Worst thing that happened during a performance?

Sep 2, 2007
292
0
Canada Toronto
I did a big prediction effect for a big audience...700 people. Well without getting into the workings it required an assistant which was not able to do what he had to ontime...and kinda exposed the whole thing. Ouch it was a talent competition too so i lost bad...
 
Aug 31, 2007
1,960
1
34
Long Island/New York
Yeah, I know this is an old thread but I didn't wanna make a new one.

About 2 years ago I went to Georgia for a vacation with my parents and sister. We went because my sister was in this organization for twirling with her team and they were competing everywhere.

Me and all these twirlers and their parents were hanging out in the hotel lobby one night and my parents once again were bragging about me for doing magic. My Dad decides to tell everyone about a trick I do using a quarter and a soda can.
"He takes a quarter . . . . . . (delay) . . . . . . pops it into the can while the can is still sealed." <- INSERT TOUGH ITALIAN ACCENT HERE.

Of course everyone asks if I can do it right now. Some girl's mom comes up to me and says she'll run up and get a can out of her hotel room right now. Without me even answering, she tells her daughter to get a soda from the room. The girl runs into the glass elevator and goes up to her floor.

"Great!" I thought in my head. - sarcasm
I wasn't a pro at performing this trick, so I was getting a little nervous.
I didn't know what type of can this girl was gonna bring down. I wouldn't even get a chance to see if it would work or not.

Once I saw the girl get onto the glass elevator again, my heart raced. - (nerve wrecking)

The only thought that went into my mind was, "Dam, I have a huge crowd that's expecting me to do something amazing and I might not be able to do it."

She hands me the can, luckily it was a Pepsi can and I thought that I'd be able to pull it off. I told them that I need to go outside to perform it otherwise I might spill soda everywhere.

The crowd follows me as I lead the way to my failure. Once we were out there, I got everyone to one side.

I picked out 2 of the girls to sign the coin front and back, but they drew like a flower and a sun or something like that- Whatever

I took the coin back and made sure the ink wouldn't come off and made sure the girls wouldn't forget their little drawings.

With the quarter in my right palm and the can in my left hand, I took a few steps backwards and *SLAM!* . . . . . . . . . . . *cling cling*- onto the pavement.
"Oh, I didn't slam it hard enough, it fell back out of the can."

One more time, Slam!
In my head: "Yay it worked!"

I then proceeded to phase 2. Showing the can clean was easy because it's the same handling for any can, so I did practice this a lot.

I held the can up to one of the girls ear and she told everyone that she heard it using the only way little girls can communicate - YELLING!
;)
Phase3 - Reveal.
Not so good.
I went to open the can to pour the soda out, but there was a slight problem, and by slight I mean BIG.

I'm sure everyone knows how to perform Sinful by now, but for the sake of exposure lets just say that the trick didn't go down smooth.
There I was breaking my thumb trying to complete the trick and everyone saw me struggling. I felt so pathetic.

After a solid 20 seconds of my thumb V.S. the can, my thumb won . . . . . . . . but it did take a beating.
In my head: "Now, how the hell do I cover that up?"

I thought fast so I quickly tore off the tab and gave it to another girl to keep to remember this trick and acted like I was trying to get the tab off the whole time.
-That's what he was doing. . . . . . .

I poured all the soda onto the pavement until I heard a *clink* in the can. I lifted the can up in the air for everyone to see the quarter with the sig/picture on it.

I knew there was no way in hell that I was getting the quarter out of that can, so I crushed the can flat in my hands and tore the can in half for everyone to see once again that it was really in there. I carefully took the quarter out and gave it back to the 2 girls from the beginning. Everyone clapped and just like that, it was the end.

If I learned one thing from this performance, it was that I don't need to perform like a circus monkey every time someone asks me to. I should have spoke up when that girl asked me if I could do the trick. I should have said something like "Oh, I'm too tired to do magic tonight, maybe some other time."

It was just a bad situation I hope I never get trapped into again.
 
Dec 10, 2007
126
0
Slovenia (Europe)
Gypsy Thread tangled.

It restored about 3/4 and then just.. stopped. It was also an opener for my first paid performance.

I proceeded to get an applause anyway, and continued with another thread effect, which got a quite... louder, shall I say reaction? :)

Anyone has any tips on the setup?

-Sebastian
 
The Sinful trick is kind of iffy I have to admit. It can be pulled off but you just need to be careful. I never performed it live until this year. I made sure that I was feeling comfortable around big audiances that way my hands woiuldn'y shake and all that jazz. Finally, I did it for some people in a mall and they flipped. Don't worry I poured the soda into a cup not on the floor.

Oh Yeah!!! They didn't kick me out that time...

Dylan P.
 
Two girls put their arms around me and came on pretty strong with the flirting. It honestly wouldn't have been so bad, but my girlfriend at the time was watching. She's my wife now and still won't let it go...

There was another time I interrupted a couple at a restaurant. I produced a rose and a business card from a flaming wallet. Turns out the couple was only meeting there to talk about a divorce settlement and didn't want to have anything to do with magic. ...I awkwardly took back the rose and business card and hid in a corner for a few minutes before doing other tables.

Hilarious.

RS.
 
Wow, there's not many real horror stories here.

I had a show at the end of last year for a roomful of fighter pilots and military officers. I expected an awesome crowd and ran into a nightmare. I'd mentioned this in another thread but only briefly.

I was there just as dinner was served and witnessed two food fights break out among this group of elite men and women. "Ok...not expected but this could mean they're a really fun group!" I thought.

I went on and found the whole room wouldn't respond to me. This was the start of a downward spiral. At one point, I felt something hit my chest. I looked down and saw a piece of food falling to the floor.

"Ok, someone hit me with something," I said. Poor choice of words...the entire room of guys stood up and started throwing food at me. Rolls, pasta, whatever.

I just turned my back, took the hits and watched the stuff that missed fly all over the Dj's equipment, and turned back to finish up with as much dignity as I could.

Worst...show...ever.

Pj
 
Aug 31, 2007
1,960
1
34
Long Island/New York
Wow, there's not many real horror stories here.

I had a show at the end of last year for a roomful of fighter pilots and military officers. I expected an awesome crowd and ran into a nightmare. I'd mentioned this in another thread but only briefly.

I was there just as dinner was served and witnessed two food fights break out among this group of elite men and women. "Ok...not expected but this could mean they're a really fun group!" I thought.

I went on and found the whole room wouldn't respond to me. This was the start of a downward spiral. At one point, I felt something hit my chest. I looked down and saw a piece of food falling to the floor.

"Ok, someone hit me with something," I said. Poor choice of words...the entire room of guys stood up and started throwing food at me. Rolls, pasta, whatever.

I just turned my back, took the hits and watched the stuff that missed fly all over the Dj's equipment, and turned back to finish up with as much dignity as I could.

Worst...show...ever.

Pj

Tough break man, that's rough.
I would have probably just walked off if they started throwing food at me.
Or maybe even start chucking cards at them.
See how they like it.
 
Wow, there's not many real horror stories here.

I had a show at the end of last year for a roomful of fighter pilots and military officers. I expected an awesome crowd and ran into a nightmare. I'd mentioned this in another thread but only briefly.

I was there just as dinner was served and witnessed two food fights break out among this group of elite men and women. "Ok...not expected but this could mean they're a really fun group!" I thought.

I went on and found the whole room wouldn't respond to me. This was the start of a downward spiral. At one point, I felt something hit my chest. I looked down and saw a piece of food falling to the floor.

"Ok, someone hit me with something," I said. Poor choice of words...the entire room of guys stood up and started throwing food at me. Rolls, pasta, whatever.

I just turned my back, took the hits and watched the stuff that missed fly all over the Dj's equipment, and turned back to finish up with as much dignity as I could.

Worst...show...ever.

Pj

Must've been a Mess Night. It's a military tradition to boost morale within a unit. When I used to wait tables in high school, a Marine unit would rent out the entire restaurant once or twice a year to hold a Mess Night. It was always a memorable experience. Food fights. Drunken speeches. Practical jokes. It was awesome.

RS.
 
Dec 18, 2008
110
0
Chicago, IL
I was doing card effects on the Las Vegas strip. I asked a spectator to choose a card and spread the deck. He picked one card while I dropped the entire deck. Don't try to catch them as they fall. You end up looking like a bigger jackass. He walked away.
 
D

Deleted member 2755

Guest
Wow, there's not many real horror stories here.

I had a show at the end of last year for a roomful of fighter pilots and military officers. I expected an awesome crowd and ran into a nightmare. I'd mentioned this in another thread but only briefly.

I was there just as dinner was served and witnessed two food fights break out among this group of elite men and women. "Ok...not expected but this could mean they're a really fun group!" I thought.

I went on and found the whole room wouldn't respond to me. This was the start of a downward spiral. At one point, I felt something hit my chest. I looked down and saw a piece of food falling to the floor.

"Ok, someone hit me with something," I said. Poor choice of words...the entire room of guys stood up and started throwing food at me. Rolls, pasta, whatever.

I just turned my back, took the hits and watched the stuff that missed fly all over the Dj's equipment, and turned back to finish up with as much dignity as I could.

Worst...show...ever.

Pj

Wow.... I honestly don't even know what to say to that. That stinks man.

i was doing a quarter through glass routine....i broke the glass.

Now THAT is magic!

-Doug
 
D

Deleted member 2755

Guest
Yeah, I know this is an old thread but I didn't wanna make a new one.

About 2 years ago I went to Georgia for a vacation with my parents and sister. We went because my sister was in this organization for twirling with her team and they were competing everywhere.

Me and all these twirlers and their parents were hanging out in the hotel lobby one night and my parents once again were bragging about me for doing magic. My Dad decides to tell everyone about a trick I do using a quarter and a soda can.
"He takes a quarter . . . . . . (delay) . . . . . . pops it into the can while the can is still sealed." <- INSERT TOUGH ITALIAN ACCENT HERE.

Of course everyone asks if I can do it right now. Some girl's mom comes up to me and says she'll run up and get a can out of her hotel room right now. Without me even answering, she tells her daughter to get a soda from the room. The girl runs into the glass elevator and goes up to her floor.

"Great!" I thought in my head. - sarcasm
I wasn't a pro at performing this trick, so I was getting a little nervous.
I didn't know what type of can this girl was gonna bring down. I wouldn't even get a chance to see if it would work or not.

Once I saw the girl get onto the glass elevator again, my heart raced. - (nerve wrecking)

The only thought that went into my mind was, "Dam, I have a huge crowd that's expecting me to do something amazing and I might not be able to do it."

She hands me the can, luckily it was a Pepsi can and I thought that I'd be able to pull it off. I told them that I need to go outside to perform it otherwise I might spill soda everywhere.

The crowd follows me as I lead the way to my failure. Once we were out there, I got everyone to one side.

I picked out 2 of the girls to sign the coin front and back, but they drew like a flower and a sun or something like that- Whatever

I took the coin back and made sure the ink wouldn't come off and made sure the girls wouldn't forget their little drawings.

With the quarter in my right palm and the can in my left hand, I took a few steps backwards and *SLAM!* . . . . . . . . . . . *cling cling*- onto the pavement.
"Oh, I didn't slam it hard enough, it fell back out of the can."

One more time, Slam!
In my head: "Yay it worked!"

I then proceeded to phase 2. Showing the can clean was easy because it's the same handling for any can, so I did practice this a lot.

I held the can up to one of the girls ear and she told everyone that she heard it using the only way little girls can communicate - YELLING!
;)
Phase3 - Reveal.
Not so good.
I went to open the can to pour the soda out, but there was a slight problem, and by slight I mean BIG.

I'm sure everyone knows how to perform Sinful by now, but for the sake of exposure lets just say that the trick didn't go down smooth.
There I was breaking my thumb trying to complete the trick and everyone saw me struggling. I felt so pathetic.

After a solid 20 seconds of my thumb V.S. the can, my thumb won . . . . . . . . but it did take a beating.
In my head: "Now, how the hell do I cover that up?"

I thought fast so I quickly tore off the tab and gave it to another girl to keep to remember this trick and acted like I was trying to get the tab off the whole time.
-That's what he was doing. . . . . . .

I poured all the soda onto the pavement until I heard a *clink* in the can. I lifted the can up in the air for everyone to see the quarter with the sig/picture on it.

I knew there was no way in hell that I was getting the quarter out of that can, so I crushed the can flat in my hands and tore the can in half for everyone to see once again that it was really in there. I carefully took the quarter out and gave it back to the 2 girls from the beginning. Everyone clapped and just like that, it was the end.

If I learned one thing from this performance, it was that I don't need to perform like a circus monkey every time someone asks me to. I should have spoke up when that girl asked me if I could do the trick. I should have said something like "Oh, I'm too tired to do magic tonight, maybe some other time."

It was just a bad situation I hope I never get trapped into again.

Good save man. I was expecting to see you ACTUALLY FAIL at the trick. Good thing everything turned out well. You never told me that story before.

-Doug
 
Aug 24, 2008
264
0
29
Greece
performing "twisted rain" for a large audience (in the middle of a magic routine) and in the last phase ,when you "throw the armspread" ....air......cards all over the place....i sprung the rest of the deck on the floor , though my brain still functioned so i did a card to sealed card box ,which by the way got great reactions.

Another time i was performing Sankey's "hide,keep and give away" but i just didnt remember the set-up so the spectator looks at the prediction: "i guess you were supposed to find my cards , right??"

Performing indecent ...not enough "special substance" so when the card was in the zip lock bag,some of it was still out...lol they were still amazed though when they discovered that there were no holes in the bag....
 
Nov 20, 2007
4,410
6
Sydney, Australia
My friend (who's on this forum, if you see this dude... LOL) screwed up Invisible Deck (I know, I know...) a little while ago. Presented it beautifully. Built it up. Grabbed his Invisible Deck... And dropped the entire thing in a puddle of water. We lol'd.

A guy who busks near me who I've gotten to know a bit screwed something up today. He was doing a coins across under two clear glasses, and one just shattered as he was shaking the coins around... Recovered nicely though. No real lessons here, these are just for the lulz.
 
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