I've read a few comments about card tricks in schools, so I thought I'd contribute to this discussion. For some reason the attitude amonst many is that to do magic in school you have to be a Blaine character, a miracle worker who wanders around floating objects and doing 'weird' things with objects all over the place. I'm very uncomfortable about this idea, because in a school setting one cannot act the magician 24/7, and if they do they will be written off as a bit of a weirdo. If magic is a hobby of yours and you want to demonstrate it to entertain your friends, while making it clear that this is still you and you are demonstrating something you have studied; that is fine. Card magic is ok. Remember: people like magic with cards. It's card tricks some people dislike.

Audience control is of course, key, and that starts with attitude. Make it clear that you are trying to entertain them, not present them with a puzzle. You absolutely have to stress that. In a school, you cannot assume your audience knows that. You have to be firm about repetition, just explain that you are aware that more people showed up now who didn't see it the first time, but that you cannot repeat an effect as a matter of principle, because it will no longer be magic. Keep a distance between yourself and the audience, so there is no oppertunity for hecklers to grab anything. If you are doing a card trick and someone grabs the deck; "What was the point in that?" Stop. Make it clear you won't work under those conditions. "Now find it!" No. Why should I? I'm just trying to entertain you guys, I'm not trying to prove anything. "You can't can you?" If I could, why would I? It is very boring to just find a card, without context or presentation. Anyone can do that.

I don't think having an out to meet their challenge is at all necessarily, as you should not be rising to a challenge. That's not what you're supposed to be doing. It is so very easy to have a heckler clearly branded a spoilsport who is missing the point, if you present yourself as an entertainer. Banter, make jokes, be friendly. Smile, but not smugly. Don't perform to those who won't appreciate it, and don't rise to challenges if they gatecrash you.

Performing the trick should be effortless anyway, so focus on your audience. It is all too easy to get absorbed in your own trick, and find yourself snapped out of it by a heckler who is fed up with your self-indulgence. By focusing on your audience, you can ensure that everyone is enjoying the magic. Make sure people can see clearly, and draw attention to things that may seem obvious just so it is clear what has occurred. These moments of recap are a great time to do your dirty work, of course.

Afterwards, they will want to talk about methods. That's normal. Steer them away from any real methods if you can. Sometimes to a particularly inventive (or indeed accurate) suggestion I will respond "That's quite an interesting idea. I might try that." Generally it is best of course to try and steer people's conversation away from the method to the effect. Five minutes later they won't remember your exact moves, but if you get it right, they will remember what you did. This is very good for you.

I think this is my favorite topic on the Penguin forums, because this is my life! I have been doing magic in schools for almost two years, and I know a lot of situations that can really scare you! But also some good reputation-making tactics.

Rep-maker #1: If you can show at least one popular girl an illusion and impress her, anytime she sees you outside of the classroom, you'll have an instant audience, because popular people are always surrounded by popular people!

Downer: Do not test new tricks on your fellow classmates! Teenagers can be the worst people to mess up in front of!

Rep-maker: If you can find a teacher who will let you do magic in class, it is a great way to get people talking about you. "I just saw this weird kid in my class..."

Downer: Very seldom is it that you will make honest-to-goodness friends out of your audience members. You do not want to get very strongly attatched to spectators, because if you ever run out of tricks for a few weeks, they will lose interest, and you will feel very used.

Final note: You must be extremely careful performing in your school, because unlike basic street magic, if you perform for the same people for 365 days in a row, they will grow tired of you and come to know you as "that annoying magic guy." But, on the other hand, the reactions and reputaion-making is pretty flippin fun, so just go with what you feel is right

Thanks for all the kind comments, there are not enough topics on high-school magic (this excludes "how do I use magic to impress girls" threads) and I totally agree with VLaraway, magic in school can be very strong!





Great as this is, you do have to be careful if you're surrounded and on a desk. Then you really have to watch the angles!