Hi Guys:


I have recently had a magical performance in front of my good friend, and here is the story:

The effects that I have performed included the following (in sequence):

a) Linking paper clips (using a bill)
B) Crazy Man's Handcuff
c) Stealth pen
d) Design for laughter (card trick)
e) Ambitious card (ended with 2 dip pass)

After performing the "Linking Paper Clips", he started analysing and told me how the clips can be linked as a result of the positioning of the clips onto the bill.

Next, after perfoming CMH, he commented that this must be illusion and cannot be real. He challenged me to perform CHM without the index finger touching the thumb. Otherwise, he indicated that he would not believe what was shown to him

When the performance of stealth pen is finished, he said the position of the writing end of the pen is odd and questioned why the pen cap was not separated during performance but separated after performance. He queried why my hands went into the pocket although I told him it is my habit to do so. He then challenged me to reveal the contents of my pocket. He also commented that he should have grab the bill from me when I was showing him that the bill was pierced by the pen.

Subsequently, after I have finished showing him "Design for Laughter", he came out with a theory on how the effect can be achieved and explained to me that it must have been done in that way.

During the performance of ACR, he often said he could not see clearly what happened because my hand was blocking and asked me to repeat. For the finale, I did the dip pass. He was not impressed although it was invisibly done and he came out with his own method as to how the effect can be achieved. I did the dip pass again to show him that the effect was not achived via the method that he thought, taking care of all the angles based on the position of this eye level, but at the execution stage he lowered his head quickly and dramatically and he caught a glimpse of my pinky. He then said I flashed.

Oh my gosh.....I did not feel satisfied performing for him and hence I stopped there.

He then said I have given him too many "riddles" (because he could not understand exactly how the effects were done) which confused him.

He asked me to tell him the answer to which I didn't....at the end, no secret was revealed.

Somehow I did not feel happy after all these performances.

Did I perform wrongly?
How should I manage him - bearing in mind that he is my good friend?

I was thinking of the similar occurence in the future when I perform for my friends and relatives...

Please help me...

Hi Zhuanan,

Your good friend must be a 'male', right??? ^_^

To tell you the truth, I am facing this same case during my secondary school times, for what I know, sorry to say this, I think they must be not in the position of enjoying your performance. They only like to add white sos, pepper, chilly, etc in your magic performance. Maybe they 'jealous' or 'ego' due to you know a lot of magic which they don't know.

Just my humble opinion, I am still remember when a friend of mine (a close friend) also reacted like your best friend, after that, I don't perform for him anymore because the more you perform this kind of audience, this will tremendous decrease your morale or motivation when you perform an effect. It's also annoying because our mission is to entertain the audience, not to listen their 'bed times stories or fairy tales stories'.

I think you don't perform wrong or mistake which you listed above, sometimes, yes we can't be helped, sometimes though we will meet this kind of irritating audience.

If what he provided you the comments, views or suggestion which "GENUINE" ones, definitely this will help you in your act.

Yet, you have to differentiate your friend's intentions why he wanted to ask you so many questions about your performance.

I think after you master an effect, you can perform smoothly and perform in the mirror or practise an effect until become second natural to you conjunction with you smooth patter and presentation into your effects, I don't think you have any problem in the future if you perform for your friends or relatives. ^_^

All the best to you,
Andrew

Boss....you are right man....he is a male...I never had such problem for female...I never had a female tough cooky.....

Thank a lot for your advice lor... :P

You are welcome, Zhuanan! ^_^

Andrew

for this kinda problem....
yea it's true sometimes they just wanna buat kacau only by saying u did this, u did that....if u're good, why don't u do this or do that kinda thing.....

I think if you did a good job, but they still come up with their own idea of how you did it...then that's not a problem....it's just them guessing how it's done...

but if they say 'u must be doing this, coz i can't see properly, your hands cover this part....etc'...
then perhaps they have a point and we gotta work on our presentation, angles, timing...etc

my 0.02..
:)

think about what he said, correct your presentation where possible.

then never perform for this friend again. he's a good friend, but a bad sport.

It seems that you guys has experienced this once in a lifetime being a magician. :P - Can't escape!!!!

Andrew

if my spec doesnt seem to enjoy the first magic i show.. i normally will nvr proceed...

make sure you don't lose a friend over magic!!

sometimes, it's just natural that they are trying to catch u.....
imagine if you don't do magic and someone does a trick to u...perhaps u'd be the same, but it doens't mean that u don't treat him as the friend he always has been....

Anyway I find that, towards friends..if you try to be magical like Blaine..they'll just be a heckler to you coz they see you so lawa try to be magical....
So if perhaps u just do it casually like 'hey, wanna see a trick'..instead of 'look, do you believe in time travel?' in a serious way....then perhaps your audience will appreciate it more and be entertained!
:)

to me, this kinda audience is not worth entertaining or showing magic to. I would just move on and not show him magic liaw.

I mean everyone knows there is an explanation for each magic trick we perform. Like ya fren ask, can u do the CMH without index touching thumb, just say why u can ah? tell him i would realy like to see that man. tell him the truth that wat u r doing is slieght of hand magic. if i can amaze u with sleight of hand magic (as he cant catch how its done), then why u wanna see the real thing? if u know how i do it and can do it yaself, then perhaps yeah someone/magicians will already come out with a better one.

If next time he ask "hey... u got learn any new tricks or not?", just say ya, im working on it. meanwhile would u like to see some flourishes? hehe... there's no secret in flourish is there? just watch him admire ya skills. tat all. :P

All in all, i only perform magic to those that will appreciate it. to those who cant, i just do flourish and up to them if they wanna be interested or not.

MagicB

^_^ - Ya! Better to avoid havoc!

Otherwise, no use for us to entertain them if they feel not enjoy of our performance.

If they give us genuine advice or suggestion, we should value it! ;)

Andrew

One of my best friends does that too... and it's a FEMALE!

I tend to not perform to a person who's just like what zhuanan described. Once I learn this person is not gonna play nice, I stop whatever trick I currently perform and do one last self-working-surefire trick. And full stop.

Zhuanan, mental magic works best to this kind of audience IMHO.

hi man

when i face this kind of ppl
n i will tend to challenge them with my speed
will do my pass n cuts

but after few times
end result will b always ..
they r not happy (cos they cant find out yet they dun believe) ..
i am not happy (cos i am not performing magic .. i am challenging them)

i like wat brad christian from ellu said in ninja 2
throw deck n leave the hall

if they r not enjoying the magic
there is no point to perform.

my humble opinion

Yes, I think most of you guys here have solid points. It's irritating to have these kind of audience in your atmosphere as sometimes they also will spoil the mood of other spectator if this particular spec does not want to cooperate with you. :(

There's no point to resume the performance if have this kind of spec. Sigh........ :(

Andrew

The problems with that are:

1. You can't really do that if you're doing paid gig.
2. You're leaving bad impression to certain people there.

True?

another two cents.

Just my humbe opinion and do not side anybody, yeah, what dok said was true about the 2 things.

If you a paid performer, you can't do this as this will you know, will affect your reputation as a performer. :(

That's concerning a lot about 'heckler', I think Darwin Ortiz's 'Strong Magic' book has the information and theories how to handle heckler.

I think must be a good read and can aid in your performance. ^_^

Andrew

i think in the real world...we'll be more successful being a Bill Malone rather than a David Blaine...
David Blaine type only works on strangers....
but if you want gigs, parties...etc, i reckon being a Bill Malone will make you more successful...

haha.... bill malone is a great entertainner. i like his performances. its just that i cant crack up jokes like he does.. lol.

ok, back to the topic, if im being paid and if someone tries to heckle me like how zhuanan described... i will grrrrr..... hheehe...

k, let me think. i will challenge him or erm i will try to make a joke out of what he said. i dunno man.... lol... see my mood at that time. i will try make him like a fool in front of other guests. i will get him involved in the magic. ask him to imitate wat i do..... etc. i mean when a spec is being asked to do something the magician ask him/her to do (in front of other audiences), it is very unlikely that he or she will disobey your command. Remember magician is in CONTROL.

but coming to think of it, i dont think people will heckle u if u are a paid performer because they know that u are getting paid or the host has arranged for a performer, and thus they are more likely to give support.

I think u are more likely to get heckle if u do on the streets to strangers or frens who likes to heckle.

MagicB

I never proof to the audiences that what they are thinking is wrong. If they came out with thier own theory, i will say "very nice, you can try to perform the magic using ur own method, then u will know it works or not" :)

last time when i perform pen thru dollar (using b2 bomber) to my friends, they want to check the pen after the tricks. but i dont allowed. then i "casually" put it on the table and continue next tricks. one of them just grabs that pen and try to figure it out, but of course he wont get it coz the gimmick is in my pocket. :):):)
then i told him, i dont let u check the pen doesnt mean it is a trick pen, just like a girl does not let u see her body doesnt mean her body is fake mar.....

then everybody just laughing and they never check my thing again when i do tricks :):):)

i think joke is very important when u perform magic. let audience enjoy and never try to challenge ur spectators. repect them as well. :)

haha wow...I like what u said Jack. Nice one! :)

MagicB

thanks magicB.
one more thing, i found that many people like to ask a magician to repeat the tricks with his own thing. for example, after i show the pen thru dollar effect, some one may ask me can i do it with his pen. i will say no. he might say then no doubt it is a trick pen lor. i say nop, i can only do it with my pen coz i trained it for a long time liao :)

then i will take out the cardtoon deck to show them how i train my little assistant to find a selected card :):)

some little points for zhuanan, u should be able to do crazyman handcuff which your index finger and thumb do not touch each other.

for stealth pen, after u hand the bill for examined, thake off the pen cap and put it back to the tip. dont just seperate it and put it on the table.

for me, i never give my thing to spectators to examine unless it is part of my presentation and it is a misdirection, haha....

Wow, thanks for the advice jackliw!

Who initiated the performace? Did your friend say to you, I want to see some magic? Or did he say, show me some tricks? Or did you walk up to your friend and just start in on your routine? If the last item is the case (as it seems from your post) then you shouldn't blame your friend. You wanted to impress him with something that he was left out of and he was trying to find some way to get "inside" where you were. Your fault, not his.

If you need your friend's help to get practice before performing to strangers, make sure you tell him that's what you are doing before you start. Say something like: I've been working on a trick, but I want to know if it looks kind of like magic to someone else. Would you take a look at it and see if it seems like real magic to you?

Then do one trick... not a routine. If he wants to see more, he will ask you to do it again. Then say, "I can't do it again, but I have another trick. Do you want to see it?" Keep on going as long as he wants to see the next trick and the next trick or you run out of tricks. Talk to him about each one as if you are asking for advice. You are asking him if each trick looks like it was real magic or just a trick, not just for general feedback. Once you are done imposing on your friend (because it IS an imposition - friends aren't supposed to be admirers) ask him what new stuff he is into and listen to him with as much interest as he put into listening with you. That's how you keep a friend and get a valuable magic critic as well. ;)

spellbinder,

i think thats pretty good advise.

thanks.

Yeah, we do get people who just wants to explain how everything happens. He may even have explanation to "how a soul enter a fetus" in the mother's womb. Even if you have Jedi powers and move things around, he'll say "That's not magic! That's mental powers!" Duh!

My first trick to strangers is ALWAYS Out Of This World, OOTW (Paul Curry's long version). From there, I can gauge what kind of spectators I'll be facing. If he's delighted, saying things like "you weren't even touching the cards!" or "I even shuffled the cards!", then I'll go on to good magic tricks. If he goes into "sure got some mathematic equation bla bla" or "you set the cards. Ya, I know I shuffled, but you made sure that the mathematic equation still works after I shuffle". What the?! Cases like this, I'll just do one more magic.... make myself disappear. :P

Wow, thanks for all the advice man...! :P

I met my good friend one week after, and we go yam cha...during the chat, I asked him:

"Have u seen a straw piercing thru a 50 dollar Ringgit Malaysia?" Wanna check it out"

I was holding a straw at the moment.

He said:

"No lar....the more I see u perform, the more I don't understand how it can be accomplished, I can't sleep well if I don't know how u do that...so u better don't perform for me"....

haiii.....I think he is just too puzzle-minded....I think girls are seldom puzzle minded... :unsure: