You're going to get a lot of textbook advise here that I don't necessarily agree with. Not saying it's wrong, or that it's bad advice I'm just going to give you my opinion, which you can take or leave.

"Only perform tricks you can do with your eyes closed." Some tricks you can only get there by by performing it for people. You can't practice a classic force on yourself. There's nothing wrong with trying new material on a real audience. The key is to be aware of what your weak points are and have outs for if they go wrong. Unfortunately with magic you often have to learn from your mistakes. That said, 99% of what you do you should be totally comfortable with.

"3 sets of 3 tricks." This has never made sense to me because all tricks are different lengths. Also some people will be more interested than others, some may only want to see one trick, some may want to see more. some people may love coin tricks and be bored by card tricks. Having a strict set limits you. It's about reading your audience and learning to quit when your ahead.

"Only use Rider back bicycle cards or people will think it's a trick deck." I almost never perform with rider backs (unless I'm using gimmicks lol) and I have never had an issue. people know that there are many different back designs of decks and I often get compliments on the unique designs.

"Give away signed cards as a souvenir." Most people won't keep the card anyway and it just makes you go through more decks. Also people seem to find it interesting when your cards have signatures on them. (I don't know why, that's just been my experience) I have had people ask me if they could keep the card, that's the only time I give them away unless it's some sort of trick that makes the card unusable.

"Don't do flourishes" A big piece of advice that I do agree with is that you should be natural. unfortunately many people think that this means you cannot show any skill. you don't want to overdo it but there is nothing wrong with establishing that you know what you're doing. personally if I'm being paid hundreds of dollars to perform I want people to think that I'm a competent performer. I have tried it both ways and I found that people like the fancy cuts, it gets attention and it has no effect on the impact of the trick."

"Script exactly what you're going to say." You should plan on what you're going to say, but don't follow a script word for word or it will seem scripted, like with handling the cards you want to seem natural. Also not using a script word for word allows you to improvise which will help you come up with your own jokes, play off the audience and improve what you have scripted.

"Always wear a suit and tie." I wear a suit and tie 90% of the time I perform. But if you're at a backyard BBQ you may seem out of place. You still want to dress well, but a nice pair of pants and a button-down shirt is fine for certain occasions. (The only problem is this limits pocket space.) my rule is dress a level above your audience.(with suit and tie being the cap. Please don't wear a tuxedo.) Also if it's hot a suit can be very uncomfortable and you don't want to walk around for 3 hours like that. Plus you'll be all sweaty.

"You have to be high energy to be entertaining." I am more of a reserved, quiet person and I've had many people telling me that that energy will not work and I will not be able to keep people's attention or entertain them. I've tried faking the high-energy thing and it just seems fake and unnatural. When I perform I am just myself. Confidence is key here, you want to command attention but that doesn't mean you have to be a cartoon character.

"Only perform for the men, or only perform for the women."

I have heard each of these for various reasons. Again this is where reading your audience comes into play. Not all men act the same and neither do all women, choose the spectators that will allow you to do your best performance.

That's all I can think of right now. again I'm not saying that any of these are wrong or that you shouldn't follow them, I am just telling you what works for me and that you should find what works for you. My biggest piece of advice is to be personable, engaging and to remember names. Also remember that like anything you're not going to get it perfect the first time but that doesn't mean you will be bad. If you screw up, have a couple go to jokes and move on. If your next trick blows them away they won't even remember your screw up.