Often when I do my close-up magic for young men they say something along the lines of, “Wow, I bet the ladies love that!” so I thought I’d explore the question of whether magic can help you get a girlfriend, or at least a phone number!
I should start by stating that I can only really comment on this as a heterosexual man. I’ve no idea whether magic tricks would help men attract men, women attract women or any other combination of genders. There is a book called The Game by Neil Strauss which chronicles a journalist’s transformation from geeky writer to infamous pick up artist and is something of a bible for men hoping to attract women. It is full of ideas and tips but one of the big ones is to learn a few magic tricks. There are even books and DVDs out there completely dedicated to magic tricks that you can use to get phone numbers and dates and if you look at some of Dynamo’s early videos he seems as interested in flirting with girls as he does in blowing people’s minds. So I think the short answer to the question “does magic help men attract women?” is yes… but probably not in the way you think.
I believe that the main advantage of learning magic tricks is it is a great tool for building confidence and making you appear to be a socially able person, at least for a little while. When I was a kid I was painfully shy and awkward and as a result my teenage years were something of a feminine drought. But when I started working in entertainment and I reignited my love affair with magic my confidence began to grow. I could approach people, hold a conversation and, most importantly, make them laugh. I went from being a complete stranger to the ways of the woman to gaining a bit of an (undeserved) reputation as a ladies’ man!
If you decide to become a professional magician you are granted another advantage: you get to constantly meet and perform (show off?) to a large range of people in social situations. You will spend your career as the centre of attention at parties and weddings, if you are good you will be the person that everyone is talking about and everyone wants to see. Having this added social value is priceless if you are looking for female attention. I have to admit that when I finished my degree in Journalism and I had to decide whether to continue with entertainment or get a ‘proper’ job the opportunities for meeting women was a big reason to continue in entertainment. And it worked! I met my fiancé through my work and I can’t imagine how different life would be if I had got an office job instead.
Even if you stick with being an amateur magician you can still use this to set yourself apart from every other man who’s approached a woman with a cheesy chat up line. I used to turn up to house parties only knowing one person and quite quickly become the most popular person there. I’ve been to random pubs and had every single person in there asking me to do tricks. Of course, it’s important that you’re not forcing yourself on people and you’re only doing tricks to make everyone enjoy themselves not just to massage your own ego but once you have become the life of the party it’s easy to chat to anyone there, even the girl you’ve had your eye on, but what tricks should you do to impress her?
If you’ve ever watched The Big Bang Theory you will be familiar with Howard Wolowitz and his unsuccessful attempts at seduction using magic tricks. If you find yourself pulling handkerchiefs or fake flowers from your sleeve you’re heading in the wrong direction. Similarly, Barney’s tricks from How I Met Your Mother (yes, I spend a lot of time watching American sit-coms on E4) are equally ill advised, having doves hidden upon your person all night is cruel and, while flashes of fire are impressive, you risk setting off fire alarms and being thrown out. You should probably go for something that looks impromptu, preferably involving fate or mind reading. If it gives you an excuse to gently hold her hands and look deep into her eyes before doing something impossible then that’s the trick you should probably do.
To conclude, magic can help with attracting women but mainly by providing you with confidence and adding social value. If you are already really confident with an interesting or worthy job or hobby and can tell great stories or jokes then magic probably isn’t going to add much to your attractiveness (it may even detract from it). But if you’re an awkward geek like me then pick up a magic book and get to work, it’ll at least give you something else to keep your hands busy! If you can think of any other tips for would-be magical Romeos or if you think using magic tricks is a terrible idea for attracting women please let me know in the comments. As always please feel free to like and share and remember, as Abraham Lincoln said: “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet”.
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