Well, it happened

I have done magic before, and I have been working hard on my technique, presentation, and overall confidence. I have reached confident performance quality for quite some time in my mind, but I have never put any sort of routine together. I have tried a few mini routines, and can perform when requested such as "Oh hey, a deck of cards... Know any tricks?" and I have performed in class during speeches before.

But today, I was requested by my boss at work to perform at a fundraiser they were throwing. I agreed because everyone was saying that it was going to be a failure of an event, so this way I could just test out what it really is like to go and perform magic somewhere.

I am 20 years old, and I look young. The main guests at this event were upper middle aged, upper class citizens. They treated me like a teenager. I am fine with this, because I believe I can handle people, but they on the other hand were not so conducive to the idea of being fooled by a college student.

What I did was I brought in everything I was 100% good on. Cards, sponge balls, coins, and what not. I performed when requested to, mainly because these people all knew each other and were in deep conversations that I did not feel I could interrupt for a short magical performance. I did not let them control my performance, but let them control when it started... and I guess stop too.

Overall, it wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible. One of the organizers of the event runs a business that specializes in Casino themed parties, and he took my name down (after one card trick... O.o) and I was told, in a non consoling way, that my magic was great. I can only assume then that it was a combination of things that did not bring it up to a "great" rating in my head.

Questions for the experienced here:
1. How do you start your routines? As I said before, I felt rude going up to a group of people and stopping the conversation just to do magic. It wasn't liek I was the center of attention, nor were people expecting a magician. I was just part of the overall theme.

2. People watched one trick, and then wanted to talk to me more than anything. Now, I know the importance of structuring tricks around a routine, and I fully realized that and did accordingly. However, once one trick was done, they either didn't stick around for part two, or instantly broke into conversation! Advice? Suggestions? Comments?

3. Because these people were older and did not like feeling fooled by someone young enough to be their child, they did not let their excitement or amazement show. I am fairly confident I did not flash anything, as they seemed the type to yell out "Hey! I see what you did there..." but only a fraction of the people (mainly women) gave any sort of response besides "Hey, good job..." When this happens, what do you do? I expect answers along the lines of "Do something more amazing" but I am confident of thee tricks ability to entertain.

Anyways, I look forward to growing in my magical performance.

Thanks for reading!

Don't by shy, interrupt. BE THE KOOL-AID MAN. Boom, "Hey guys I'm Akira your official entertainment for tonight. WANNA SEE SOMETHING AWESOME?!"

Everybody says yes.



Yes, Kool-aid man. Nobody ignores him. In fact, people come from other tables to see what's up CAUSE THE PARTY'S AT YOUR TABLE.

I clap, cheer, laugh loudly. I'm fun. It gets me repeat gigs.



Did they actually say this? You may be projecting your own thoughts into other people's heads. Nobody cares about your age that I've seen. Plus they shouldn't feel fooled, they should feel entertained.

Bottom line: It sounds like you're not commanding attention and bringing the party. When you do, these problems vanish.

Great response! Thanks!

Really, this was not a place I really could command attention. I was not the official entertainment but more of a filler.

And I suppose your statement is right, they shouldn't feel fooled, but entertained. I still felt as though they wanted to take it as being fooled, and to show their high classiness to me... most likely my fault.

Thank you!