What will make my magic tricks work?

You’re off to a good start if you can picture what you want to happen. I describe that part of the process as figuring out what the miracle should look like. Without your describing the effect you want to create, I can’t be very specific.

Think about what the effect you want to do will look like from the audience’s point of view. Then think about the limits you have. Do you have other people on stage with you? Backstage? Are you performing solo? Where and how big is the audience. Are you outside? Are you performing for 5 or 6 people around a table? Are you performing in a 1500 seat theater? It is possible to levitate in both situations, but both situations have different limits.

Then you start working out the things you know how to do with the skills and assets you have at hand. Then you take a look at what is left. Have you seen someone else do it? something like it? Do your research to find how they do it. Not everything has been published, but the Harlan Tarbell Course in Magic is an excellent place to start looking.

The real magic happens not just in how the trick works, but how things are presented. Music, dance, mime, acting, lighting, props, costume are all part of what makes the effect magical.

There is a belief among many that the word "Abracadabra" means "As I speak it, it becomes." Explain what you want and then begin to make it real. It’s what magicians do. Good luck in making the "real magic" you seek.