Overcome Shyness With Magician's Secrets

What's this doing on a kids entertainment site? Read on to find out how magician's knowledge can improve your self confidence and in turn positively affect others.
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Self Improvement MUMBO JUMBO

Strange but true. You can overcome shyness with the help of secrets that magicians have used for centuries. I'm not talking about tricks here (though I will share some of those with you), I'm talking about the REAL secrets of how to spark someone's attention in you, engage them and hold their attention, then leave them with something special that they can remember you by.

That's one of the big surprises that I found a few years into my magical career: I wasn't just learning magic tricks, I was learning some of the most important lifeskills. Had I dropped magic early on I would have still had a party piece I could have performed forever and a day. More important is the confidence you gain to be able to stand up in front of a group. Whether you are a CEO or a student, your ability to communicate your ideas will enable you move ahead in leaps and bounds. You are on your way to being able to overcome shyness.

But this is where it just keeps getting better. Not only can learning magic improve your life, performing magic gives you the opportunity to truly affect other people's lives. In an increasingly insular world this can be a wonderful thing.

My first taste of this happened in 2001. I was performing for Greenslopes Primary School. Midway through the show a young boy of about eight started convulsing. The teachers rushed in and I kept the show going to distract the attention of the other students. After a minute the teachers retreated. The young boy seemed alright and the show continued. Afterwards I asked what had happened.

The school took in many refugee children who needed help assimilating into the Australian community. This little chap was from the war torn Former Republic of Yougoslavia and arrived with lots of inner conflict and issues. The teachers were very concerned for him as during the three months at the school he was withdrawn and hadn't ever smiled. As it happened his convulsing was laughter, fits of deep belly laughter. The teachers cried tears of happiness for him and to this day my eyes still get watery telling the story. All I was doing was what I enjoyed and I was able to help someone.

This has happened numerous times to me over the years now. I read a great story about American magician Whit Hayden. After reading it I resolved to have a trick I could perform for anyone blind. He was table hopping in New York City in the late 60's, going from restaurant to restaurant performing tableside magic for tips. After introducing himself to a table he gave the young woman the opportunity to pick a card. As it was she was blind and with good humour passed up the invitation. He finished the trick for the girl's parents all the while thinking surely he must be able to do something magical for her. Sitting next to her he offered to test her other senses. She thought this would be fun. He held the deck of cards face down and one by one she was able to predict with 100 percent accuracy whether they were red cards or black cards before they were turned over. What he and she knew, but the parents didn't, was they were engaging in the old card cheaters trick of toe tapping. Everytime a red card was about to be dealt he would tap her toe. Her fun personality picked up on this and she joined in for the fun. Her parents were visibly shaken and she beamed happiness at her part in the collusion. She could barely repress her smile. She didn't need to see the look on her parents faces. She could hear them gasping and hyperventilating.

This story affected me and propelled me further into my desire to perform magic and along the way to overcome shyness. My resolve strengthened. I searched for a suitable trick and finally found one that used a short piece of rope which I carried, always, at the ready.

As well prepared as I was I never came across anyone with blindness. One morning I was at the Mater Children's Hospital in Brisbane going ward to ward bringing a little levity to the children and their families. A fourteen year old boy sat back against his pillow. I introduced myself. He stared straight ahead and matter of factly told me not to waste my time doing tricks as he was blind. 'Quite so,' I agreed, 'I was thinking more that I would teach you a trick that you can do for anyone that comes into the room.' Two minutes and two attempts later he had mastered it. The first nurse who walked in became his audience and she genuinely gasped at what he had done. Again, I was simply doing something that I enjoy but through the magic I was able to include someone who was normally excluded. Sadly he died a month after that but from all accounts he had a heck of a time fooling people with that piece of rope.

All in all it's a worthwhile path to follow. The best thing is you may be able to positively influence someone else's life, more than likely you will improve your own self confidence and learn some important life skills, least of all you'll end up with a party trick that'll serve you well for years to come.

Why listen to me? Because I've used everything in these pages to help overcome shyness myself. It works. If you want to overcome shyness I encourage you to read more.