Let's get one thing cleared up straight away: I'm not suggesting that the first magician in my example failed because he had expensive kit, still less that the second one succeeded because he didn't.

The point is, that whether you have expensive stage magic or you specialise in impromtu street tricks, you are only going to make the magic seem real if you have understood the biggest, most important, most fundamental secret of all successful magic. It's the 'on' switch for all your other techniques and misdirection.

So what is the secret?

Is it technical proficiency? No.

That is very important and you should certainly put a lot of time and effort into acquiring it, but it doesn't bring the magic to life on it's own account.

So is it mastering all these physical and verbal and psychological techniques of misdirection, that so many magic teachers talk about, at least if they are any good? No, it's not that.

Although you absolutely must master these techniques of misdirection if you really want to be in control of your magic and guide your audience's experience so that the magic can happen. But your psycho-physico-verbal misdirection techniques won't work (or at least they'll be hard to implement) without this vital ingredient.

Alright, enough already, what is it????

I can explain it in a single word:

Rapport is all about communication. It's a deep form of communication that gets your audience to like you and brings them together on the same wavelength.

There are various techniques that we can gather from the most recent psychological research that can help build this experience of rapport. They are well worth studying and thinking about. Ultimately, you need to interiorize these principles so that they become part of your natural behaviour and so are employed honestly: nothing destroys rapport more effectively than attempts to fake it! However, grasping an insight into these principles will help you understand and develop your own natural rapport-building instincts in the magic context.

A key technique in rapport building is called 'mirroring'. Basically, people are happier to accept and trust someone that they perceive as being like them, or belonging to their group. So, the clothes you wear in a given situation should be chosen to help you fit in, mirroring your audience. Equally, your gestures and body language should reflect those of your audience. The style of language that you use and so on, should all match your audience. That way, they will accept you as one of their own and will relax and give you trust.Take care not to overdo this: the idea is to fit in and be accepted, not to be perceived as mocking or making fun; so make sure your mirroring is subtle and just sufficient - it's mirroring not mimicking that you are aiming for here.

A word of warning at this point: when an audience trusts you, you must never abuse that trust. When you do magic tricks, don't leave your audience feeling tricked; instead, leave them with the gift of wonder.

Another key technique is to empathise with your audience. Try to pick up on how they are feeling, what kind of day they've had, what they are wanting from the experience of watching your magic. Feel how they are feeling and respond to that.

The third technique is to be kind! Don't mock your audience, don't humiliate them or make them feel stupid. Performing magic isn't about showing how clever you are (although you are!) It's about taking the audience with you on a journey. Inviting them to a magical place that they will enjoy and making it easy and fun for them to get there. Think of each magic trick or routine like a form of visual storytelling rather than an attempt to deceive and you won't go wrong.

And that's rapport.

Assuming that you are technically proficient and have a good grasp on misdirection: build rapport with your audience and even if you have only a couple of tricks with coins, you will take them with you on a wonderful journey and they will, even if only for a moment, believe that magic is real.

Which is good news especially for beginner magicians because it means you don't need to spend a fortune at the magic store! A few simple tricks and effects that you can easily and cheaply learn through video downloads these days, a little study of good magic principle and the ability to build rapport and you have everything you need.

Enjoy and share the magic!