6 Ways I Deal With Nervousness
From anxiety induced gagging to feeling confident and excited to perform
I remember lining up in high school English, next up to present my Shakespearean soliloquy to the class, and while listening to the classmate before me confidently recite his memorised lines the reality of presenting kicks in and I silently gag with fear and nerves at the thought of speaking in front of the class.
So clearly, I wasn’t cut out to be on stage performing magic in front of hundreds of people, but how could a nervous wreck of an introvert like me get into magic and actually perform it in front of people so confidently?
It definitely did not happen overnight, but these are the actions I took to deal with my nerves before approaching a group or stepping up on stage.
1. Get the Gag Out of the Way
For years I had what is called anxiety-induced gagging, except I didn’t know it had a name or bothered to look up how to deal with it because I found my own way of dealing with it.
On the day of the show or gig, if I thought long enough about what was coming up, my stomach would start churning and I’d let out a little gag. As the show came closer, these gags would feel bigger, and rightfully so as my anxiety shot up to the max at those times. Whenever I arrived at my location, I’d immediately or as soon as it was appropriate found a bathroom so I could get my big gags out of the way, which was never a pretty thing to see or hear, so make sure you’re the only one in the bathroom.
As foul as that might sound, it worked for me over trying to suppress it, afterwards I felt better, freshened up, and then went on to perform.
2. Get the First One Done When Roving
My problem with doing roving magic is that I would get so anxious before approaching a group, finish performing, and then have to approach another group, feeling anxious again!
It became a vicious cycle that saw my hands shake and confidence waver, especially if I did badly for the group I just finished at. So even though close up was my first love with magic, it was an anxiety ridden rollercoaster at times. Eventually I realised that a bulk of my nervousness dissipated if my first group was good, my hands would no longer shake, and I’d do better throughout the night.
What got me over this hurdle was making sure my first set was solid and that I knew it well. Magicians may look down on tried-and-true classics like Crazy Man’s Handcuffs and the Ambitious Card but if it helps you get the jitters out of the way, I say go for it! In my case, I open with rubber bands, continue with card routines including ACR and finish with Everything to Envelope1 with their signed card, bill and my business card.
Now I throw in different routines I’m working on in the middle of sets and am able to enjoy myself more, just by getting the first one out of the way.
3. Know Your Opener Back to Front
On stage however, you only have one shot to impress and show the audience what you can do, if you mess up, you can’t go to another audience and start again like you would with roving.
So to get the nervousness out of the way I made sure my opener fulfilled the following criteria, which in my case is a Rubix Cube opener that included a one handed solve, vanishing gag and disappearance.
Easy to perform - I don’t want to have to think through what sleights or moves are next while combatting my nerves. The hardest part is the one handed solve, which still looks impressive if I fumble it, but I try not to of course.
Routine is fully scripted - I script my opener and the whole show, which I wrote about in a previous article2, so I don’t have to think about what to say next.
Can be done “In One” - I can perform this without the need of a participant on stage with me, this reduces my nervousness with having to deal with someone and allows me to perform it on auto pilot if needed.
Getting your opener right and done well will set you up to succeed the rest of the show, provided you put the work in for your other routines too!
4. Watch What You Eat Before Performing
If you’re like me and had anxiety induced gagging, eating a lot during the day of performance was a recipe for disaster, but fortunately I have never vomited as a result of gagging.
On the day of your gig or show, don’t eat a lot of food beforehand, and of the food you do eat, make sure it’s relatively healthy and not high in fat or carby as you don’t want to feel tired and groggy with a food coma before you go performing. Believe me, you’ll be very uncomfortable moving around while your full belly battles with your somehow tighter pants. I normally love food and can eat a lot, much to the detriment of my waist as I get older, but my nerves aid and prevent me from eating a lot, and it’s only after I perform can I relax and eat again.
Let food be your reward for your performance, not your downfall.
5. Get to the Gig Early
Nothing flares up your nerves and anxiety like being late or rushing to a gig, plus it looks unprofessional.
There have been rare occasions where I’m running late to a gig due to traffic or circumstances beyond my control and the result is never pleasant. You’re stressed out trying to find the venue, apologising to the client and when it comes to the performances you’re flustered, and hands are shaking uncontrollably. Getting to a gig early allows you the time to freshen up, familiarise yourself with the venue, prepare your show or gear up and get those initial shakes out of the way if you get them. What early looks like may vary for each magician, if it’s a stage show you want to get there for the sound test, if it’s a walkaround gig, I like to get there 15-30 minutes before I’m supposed to start.
Always allow extra travel time because you never know what can happen on the way there.
6. Accept That You’re Going to Be Nervous and Stop Caring
I have gotten to a point where if I know I’m going to be nervous before a show, I accept and embrace it, even to the point where I trick my brain into not caring about the performance.
I’m not saying not to care about the performance at all, that would be foolish and asking for trouble. What I mean is that you have prepared so much beforehand and you’re in such a comfortable state there is nothing left to do to combat your nerves other than stepping on stage or approaching that first group.
Recently I started performing kids shows, after not having done them for years because I thought it wasn’t for me. I learnt new routines, reworked existing routines to be more kid-friendly and scripted out a 35–40-minute show. On the day of the show, I was not nervous, I actually had pinched a nerve in my lower back so I was in pain and couldn’t bend over properly, so that helped distract me, but I remember not caring about anything while setting up the stage, and as the time drew near to perform the nervousness turned into excitement at the thought of sharing magic with these kids. I had done all the work beforehand that even if I messed up, it didn’t affect me adversely.
If I’m not a little bit nervous before a performance that means I don’t care, and when I give off the impression that I don’t care, it’s to deal with my nerves, how’s that for reverse psychology!?
How Am I Now?
Nowadays I do not have anxiety induced gagging, but I still get those butterflies in my stomach, which is expected, and I use to motivate my performance and remind me not to do anything silly.
I still go to the bathroom to freshen up, especially if I’ve travelled an hour to get to a gig. That doesn’t mean I won’t ever gag again, I’m sure if some big performance opportunity comes along my stomach will churn and anxiety levels will rise up again, but at least I’ll have actions in place to deal with the nerves that pop up to say hello.
How do you deal with nerves?
Things Worth Sharing
Antonio Díaz (known as El Mago Pop) performed an amazing illusion on the Today Show. I don’t perform illusions but I love watching them as it feels like so few magicians perform them these days. The framing of showing the illusion in one continuous shot reminded me of how magic used to be presented like in David Copperfield’s specials.
Good advice!