theory11 — Magic Tricks & the World's Finest Playing Cards

Caught performing a sleight...

S

Squ!rrel

Apr 28, 2008
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0
Even when you've practiced a move and got it almost perfect sometimes you mess up when performing for a live audience, you flash something, don't get the angles quite right etc and a spectator sees something they shouldn't.

What do you do when your caught performing a sleight?
 
If I ever happen to flash, and the spectator(s) notice but don't say anything I just keep going, and finish the effect. If they notice and say something like " I saw what you did you did ........" I would continue with a different sleight. For example if I was performing an ACR and someone caught a doublelift, I would then do something like a bluff pass, or the one handed pass.
 
I'll answer this question seriously. Whenever I mess up when i perform and i mess up, someone will say "I know how you did that". At that point, I'll say, "Ok, so how did I do it?". Now about 60% of the time they only saw one little sleight but not all of the sleights, therefore he will say "Well i saw you move that one card in your hand" or something. And then i say "Ok, but how did i do...." and then i point out the rest of the trick, and then they're totally stumped. And 30% of the time, they accuse you of doing something you did not do. For example, i once performed the Erdanse Color Change for my friend and he said "You had that up your sleeve!". And then i roll up my sleeves and do it and then he is fooled. Now the other 10% of the time, They will see excatly what you are doing and they can describe your every sleight you did. So you either did the trick very badly or they just have a very sharp eye. When this happens, i just say "Very good! Have you ever considered doing magic yourself?" and that usually releases the tension between you and the spectator and he forgets about his anger that what you did was fake. Hope this helped. =)

-MS9
 
I like magicshadows last idea of just giving in and welcoming them into your "magic circle" because it does break down the barriers. However, i don't agree with challenging the spectator on how you did the trick unless you like to go for the ' i just fooled you' presentation style. If you ask them how you did it, they give you an answer, and then you point out the areas that they were wrong, your steering your presentation in the direction of ' oh i fooled you!! foolish foolish you.' If thats your presentation style, go for it.
Me personally, if someone catches me on something, I'll usually just smile and keep going. Now if they proceed to make a scene about it, i'll just be honest with them and say something like 'hmmmm, interesting' or ' you've got a good eye.' and keep going onto something else before they get a chance to talk any more about it.
 
As said, there are some things you can get out of such a problem. (Like saying "ah you got me!" then using an alternate sleight.) If you think the trick would not be critically impaired because of the insight your spectator got into the method you can just plow on ahead. However, if they really did just figure it out, I don't try to wiggle my pride out. I just say, "You caught the sleight, nice. Most people don't get that one. Well, do you want to see one of my easier tricks? (Sure, they say.) Ok," and then you whip out BeLieve or some other heart stopper (Control, maybe?).

I preface all my magic by saying, casually, that most people suddenly get on guard when they are shown magic, and all they want to do is figure out the trick. Their purpose in watching isn't to enjoy the trick; it's to figure it out so the magician doesn't get to have pride over them. I ask my audience just to lay back and enjoy; if they see a slight or mess up to feel free and tell me, but otherwise just enjoy what happens.

More or less, that's the jist of what I say. Sometimes I like to say it a time when I'm not about to do magic.
 
BlueCuzco said:
As said, there are some things you can get out of such a problem. (Like saying "ah you got me!" then using an alternate sleight.) If you think the trick would not be critically impaired because of the insight your spectator got into the method you can just plow on ahead. However, if they really did just figure it out, I don't try to wiggle my pride out. I just say, "You caught the sleight, nice. Most people don't get that one. Well, do you want to see one of my easier tricks? (Sure, they say.) Ok," and then you whip out BeLieve or some other heart stopper (Control, maybe?).

QUOTE]


Brad Christian does that in Ninja 1 he shows them how the pass is done, then he tells them about the one handed pass, and how much harder it is, but it is very simple so they are caught off guard and he still gets great reactions.
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I mostly continue on. Sometimes you think they noticed but they didn't. Other times they really did notice and you know it...oh well, just keep on going. Mostly if it is sleight of hand and they notice it is one little mistake that probably won't give away the whole secret. Best of luck!
 
If it's during the middle - if it's crucial and you absolutely can't do anything else and it's definitely ruined, a little comment, I like BlueCuzco's lines, just something natural and move on, do something you can't screw up.

If it's at the end - acknowledge their comment, thank them, move on.

I wouldn't recommend challenging them though, if you ask them how they think you did it, if they do know, they get an ego boost and are more likely to be confrontational and call you out in the future. If they don't know, you make them look like a fool and they no longer enjoy magic. If they know part of it, you again come out as confrontational to them and they will be more inclined to look at magic as sleight of hand and analyse everything technically rather than enjoying magic. Lose-lose. Stunning them by showing them up is not a good thing, it's a bad thing.
 
I uaslly do, if they say "i know how you did that" i do 1 of 2 things

1. if they say "i know how you did that!", i reply "so do I!" i catches them off guard. then if they say you did.....blah blah blah then i do this.

2. say i do the clip shift, and they say that its coming from the bottom. then i say to them "really, if you think that, try it" and then i hand them the deck and its impossible for them to do, along with any other slight if you get caught. is all psychology, they only believe there theory works if they can do it.

Cheers,
 
I throw the deck on the floor, stamp on it a few times before bursting into tears and collapsing into a twitching wretch on the floor, crying out for somebody to come and smite me into oblivion.
Just kidding. I practice until I don't go wrong.
I wish. I usually just say something like as stated above, "You caught me, now lets try some real magic.

Btw. I tend to find giving them the deck and letting them try to be a bad idea as if they're really heckling, they often just do something stupid that involves your sexy new deck getting muddy.
 
MaGiK Man said:
just make sure there are no survivors...
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Man, this one made me laugh sooooooo much :D :D :D :D

I see 2 ways of getting from this and it depends on who said "I saw that". If a normal person said that (I mean not heckler, they are not normal) just keep going, they won't see this as a failure if you do not treat it as a failure. This is something that you should keep in mind. We are all humans (I guess) and do mistakes.

On the other hand, if a heckler does try to catch you all the time, then read another thread. It is now in one of the most discussed.

Feel free to hate me,

Tomas
 
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