Kids at School

[splitspades]

if you have ever done magic at school then you will understand this. when i perform for my kids at school, there is always a kid that messes up the trick. like when i'm doing a acr routine, he always looks below the deck to see if i'm really puting in their cards. because of this i always have to rush through those parts. the kid is always trying to figure out the trick. do you have any advice for what to do?
thanks

 

[TigerW00ds]

go online and watch justin miller doing the gaff trick thing. the next trick he does isnt with the gaff cards but he has a mini ghost deck, and you can learn a lot about AUDIENCE MANAGEMENT which was my same problem. If you watch u watch hes always getting everyone to look at the deck or when hes talking to someone else or making things up so that he doesnt get into an old routine where they can figure it out. watch it, it really helped me alot, and reply or pm me back if you need more help and i can tell you what i mean

 

[Mr.Texas]

bash him and make him feel like a loser. make him cry for his mommy.

or.. its your fault hes like that.. no offence but.. practice audience management. best stuff ever.

 

[Dizzi]

I agrtee. Audience mangement. Also: Audience management is not making fun of the person (which some people will say is how to deal with it.)

 

[MaGiK Man]

When this used to happen to me, i would usually just do my normal ACR routine, and then start using different methods...because by the time my ACR is finished EVERYONE is at least thinking that I'm not actually putting their card in the middle, so i start to put their card in and ill let them grab the card, or ill let them see their card going in, then use a different control or method to get it back to the top. i.e a double undercut, or a pass
but i would highly recommend, like everyone else, audience management, because this will help a lot more then just switching methods, because if you can handle the crowd, then you dont have to change methods. Hope this Helped!

~Nate

 

[nexusmagic]

When performing for small children I tend to use those flash cards with colors and simple images on them.

 

[card-iologist]

2 words: Gator boots

Once a heckler was about to pick a card, and instead knocked all the cards out of my hands. So my next trick was Gator Boots (It wasn't my deck). You should have seen the look on his face as I dashed out of the room.

 

[Mental-State]

the first thing is that u need to be ale to read people. when i 1st started to perform on the streets i got so many people saying no. now i dont a get a single no. i can tell how will say yeah and who will look at the cards, how will want to look at the card in his hand before i finish explaining. u need to be able to locate the trouble maker first

one thing u could do its make him seem stupid, i would do a effect where no one could spoil and let him tell everyone how he thinks i do it. then move to the next phaze and do it again and disprove his ideas.

but really i have no time for such people, i tell them to at least 'ruin' the effect at the end and not spoil for everyone. then i just tell them to do they want to see it or not cuz i can just go, im here to entertain u not to argue.

just send them alway thats what i do but not rudely

 

[Magic matt]

Tell that kid to get a life and that he wouldn't like it if it was done to him. So just put him on the spot. Magic is made to astonish not for some dill doe coming and snooping around at everything you do.


Ps: He's probably Jelous you have talent, All he probably has is ability to stare at others. Tell him To Stop his envious was and just watch the the trick




Magic Matt sighning out

 

[Shakutau]

You dissolve. That is the key to troublesome affairs.

Being hassled by hecklers, are a hassle. Let them learn you bit by bit. While you learn them bit by bit.

To a serious performer, his audience is his gem. Thus. Making them feel stupid, or having that thought mingle in your mind, is bad. Its okay to joke around, but it is no way acceptable to treat them like trash, even if they treat you and your magic like trash.

You need to be fierce and compassionate. They should love you, respect you for yourself that you are, yet know when they have crossed the line. Like Derren Brown says, to treat your magic, and present it, with at least some serious manner.

 

[MagicShadow9]

That's called a heckler. Once you perform more and more, you will be able to tell which people are hecklers and which aren't. For example, if i see a person that looks really smart or really full of themselves, i will not perform for them. But if i see someone who is really cheerful, then i will go up to them and show them something.

You can utter some witty comeback to his remarks but that will not accomplish anything. The reason why they ruin the trick is to make you look bad and to make themselves the center of attention. If you try to make him look stupid, you're only helping him. You will look bad and he will be the center of attention.

The best thing to do is to ignore him. If you're in the middle of a trick, just finish it up and stop performing. Apologize to the audience by saying something like "I would love to show more but since some of you refuse to participate, i will end my show here." And then, the people who wanted to see more magic will take care of the heckler themselves.

What ever you do, never challenge a heckler. I've dealt with many hecklers before and trust me, insulting them does not always work.

 

[ajp500]

Maybe, maybe not

Maybe it's you?

How are you presting you self? Are you trying to trick people or trying to entertain people?

If your trying to trick people they will want to figure out how it's done

If your trying to entertain people they will see it as something cool and just relax.

 

[Nickerus]

Tell that kid to get a life and that he wouldn't like it if it was done to him. So just put him on the spot. Magic is made to astonish not for some dill doe coming and snooping around at everything you do.


Ps: He's probably Jelous you have talent, All he probably has is ability to stare at others. Tell him To Stop his envious was and just watch the the trick




Magic Matt sighning out

Great first post. Anyways, buy a book. Perhaps "Beyond Secrets" by Jay S.

 

[toyrobot]

2 words: Gator boots

Once a heckler was about to pick a card, and instead knocked all the cards out of my hands. So my next trick was Gator Boots (It wasn't my deck). You should have seen the look on his face as I dashed out of the room.

Maybe it's just me, but I still don't see why people are accepting this kind of abuse. If it had been anything else in your hands, and someone came up and knocked it out, how would you have reacted?

If a musician's up on stage, and some dude comes up and just thwacks the guitar out of his hand... I mean, at some point you're allowed to go out of courteous performer mode.

Dealing with a heckler, and dealing with a bully are two different things.

 

[ZacEckstein]

The problem is you. You need to learn audience management bro. It takes a while to acquire a skill of leadership and crowd control, and yes, they do go hand in hand.

 

[Steerpike]

Maybe it's just me, but I still don't see why people are accepting this kind of abuse. If it had been anything else in your hands, and someone came up and knocked it out, how would you have reacted?

If a musician's up on stage, and some dude comes up and just thwacks the guitar out of his hand... I mean, at some point you're allowed to go out of courteous performer mode.

Dealing with a heckler, and dealing with a bully are two different things.

Depends. I've never had to resort to physical violence. Partly because I'm a professional.

I agree that some people only understand force, but I find it much better to use the strategy of calculated withdrawal while giving him the opportunity to continue coming after me. In retreating and being pursued I become an underdog while he becomes a sadistic loose cannon chasing after a wounded enemy with blood on his mind. In other words, they tie their own noose by their aggression.

Magicians really get off on this idea of using some "mind blowing" super card trick to embarrass a heckler into silence. This is a display I like to refer to as, "I kicked his ass with my brain!" But if I really want to kick someone's ass with my brain, I actually, you know... use my brain.

Very rarely do I find direct confrontation gets me what I want with these people. So I just trick them into doing the dirty work for me.

 

[Randy]

The general consensus is that you really shouldn't perform at school. Due to it being one big popularity contest and the fact that you pretty much see those people every day.

 

[Cedric Taylor]

if you have ever done magic at school then you will understand this. when i perform for my kids at school, there is always a kid that messes up the trick. like when i'm doing a acr routine, he always looks below the deck to see if i'm really puting in their cards. because of this i always have to rush through those parts. the kid is always trying to figure out the trick. do you have any advice for what to do?
thanks

its not you at all....i think these people are overthinking it...


i got ya breh.....wut u do is involve the hecklers....use them as your assistants....ask them questions...trust me, they will never want to be the center of attention , if they were, they would be doing magic....but include those hecklers and talk to them...thats it..

also...when doing the ACR....when you go to put their card in the inside...ask them this...would you know your card if you saw it...while doing that...just casually place their card inside..and when your are done...ur ready...

 

[Mental-State]

If a musician's up on stage, and some dude comes up and just thwacks the guitar out of his hand... I mean, at some point you're allowed to go out of courteous performer mode.

if someone did that to me i would want to kick them in the face, that doesnt mean i would i might just kick them in their stomach. no one has tried to whack my cards out my hands, i just seem to know how to control hecklers.

really, use ur mind against them, i use my words to shut them up and go away. thats the best thing to do

 

[Cedric Taylor]

if someone did that to me i would want to kick them in the face, that doesnt mean i would i might just kick them in their stomach. no one has tried to whack my cards out my hands, i just seem to know how to control hecklers.

really, use ur mind against them, i use my words to shut them up and go away. thats the best thing to do

just involve them.....or you them as destractions to other specs...if he has a card...tell them to show their card...tell them do they remember their card...give a hand clap...play them stupid sometimes....or even ask rhetorical questions.....do an effect...and have them to follow after you and try...i love doing that...i usually get my cards back when they don't know what the hell they are doing...