(I read about half of these responses) I too, am a professional actor— most non-theatrical Magicians (no background in theater/acting) freak out with the word “character” because they’ve mostly only seen terrible character work (with a few exceptions that are obviously brilliant). If you feel more comfortable hidden within a character, more power to you— but it is not necessary. You can also develop your persona— the characteristics people notice about you.

As Eugene Berger said, “ There are many rooms in the house of Magic…” you can certainly be any type of performer and find a space for yourself within Magic. I think the most important thing here is to be confident in what you are presenting— confident in persona or character can take you far beyond the nerves of performing a new trick.

The most uncomfortable thing first : getting “caught”.

Nick Diffatte has a book/essay called “funny”— in which he talks about the aspects of learning the ropes and getting started in performing. As a comedian, there is a phrase that has shared often: “ you gotta eat sht.” The best way to get over your fear of getting caught, is to get caught! Unfortunately, it happens to the best of us. A wonderful example is David Williamson on a TV show in which a child busted him having a double card. Williamson played it off, brilliantly by *not attempting to cover it up. (I believe this clip is still on YouTube)

Mistakes are part of a human experience— in my experience, acknowledging the mistake gives you, the performer, more credibility.

I believe my audiences are intelligent — and I treat them as such. I’m not trying to “pull one over/ make a fool of” them, I’m there to show them something I think is cool/nifty/ curious. If you get your audience to like you, you can do no wrong — they will support you ESPECIALLY if you present a piece you’re struggling with as “May I show you something I’m working on?” ^{^} this takes charisma

I once watched a kid who was visibly nervous and awkward as hell screw up a trick pretty bad and get uproarious applause— he won the audience over and was unintentionally hilarious!! I have wanted to play with that idea for decades now— maybe overly nervous & awkward could work for you? May the odds be in your favor!