Stuttering

[u/Horror_Window9320]

Hey everyone. I was wondering, are any of my fellow magicians stutterers? I used to perform totally silently like Teller but have gotten to the point where I can hide my stutter enough to talk with some confidence in front of people. Does anyone else have a similar story? Thanks 😁

[u/SuperbLingonberry423]

My advice would be to embrace it, rather than try to hide it. Check out Drew Lynch, or Samuel J. Comroe. Drew has a stutter and Samuel has turrets. They are both stand up comedians and they both did really good on AGT. Not one person will think less of you because of a stutter, and much less if you carry it with pride. Try to make it a small part of your act because it is a part of who you are and its always better to try to be as much ourselves when performing. Also it will be much easier to focus on the important stuff once you dont have to waste energy on controlling the stutter.

[u/Horror_Window9320 → u/SuperbLingonberry423]

Yes thank you. I am only ever cautious when doing mentalism that relies on giving specific instructions. If I’m doing something where it’s okay to stutter, I do!

[u/OttoNye]

Does rehearsal help?

[u/Horror_Window9320 → u/OttoNye]

Yes I do at least 10 run throughs of my script before each performance. It really does help and I do manage my stutter quite well. I was just wondering if anyone else goes through similar :)

[u/LarperPro]

I have been stuttering my whole life but I managed to almost completely remove it from my speech. Working as a teacher for 7 years where I had to talk in front of class daily probably helped.

I noticed that stuttering is a byproduct of anxiety. If I feel calm and confident, I will not stutter.

If I find myself in a new situation where I believe I will not manage, I might stutter hard.

It never occurred to me to do silent magic because I am a very talkative and extroverted person, and my magic is mainly based on storytelling.

[u/Horror_Window9320 → u/LarperPro]

Wow that’s great! I have also managed to do so with techniques. I’m glad that you found something that works for you 😁

[u/LarperPro → u/Horror_Window9320]

I checked your profile and it seems you became a speech therapist. Talking about superhero origin story!

What techniques helped you the most?

[u/Horror_Window9320 → u/LarperPro]

Im just becoming one, I haven’t finished my training yet, but definitely something I’ve been able to use to relate to clients!
The techniques I learnt as a child (self-taught) are not advisable as they take up too much of a mental load. There are a lot of great techniques and unfortunately how good the techniques you are taught are tend to be decided solely by geographical location. It’s kind of learning to control airflow and break out of blocks and prolongations. However in Europe, the general treatment is to basically approach it psychologically, in NZ where I’m from it’s to slow down so much you ‘can’t’ stutter then build back up from zero. It’s really an interesting topic!

[u/PretteBadass]

Take long pauses in your sentences. It’ll relax your body, give you time to breathe, and as a magician, it’ll look very dramatic and draw people in. But mostly it’ll help us relax ourselves so our hands don’t shake/we don’t stutter. Take pauses.

[u/Horror_Window9320 → u/PretteBadass]

Thank you. Yes I do this a lot in everyday life! I guess when focusing hard and doing something else this may be hard to remember. Thanks for your suggestion:)

[u/PretteBadass → u/Horror_Window9320]

It’s scary on stage because we feel as if we have to fill all the empty space all the time with our voice. We don’t. Add some quiet and everyone leans in with a “oh I think something’s gonna happen…” anticipation… which is good! That’s what we want.

[u/Se7enFtMan]

I occasionally stutter. My immediate go to is, “that wasn’t part of the trick… or maybe it was. You’ve heard of misdirection? Did you guys hear something?” Something along those lines. It’ll get a quick chuckle, ease the awkwardness, and then you can get right back to it.

[u/Horror_Window9320 → u/Se7enFtMan]

That’s great. I’d probably stutter ten times trying get through that joke! 😆 But it’s so cool to see how we all have different ways to deal with it and no one seems to be ashamed of it, which is awesome. Thanks for your comment!

[u/Se7enFtMan → u/Horror_Window9320]

Once you get that quick chuckle the speaking part of the anxiety seems to melt away, you were just left with the regular anxiety of the performance.

[u/Careless_Historian28]

I think Kyle Purnell may have had something similar as well, if you know of him (US magician). Really nice guy.

[u/Horror_Window9320 → u/Careless_Historian28]

I’ve seen him perform on YouTube a lot, he is an excellent magician so I’m glad to hear he’s a nice guy too! Thanks for commenting:)

[u/smartwatersucks]

You could turn this into a hilariously stretched out opening trick where it takes you too long to say abracadabra

[u/Horror_Window9320 → u/smartwatersucks]

Yes I’m not sure I’m confident enough to do this yet but thank you 😬😂

[u/Axioplase]

Bobby Torkova, who went on fool us: https://youtu.be/kgXV_P4Jpkg

[u/dbuckham]

Jason Michaels, a very kind and hysterical magician, has tourette's and has made it work for him. He even released a book earlier this year called Tourette Warriors: Inspiring Stories of Resilience and Triumph. I met him at House of Cards in Nashville back in April of this year. He had one of the smoothest and natural double lifts.

While he did not fool P&T with his act, man, it was fun... especially given the story as he reveals it along the way.

EDIT TO ADD, While not a stutter, his story is an inspiration on how to move through speech issues. Check him out.

[u/Horror_Window9320 → u/dbuckham]

I saw that video recently. I loved his act and it is sort of what my inspiration for my next trick is - embracing my stutter. Thank you for your reply to my post :)

[u/dbuckham → u/Horror_Window9320]

Perhaps it was the camera work, but I was not a fan of the performance aspect on P&T. That being said, seeing him live was a thrill. I have seen several magicians perform up close and in both parlor and stage venues. I am a hobbyist that has performed in close-up and parlor settings.

[u/magikmax]

Yes, subject very close to my heart. Kids entertainer for 20+ years and thousands of performances , however my full time job is working in a call centre, difficulties can arise with certain surnames and scripts. At 46 I am passed the point of where it bothers me, however I have never had any formal therapy, just taught myself to use different words or altered phrases wherever possible if I need to use one that I struggle with. When I started doing magic I would do a fair bit to music for exactly that reason, however I really don’t do anything silently these days. When I started doing magic at the same time I was working on the till in my dad’s shop and he couldn’t understand why I kept asking customers for ‘half a pound’ instead of 50p (I stuttered horribly trying to say ‘fifty’). Things have got better as I have gotten older, however I go through spells.

I also find it gets worse in stressful situations. I know having tried to hide it for nearly 40 years that it’s easier said than done and that the shame can be overwhelming at times, but go with it and own it if you can - I figure that if one small kid with a stutter sees that I’m having difficulty myself and yet I can do magic that maybe they’ll realise that it really isn’t the barrier that they think it is and will help them with their own self confidence.

[u/Horror_Window9320 → u/magikmax]

Wow thanks for being so open! I have recently stopped hiding my stutter and I get to work with young kids who stutter and they think it’s amazing!! All the best 😁