In the world of technology we live in today, it is pretty easy to get your hands on a video recorder. You may be asking yourself why is a video recorded important to you. Well why do football coaches watch recordings of their games? They watch the winning games and the loosing games. They want to learn from their victories and mistakes.
I’ve been performing magic for over 15 years now, but it wasn’t until recently that I started recording my shows. A couple of years ago I recorded my stand up mentalist act. Then I gave a copy to several of my “Lay-Friends” and several of my Magician friends. They gave me invaluable feedback. In fact, I was planning on removing an effect from my act because I didn’t really like it, but it turns out, based on everyone’s feedback, that it was one of the strongest effects in the act, so I left it in.
I’ve also recently been editing my upcoming DVD that we filmed a couple of years ago, and as I’m watching the footage, I’m seeing tons of places where I “flashed.” Of course, keep in mind that in a real performance situation, you can use much more misdirection. Whereas in a studio, it’s pretty tough to misdirect a camera.
One other way to improve is to record your practice sessions. Then watch the videos; critique yourself, and try again. Back in the day, we were told to practice in front of a mirror. The day of mirror practice is gone. Long live the video practice.
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