A few days ago, I was performing some magic for my younger cousins. Some of the effects were from the course, such as: some rubber band tricks, ACAAN, a card-to-deck effect, and a prediction. But some other effects I performed weren't from the course, like a shell game effect and a few others.

What went well:

Since I was comfortable with the audience I was performing the routine for, my hands didn't shake, and I could execute the effects with ease.

In many of the effects, the spectators played a central role. For instance, I performed one trick right in their own hands, and in another, a spectator even located the chosen card...

Areas for Improvement:

I could have added a stronger effect at the end.

I should have linked the effects together more smoothly.

At times, the spectators seemed distracted.

Last week I went on a school trip, and I brought a couple of decks and some props to do tricks. Whenever we had to wait in line for museums, or at night when we were at bars, I did several tricks. I originally wanted to perform for my closest friends, but people ended up asking me to do tricks, even folks I barely knew or who weren't from my school. I did some tricks from the course, but also some I came up with myself that got the best reactions.

The Good:

Much more acceptance than I expected; sometimes I had about 40 people gathered around me, and I didn't get nervous at all. Other times, even performing for my parents, I've gotten super nervous, but this time my voice and hands didn't shake at all. Having people be so receptive and getting such great reactions really boosted my desire and confidence to do magic tricks.

The Bad:

Being in bars at night, people didn't fully grasp what was happening, either because of the low light (although that did help hide a Double Lift that went wrong and I had to repeat – no big deal to mess it up since the idea is that it's supposed to be tough in the trick), or because they weren't 100% attentive. The 'card to deck' routine was slower than usual because the person I'd handed the deck to started talking and didn't realize they needed to give it back. Or when I did a Control, they didn't notice I shuffled or that I gave them a different card, which made the reaction a bit weaker.

I had a couple of errors; for example, when attempting a card production, it went wrong, and I took 2-3 cards instead of just one.

I don't have a video because I was too embarrassed to ask them to record it, but overall, it was a very positive experience.

The other day I did a magic show for my whole family, and I'm going to analyze the first routine. The good news: the effects were really strong and well-explained. The downside was that the audience didn't participate much, only once or twice per effect.

Yesterday I got to Argentina for my cousin's wedding, and at the reception, I put together a little routine with a couple of tricks. Honestly, they played pretty well, but for future IMPROVEMENT, when I was doing the sandwich trick, the selection flashed before I even got to shake the deck. And with the Svengali, they spotted the duplicate card. Plus, I totally missed the magical beat.

This past weekend, I performed several magic effects for family and friends.

I did The Rising Card, Out of This World, a silk vanish...

Good Points:

I got gasps and laughs from family, always in a great atmosphere.

Plus, I was able to get some good audience participation.

Areas for Improvement:

I need to improve my patter and make the performances a bit longer and more entertaining to keep everyone engaged.

Perform effects that have a connection to each other; in other words, create a routine instead of just doing standalone tricks.