Patter
Patter is the one of the most important features of your magic routine. You can take an ordinary magic trick and turn it into a whole theatrical event if you can come up with the right dialogue to assist your magic trick.
Here is a great video showing how to manipulate peoples thoughts with "good" patter:
Mastering patter in your routines and having your own style of doing so is what will bring you closer being a true magician.
Always look into your spectators eyes, be sure you have their attention and that they are hanging on your every word.
Master your voice's tone, inflection and volume. Never speak in a monotone voice. Choose your words carefully, and speak them clearly. Record yourself talking during a practice magic performance then listen to it later -- listen with a critical ear. Do you like what you hear? Is your voice to soft or loud in some spots? Are you speaking clearly enough? Do you sound confident?
Use humor in your performances. Magic tricks + humor = a happy audience. Work jokes into your routine and patter. Need inspiration? Get a video by Penn and Teller and see how they use humor in their magic routines to entertain their audience.
Listen to other magicians. How do they speak? What makes people hang on their words? Try to uncover what makes their patter work and see how you can incorporate some of those elements into your own routines.
Most of all -- Be confident and have fun! If you are confident, your audience will be at ease... if you appear to be enjoying yourself, the spectators are likely to feel and reciprocate that positive energy.Patter should be viewed as a SCRIPT for your entire performance.
In fact....let's not call it patter anymore.
Let's call it your script.
Your script should cover EVERYTHING, not be just a "story" to tell durring a trick..... your introduction....what you say durring an effect.....and what you say afterwards.....all of it should be thought out and written down.
Your script should be memorized.
As a work in progress, your script will help you evolve your effect into a polished piece.
As you go through your effect and write your patter, it will help you identify dead areas, unmotivated actions, and strong points in your effect. It will also help identify areas for misdirection.
When thinking about indtroducing the effect....as opposed to just saying, "Let me show you something"....write something....more elaborate...." I'll never froget the day a strange magician came into the shop and showed me this effect. It made a mark on me.....and now I'd like to show it to you".
Use the introduction to GRAB attention.
A colorful way you came about learning the trick, or an ominous undertone set right at the begining of an effect should do this.
If your style is more humorous, try, "This is the most &$#@ed up thing I've ever seen. Check it out, and tell me what YOU think"
Have fun with it.
Use patter to educate and further build on your characters STYLE.......depending on the type of effect.....give some technical reasoning behind what you are doing, or for why something occurs. It doesn't matter if it's straight up mumbo jumbo.....as long as it's interesting and believeable. Do some research, and learn some terms about the field that is the theme of your effect.
In a gambling demonstration.....maybe explain rules, or better yet the odds of what happens happening.
Use language that fits your character, and the theme of the effect.
Avoid challenges in your script, or asking questions that you may not get the answer you want to get.
"Would you be impressed if this was your card?" "Maybe" or worse yet "NO!" are not something that you want to give the chance to occur.
Think about the type of spectator or group this effect will play better for, and tailor your script to that type of person.
Many effects play better to a woman for example, take that into consideration when writting your script.
Identify areas for audience interaction or by-play. The more people you can get involved....maybe not with the effect itself, but with some other interaction, the better.
Be general in your descriptions......maybe don't say, "I'll turn over the top card of the deck" when doing a double. Say', I'll turn over a random card", after you have false shuffled or cut.
Or when you have more than four cards.....don't say "I have only four cards"....say, " I have some cards ( or these cards)....the x...the x...the x...and the x."
Your spectators can count, and they see four cards....no need to tell them anything more than what they can and will determine on their own.
Let the sleight do it's work and convince them of what they see.....don't use words to when you don't have to..