How long do you practice for?

Ask a Magician, a series of blog posts answering your questions! - Issue XV

This weeks reader question comes from Caroline, who asks:

How long do you practice your magic tricks for?

As a professional performer, my audiences rely on me putting on a fantastic performance for their event. As such, it's really important that I keep my skills sharp through regular practice.

I must admit that repeating my current material over and over again is usually not the best use of my time. I perform at a close up magic event multiple times per week, so I have plenty of opportunities to keep this material at a consistently high level, through regular performance.

Instead, my main practice sessions tend to be focused on learning and improving new material, or improvements to my working repertoire. For example, at the time of writing I am working on a very advanced coin routine. I already perform a fair amount of close up coin magic, but this routine is designed to be presented to a larger group, of about 10 to 20 people. I think that would be a very worthwhile and useful addition to the events I find myself performing at with increasing frequency these days.

I am also currently working on some new mind reading magic, again with a larger audience in mind. So, that's one goal for my practice sessions, to round out my repertoire and make sure it fits the types of events I'm working at and the audiences I'm meeting.

Also, for the clients that rebook me for a second or third time (my record is performing a Christmas party for the same company seven years in a row), it's great to have a new season of magic that I can share with them.

Another situation where I would put in a lot of time for practicing would be when I have a show coming up and would be required to perform a few routines that I haven't performed in a while.

One example of this, was a few months ago, I was booked for an event for a group of teenagers at a high school. I have a few routines that I knew would be perfect for this group, but as it's such a unique situation, I don't get the chance to perform them that often. I spent a few weeks revising the routines a few times at home, and then I ran through them at a local open mic night.

That's actually an excellent point. As well as practicing at home, I also look for opportunities to run my stage routines for real at open mic nights, or my close up magic for friends and family. Think of these as a dress rehearsal. It's doing the magic for real, but in an environment with lower pressure than a real event.

Suggested podcast episode: 004 - Can you learn confidence?

So now, to answer the question. Well, it's difficult to give a specific answer in terms of hours, as sometimes it might be five hours a week, and sometimes it might be fifteen hours a week. Generally though, magic is always on my mind. It's something I'm always thinking about, discussing with friends and colleagues, and playing around with ideas.

By becoming engrossed in magic, it allows me to explore what's possible to the fullest extent, and allows me to be more creative, which while not exactly the same as pure practice, is another way that I spend my time improving my magic. As well as making the moves better, it's also important that the words I say, the script are also fun, funny and engaging for audiences.

Overall, when you see my magic, it's the result of a sustained effort over a long period of time (I've been doing magic for twenty years), Isn't that how you get good at anything?

Got a question to contribute? I would love to hear it! Leave a comment, or click here to email me.

And you know what, all of that practice allows me to create incredible performances and receive reviews like the ones below.

Jenny Court
Jenny Court
Thank you so much. Amazing tricks. Highly recommend. Everyone loved it. Thank you for getting round all the people at the party. Excellent
Nick Aldridge
Nick Aldridge
Very good
Mark Howard
Mark Howard
Ed was amazing tonight at the Severn Transport Services Christmas Party in Welshpool, highly recommend, he will on our entertainment list each year.
diane watson
diane watson
Ed was invited to entertain our charity group, and we are all very pleased he did!. Entertainment wise he was spot on, involving all of our members with his magic tricks, good humour , and easy going attitude. It was really good to see all of our members so engrossed, paying attention and getting involved. Thank you Ed
nick moseley
nick moseley
I arranged for Ed to provide entertainment at our daughter’s wedding. Absolutely spot on. He made sure he engaged with every table, and the constant howls of surprise and delight made for a really great atmosphere after the main dining. Everyone really enjoyed it and said what a fantastic addition to the whole event it was. Thanks, Ed !
Laura Moseley
Laura Moseley
Ed was the magician at our wedding and was fantastic. He was great with all our guests and did some amazing magic tricks. He was great at going around the room and entertaining everyone. Also, thank you for teaching our flower girl and page boy a magic trick, they loved it !
Andrew Marsden
Andrew Marsden
Just hired Ed for a family party in Nantwich and he was awesome! I was very clear about what I wanted at the event and Ed delivered. Entertaining the little ones with balloon modelling and magic (sorry Ed - didn't think the balloon requests would ever end at one point!) and then walking around performing table magic for all the other guests. Feedback has been brilliant, with everyone impressed with the magic and feeling like they'd been entertained with some amazing tricks! And in terms of booking Ed - easy to communicate with, friendly, punctual and very accommodating. It was a great night, everyone had fun. Thanks Ed!!
Tracey Fowler
Tracey Fowler
Ed performed at my daughters wedding , he was brilliant, all our guests loved the magic he performed, he was entertaining funny and very professional, we wouldn’t hesitate to book him again and highly recommended him, Thank you Ed ⭐️

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1. CONNECT

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2. DISCUSS

During a short phone or video call, we'll talk about your event and your initial ideas. Don't worry, if you're not sure. I've helped to plan many events so I can advise on the best use of magic and other events entertainment.

3. AGREE

Once all the details are agreed, I'll send you a booking confirmation and ask you to make the first payment which confirms your date in my calendar. Then it's time to start looking forward to your big event.

4. ENJOY

I'll check in with you in the week before your event, and on the day of the event. All you need to do now is enjoy the magic, mind reading and conversational comedy.