One of the takeaways from seeing the Harlem Globetrotters is while its a fun show, the audience is definitely aware that everyone on the basketball court is very skilled! Before the game started one of the Globetrotters (Moose, I think) was nailing baskets from half court with one hand and his back to the hoop!
How does that relate to performing magic?
Simple, in my opinion the audience must know you are skilled at what you do. I guess you don’t need an overt display of skill like a manipulation act, but something that shows you’re not just doing push button magic.
How do you do that in magic? There are a lot of ways, many years ago when I went to Caesar’s Magical Empire in Las Vegas the stage show as done by The Pendragons. One of the things that he did was sat on the edge of the stage and did a torn and restored cigarette paper. It stood out because The Pendragon’s show is soo big, then he does a little bit with a tiny piece of paper. That routine just used his hands and the cigarette paper and showed that he can do sleight of hand.
Whatever you do to show skill doesn’t have to overtly look like you have skill like producing cards from backpalm, but the audience needs to know you have skill.
-Louie