I was talking to a friend and he remarked that he doesn't perform for friends cos he's not getting paid for it. He was obviously joking, but it got me thinking, he might not be totally off target.

To perform, or not to perform for friends? That is the question.

By 'friends' i mean the ones closer to you, your classmate next to u in school, ur buddy whom you see everyday.

Everytime u show them magic, they'll ask u how its done, u obviously reject their request. u might get away with the 1st few times, but after like 10-20 times, you'll start to seems stuck-up, having that "i can do it, but i wont tell you how" attitude, ALL THE TIME.

They'll ask to see a trick again. Again, most of the time, you can't do it, but it will come across as 'you won't do it for them'.

You perfrom to impress girls (duh!), your friend there gets jealous, to top it off, you'll only tell him how its done over your dead body, and your friend just might be thinking of strangling you at that moment.

You don't intentionally wanna piss them off like this. But sometimes it happens...

Granted, some friends might be genuinely interested in Magic and wanna get into the magic circle. Its quite easy to tell these guys apart as besides asking you how an effect is done (Hey, I started to get into magic this way.. nothing wrong with it..), they would go buy books, search the internet etc. These guys are cool.. :)



the above it just something that crossed my mind. I might not agree with it myself. just thought anyone has anything else to share.

Don't tell em how it's done. Simple as that.

If you do decide to tell them...
you gotta take responsibility...
so....it's totally up to you...

Hi yinhowe,

If your friend gets a lot of bookings for gigs, then I can understand why he says that because it is really annoying that everyone is asking for free shows. But if he’s just a hobbyist, I suggest just perform for free and work on his presentation for now.
I don’t have a problem showing my friends some magic if I want (only when I feel like it) as it doesn’t do any harm to us and we can have fun with good friends.

Another point, from experiences, we need to structure our routines, patter lines, showmanship and all that to a point that they won’t question you anymore. We are doing ‘real’ magic for them and we need to let them know there’s no explanation.

There is a world of difference between a spectator’s not knowing how something’s done versus his knowing that it can’t be done.” – Aronson

And about the "i can do it, but i wont tell you how" attitude, I think he sets an alarm there. It means there’s a way to do it just that he doesn’t want to share. And by saying so, there is no more win-win situation, not good. I read somewhere about the rejection, IF your spectators kept asking the same questions, just tell them ‘Trust me… you don’t want to know…’ Again, try to avoid any ‘challenge’ while you performing.

I don’t see any problem to impress girl with my magic and by that I can also demonstrate higher value (some may get what I mean). If you are a good friend to them, none will do that to you.

For those interested in magic, just suggest them some books, I suppose…

Cheers,
Jeff

P.S. I just woke up… :wacko:

If your classmates keep asking on how your trick is done, just say

"A true magician will never reveal their tricks, i'm the performer, you're the audience, i do my part & you get the thrill.." as simple as that..

If they still bugging you, try to change the topic...


(It's hard being a mgician and a student in the same time huh -_- )

Jeff,

You are a walking encylopedia of magic quotes dude. ;)

Excelent post Jeff!!

This quote is so true.

Well, u can tell them that, but ur friends, being ur friends should understand that u telling them off once, and only once should be enough and they should understand and respect ur privacy.

If they keep bugging u and telling u that ur being stuck up, say it's the same when cheating for a test. U don't tell ur friends the answers during the test because it's the right thing to do and besides it's the principle of the thing to do. Does that mean ur being stuck up? I don't think so.....

We've a hell lot of nosey parkers everywhere. Just grit ur teeth and say, "can u keep a secret? ............ So can i!"

;)