How to become a magician?

Are you considering becoming a magician? Wonderful! I will share my experience with you and explain the individual steps I took to achieve it. Keep in mind that there is no classic, predetermined path to becoming a magician. Every successful magician must find their own way. My guide will help you find that path.

There aren’t many requirements you need to meet, but the few that exist are absolutely essential. Only if you meet them will you succeed.

You must like your fellow human beings and enjoy making them happy and sharing beautiful experiences together. That doesn’t mean you have to like every person. But you should approach every new person with a positive attitude. If this applies to you or if you can learn it, then you meet the most important of all basic requirements.

You will need a high level of independence to set goals for yourself and pursue them. You must be able to complete tasks and work on them in a disciplined manner, even if you would rather be doing something else at the moment. No one else is responsible for your success or failure but yourself.

Not everything will go as planned. I have experienced setbacks and disappointments myself. But I have always known that I can learn from my mistakes and will not give up.

There have been people who advised me not to become a magician, but I never listened to them and knew that I would work towards my goal until I succeeded. That’s why I’m now a full-time magician. And you can be too!

The easier it is for you to get excited about new things, the easier it will be for you to stand out from other magicians. You should start early on giving your magic a personal touch. This is easier if you have interests and hobbies that you can incorporate.

For example, if you can draw well, dance, or imitate dialects, all of these skills can be creatively integrated into your magic.

There are some misconceptions about what’s necessary for good magic, which are untrue. You can be just as successful without them as with them. For you to not get discouraged, I’ll list these factors. They are not necessary but are occasionally mentioned by inexperienced people.

It’s nice when magic tricks come easily to you, but discipline is far more important than dexterity or talent. If you’re willing to practice your hand movements and tricks until they’re perfect, you’ll become a good magician. Even if it takes you twice as long as someone else, that doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. What’s important is the end result.

It’s nice if you have large hands that can hide things, but that’s about it.

You can create just as impressive magic with small hands and short fingers. Maybe there are some hand movements that don’t work for you, but the house of magic is big and has many rooms. If one type of magic doesn’t work for you, there are numerous alternatives that don’t require large hands.

If you doubt this, watch this video:

The claim that you need a mentor to become a successful magician comes from the zeitgeist of previous centuries and is no longer true. Back then, the secrets of magic were closely guarded, and it was difficult to gain knowledge. Nowadays, there’s almost everything you need on the internet. You can find magic tricks, DVDs, and books in which successful magicians explain how to build an entertaining show and interact with the audience. Additionally, there are forums where magicians can exchange ideas and give tips, such as the Theory11 forum or the Magiccafe. You can find all the information you need if you look for it. I never had a mentor and still managed to succeed.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt to know an experienced magician who can support you on your journey, but it’s not necessary.

Now you know all the requirements you need to fulfill to become a successful magician and are ready for my step-by-step guide to professional success.

Every journey begins with the first step. For magicians, that means learning a magic trick. If you don’t know what to learn, then search the internet and especially YouTube. There are numerous magic tricks to see, and some also come with instructions. Although the instructions are often made by amateurs, it’s enough for the beginning. It’s even better if you look for magic books that interest you in your library.

Once you master the magic trick flawlessly, perform it for your friends and acquaintances. Listen attentively when they give you improvement tips. It’s unpleasant when the trick doesn’t work or your friends figure it out, but every aspiring magician has to go through it. It’s completely normal that you will make mistakes at the beginning. Don’t be discouraged by this.

And when the effect works, and your friends are amazed at how you did it, you’ll realize why magic is so much fun.

Watch as much magic as possible and find out which type of magic gives you the most pleasure. You can watch magic videos on YouTube, for example. I also find the series Fool Us and Wizard Wars a great introduction to the various forms of magic. In this phase, I devoured everything related to magic. I learned the effects that I particularly liked. 

Present your magic to as many people as possible and gather experience. Actively ask for improvement suggestions and be grateful to the people who honestly point out your mistakes and weaknesses. Although it hurts to have your mistakes pointed out, it’ll take you further than ignoring them and remaining mediocre. Try to focus on a few tricks and master them really well. That’s better than being able to do many tricks mediocrely. Do you enjoy this? Then you’re on a good path and can start thinking about professionalizing your magic.

Professional magicians differs from amateur magicians in that they are paid for their magic and can make a living from it. To make that possible, they must offer a higher entertainment quality and professionalism than amateur magicians. Additionally, they must have basic knowledge of marketing and selling their magic.

Professional magic rests on two pillars, namely the art of magic and self-marketing. Both should be equally pronounced.

Magicians who are good at self-marketing but only mediocre at magic leave unsatisfied customers with their performances. This harms all other magicians because these customers will never book a magician again.

Magicians who performs great magic but market themselves weakly leave happy and satisfied customers. However, they’ll have difficulties finding enough customers to make a living.

In the following, I’ll explain the two pillars of magic in detail.

You want to reach the next level of magic in order to make a living out of it. From now on, YouTube tutorials will not be  sufficient anymore.

You need solid knowledge of the various components of excellent magic:

Choosing fantastic effects is the easiest to implement. There are numerous magic shops where you can buy magic books and DVDs on which magicians explain their tricks. Be sure to read reviews about them before you buy. Many effects are marketed more spectacularly than they ultimately are.

Practice your new effects until you can do them without any mistakes. Also use videos of yourself to be able to observe your handling from every perspective and discover possible errors.

Here is where your creativity comes in. Develop your own style. Bring in skills and abilities that you already have and combine them with your magic tricks. Invent stories and modify the effects to fit your needs so you can offer your unique brand of magic to your audience.

If you don’t want to show only close-up magic, then you need a coherent show. It’s especially nice if this show has a theme and the effects are connected. You can find out how to achieve this in some of the books on my list at the end of this section.

Learn about the psychology behind good entertainment. Collect experiences in dealing with audiences and learn how to get them on your side so that you can enjoy the magic together.

Learn how to deal with troublemakers and master unexpected situations. I have also listed some books on this topic at the end of this section.

Learn how to improve your presentations. Study rhetoric and body language. Watch videos of the best speakers in the world and analyze what makes them so good and use this knowledge for your magic. There are numerous exciting books on these topics. It also helps if you participate in acting groups or take courses.

Learn how to use your voice optimally. This makes it more pleasant to listen to and helps you speak for long periods of time at loud events. Find out where your mid range is. The mid range is the part of your voice where you can feel a humming in your chest, while speaking, if you lay your hand on it. I didn’t speak in my mid range until I was 25. 

Attend voice seminars and do voice training. Regular singing also helps make your speaking voice more beautiful and variable. Seminars are the quickest way to improve your voice, but if you, like me, don’t have money for something like that, there are also some tutorials and lectures on YouTube that can help you. One that helped me is this one:

Here I have listed the most important books that you should read to improve in all of the mentioned areas. Each one of them is full of information from experienced magicians who will help you better understand how to put together a great program and provide your audience with the best possible entertainment. There are, of course, numerous other good books on these topics, but the ones mentioned here are, in my opinion, mandatory reading for any magician who wants to offer more than just average.

1. The “Books of Wonder” by Tommy Wonder
2. “Strong Magic” by Darwin Ortiz
3. “Magic by Misdirection” by Dariel Fitzkee
4. “Showmanship for Magicians” by Dariel Fitzkee
5. “Maximum Entertainment” by Ken Weber
6. “Scripting Magic 1 und 2” by Pete McMcabe
7. “Magic and Showmanship” by Henning Nelms
8. “Interpreting Magic” by David Regal

The second pillar of your self-employment is the promotion of your magic. You must become an entrepreneur and be clear about what exactly your product is. Here are some guiding questions to help you figure that out. Answer them for yourself as best as you can:

Where are my strengths?

What can I do better than others?

Which kind of magician do I want to be?

What sets my magic apart from other magicians?

Who would be willing to pay for my magic?

Does this align with my strengths?

How can I make my magic even more appealing to this customer group?

What attire should I wear during my magic show for this target audience?

How can I reach these customers to sell my show?

You need to become aware of who your target audience might be and then design the optimal offer for that group. You can then market it to them specifically. There are numerous books and tutorials on the subject of selling and marketing that can help you here. One book I read back then was “Big League Sales Closing Techniques” by Les Dane and I think it’s great. Some magicians successfully advertise themselves on YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram, others through their website, and still others have an extensive social network or agents who handle the marketing part for them. I advise against relying on someone else for your marketing. That’s why I’ve never had an agent and don’t see a need for one in the future either.

Try to put yourself in your target group’s shoes and create your online representation specifically for that group. No one wants to book the generalist who does magic at school openings, children’s birthday parties, weddings, birthday parties, business events, and festivals while also juggling, drawing quick portraits, and making balloon animals on the side. If someone can do a little bit of everything, then they can’t do anything right. But a magician who specializes in birthday parties and has a personalized effect for the birthday child in his show, which also gets a cool gift as a souvenir, sounds better. So design a marketing strategy that reaches your target audience and communicates to them the benefit of booking your magic show.

You will have a much easier time as a magician if you like people and can interact well with them. If you have many acquaintances and friends who want the best for you, then they will keep their eyes and ears open for opportunities to support you in your plan. Also seek contact with other magicians or service providers in the niche you have chosen. Don’t see them as competition, but as people who share your passion and from whose experience you can learn. Think about how you can support them so that your exchange is not one-sided. It is important to be able to work independently, but no entrepreneur comes to success alone. A classic book recommendation on this topic is “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. This book helped me and it’s no wonder it is still considered standard literature for salespeople despite its old age. There are certainly also some more modern books that are just as good.

Once you have answered all of these questions for yourself and have a rough idea of what you want to sell, you still face the problem of how to get your first paid gigs. Here, your own creativity is required, but I can tell you what worked for me.

Step 1: Your magic show must be ready and you must be so good at it that you could perform it at any time.

Step 2: Tell all your acquaintances that you are a magician or want to become one.

Step 3: Offer to perform for hosts at birthday parties and similar events, for them and their guests, whether you get paid or not. What’s important is that you gain experience.

Step 4: Collect potential promotional material for yourself at these events, if possible. Ask your friends to take photos and videos of you while you perform magic. Of course, ask the involved persons for permission beforehand.

Step 5: If you have permission, you can use these images on the channels you have chosen (Instagram, YouTube, website, etc.) to advertise yourself.

Step 6: Use all the experience you gain to refine and improve your show.

Step 7: Repeat these steps until your show is brilliant, your photos and videos are fantastic, and real customers are contacting you to book you. Don’t forget to implement your marketing strategy that you have designed for your target audience.

Get used to saying “yes”. Take every opportunity to showcase your magic and put yourself in situations that are outside your comfort zone. Each time you will learn something valuable that will bring you closer to your dream of becoming a magician.

If you follow these tips step by step, you will soon be able to earn your first money with magic. And if you are willing to constantly work on yourself and improve your program, the amounts you can charge for your show will increase until you eventually realize that you can make a living from magic. The day I realized this was one of the happiest of my life, and I wish the same for you!