telling me how great of a job that i did. It was as if nothing went wrong at all.

Ben Winter
ps. I did not get a massive bonus like Kristenl's daughter. I did get some tips though.

Kristen and Danielle, CONGRATS on a GREAT show. That is the difference between "doing tricks" and performing. The ability to save your own butt without the audience even knowing you were in trouble. That is also what makes FISM and Lance Burton 1st place winners different from runners up.

As I told you before start to get Dannielle into national competitions, she's a winner.

very good story...

It is true though...things will go wrong, and when they do, they must be followed through or covered up. Everyone makes mistakes...even magicians!

This is why I love my show and show character so much...All I do is Comedy Magic...throughout the entire show, the audience doesn't know what to expect...if a trick goes wrong, I cover it up with a funny line and BAM, the audience thought it was done on purpose to get a laugh.

It is so much harder to play the straight magician and have a trick go wrong...the audience still doesn't know what to expect, but they do expect to be amazed...

I was doing a show June the 30th for approx 500 people at a huge cookout that a big executive was having for a bunch of his business partners and friends. I screwed up a trick...but it fit in my show so well, because it was played off as a joke, and everyone found it funny. Afterwards, only one person knew that I had messed up...and that is because he "dabbles" in magic.

I often talk about my daughter here on the forum, but that is only because that is where my knowledge comes from --- the experiences we share as a family as we venture along the path of magic.

I have shared some of her success stories, but I wanted to write about those "mishap" moments too. Whether you are a professional, amateur, adult or a teen, there will be moments in your life that things just will not work out the way you want them to. That is a life lesson, not just a magic one. It is the way you perform under pressure that will either get you through the situation or make you fall flat. Negativity begets negativity.
Always focus your attention on your blessings, and your positive attitude will see you through.

I truly hope you all don't mind my constant stories. We have just been truly blessed with so many wonderful people helping us all out whether they are members of our own local assembly who are incredibly supportive of our daughter, or perfect strangers we have become friends with over the internet. The magic community is filled with wonderful people with valuable lessons and stories. Their experiences can help you with your own. I am a firm believer in listening to "the voices of experience" and will happily sit by as I listen to all the knowledge someone is willing to pass our way.

I'm sure that sometimes my posts become tiresome, especially for young ears (or should I say eyes? ), however the intent is always just to try and help as we have been helped. I would like nothing more to see the youth of this forum prosper in their magic. It doesn't mean I have any of the right answers, far from it, but I will always try my best to offer encouragement, a positive outlook, and the best suggestions from my own perspective of things.

Paddy, you were one of my very first internet "friends" I made in the magic community and I would just like to thank you for all the encouragement you have shown us over the last couple of years. I have enjoyed our magic talks and just "take life as it comes at you" talks. So, for that I thank you.

Why can't more kids be like your daughter
It is so refreshing to hear your stories so don't think for a second that you are boring us.
Now it may bother some of the wannabie's but then again they probably don't read them as they don't want to go the 'REAL' route. They just ask their how do I do it questions and then get mad when we tell them to go away.
I'm going to have to label her as I did Kyle the great and that is 'The freak of nature.' Because she goes against the grain and does things so well it's beyond her years.
Now I'm not saying that you don't sound like the dotting Mother but you have every reason to do so and you should.
Keep the stories coming.

Since I happen to know you are quite the "doting" dad yourself when it comes to your son, well --- I'll take that as a nice compliment! LOL

Its easy to dote when you are blessed with loving children--- and as I know from our conversations, you feel the same way about that adorable son of yours!

Great story! I can't imagine messing up in front of a big crowd and still pulling it off. I congratulate your daughter!

~Z

Ah, but that is the whole point Z. --- THEY didn't know she messed up.

Instead of saying, "you can't imagine" ---- during your practicing, imagine just that! While practicing ask yourself, "what would I do if this didn't work?" Find yourself an out in your routines just in case and you too will be talking about how you turned a near disaster into a success story!