Your Best Reactions - Share!

So I really like Jordan Lappings idea of sharing your best screw up stories for us to read. I actually learned a fair bit from that thread, and got a few laughs as well. With that, how about sharing some of the best reactions you've received from either a single effect or routine. I'm sure we wouold all be encouraged to know what kind of reactions are possible to get.

For me, I was performing for a group of perhaps 15 - 20 counselors and staff at my church's Jr High camp. I got some really good and excited reactions from the entire show, but this was the best.

I did an extremely simple, off the cuff mind read on one of the girl counselors (Sadie). Sadie's card was the two of spades. I stared at her with a look of concentration...then stated that it was a lower ranked card. This on it's own got a startled reaction. I then told her that it was black and that it was a two. By this time, Sadie was freaking out pretty badly, but when I finally said that it was the two of spades, she screamed and ran out of the room. Everyone else was cheering and yelling and one of the Band members just sat there with his mouth hanging open, eyes wide as saucers.

Definately one of the best moments ever in my magic career!

~The Asian
 

-Ty

Sep 1, 2007
248
1
Australia
I had an older woman leave a party I was performing at, right after I performed Back in Time for her. I do have a rather serious presentation for it, but the minute I finished, she thanked the hostess and walked straight outta there...

Oops.

Ty
 
Sep 2, 2007
55
0
Stockholm Sweden
I havent been perfroming for that long. I usealy just do some tricks a partys and when me and my friends are just hanging.

But i remember one time when i first met my friends new girlfriend.
After a while she got the courage to ask me why i was fiddeling with a deck of cards. I told her i was a card magican. She asked me kinda noncalant ( dont know if its spelled that way ) to do a trick on her. I did biddle trick and she was kinda ignorant the whole way but when i told her to flip the deck and check for her card she freaked. I really wish i have had my camera out to take a picture.

That was one of my greatest moment in magic.
 
Sep 1, 2007
281
2
New Zealand
DID 2CM for my Graphic Design teachers and they were both sitting down and I said " Where do you think the Ace of Clubs is " they were like, on the left, and I said " I only deal in percentages, what do you think " They were both like 100% sure, and I was like, if that's the case, why is there a queen of diamonds here, in fact why is the Ace of spades now the queen of hearts.

One of the teachers fell straight of her chair in disbelief.

Awesome. Class loved it :D
 
Sep 14, 2007
7
0
Fayetteville, TN
What's Your Number?

There's an amazingly simple trick called "What's Your Number?" (Robert Mandelberg) where a spectator, after having drawn four random cards and following a few simple steps, ends the trick by dealing their own phone number on the table, seemingly by total chance. This is one of the heaviest-hitting tricks I know. With the right patter, and acting just as amazed and shocked as your spectator to see their phone number show up, I've had people seriously start to question whether or not "real" magic was at play! Open mouthed stares of shock, head-shaking like trying to clear up cobwebs, "WTFs", all are common reactions. If I need a good ego boost, I pull this one on somebody.

Also, I performed a trick for my 5th grade Sunday school class (and you KNOW how hard it is to try and keep that age group focused on something!). I did a simple trick about the three kings in the Bible, and used a gaff card to make the fourth king, King Herod, appear like he had turned into a skeleton (I was using a ghost deck ) because God was angry at him. The kids FREAKED! Now they all tell me I'm the coolest teacher they've ever had. Coming from someone who has never been considered "cool", I have to consider this my proudest moment in magic.
 
Sep 1, 2007
376
1
UK
Cool...

I'll give two examples where what I did got far greater a reaction than I expected... well ok one I didn't expect and the other I knew would be good but not as effective as it was.
I have found though that if you really connect with the spectators that the reactions you recieve will be far greater, and thus a much more meaningful and powerful experience for everyone ;)

1st: I performed a simple card reveal for a large group of girls and it was crazy...
I got one to peek a card and then handed her the deck to hold onto, I then placed my hand on her heart (she let me... I didn't just lunge my hand there) and really played up the whole connection thing betwen us etc.
I then began to reveal her card and 'bam' she just sttod there wide eyed while everyone was screaming and laughing... I just stood there letting them react and she literally stood there in disbelief for like 2 mins, and then started joining in with her friends lol...
After she was asking and saying things like 'how is that possible', 'your unreal' etc etc... then after a bit she asked more seriously about how could I have known what card she had peeped, I said that it was our connection and then thanked her and left.
As I was walking away I could still hear them all lol... you'd have to have been there to see how crazy it was, it was fantastic.
And this was just from a simple cad reveal lol.

2nd: Ok we've all seen the reactions where people run away etc, well this is one like that lol.
I performed my take on an effect by Scott Xavier (you'll read what the effect is as I describe what happened) and this was one of them performances where instead of them being fully entertained... they are stunned and freaked out ;)
Ok, I performed this for a group of about 10-14 guys and gals... this is how it went.
A girl selected a card (unseen by me) as I was looking away, I instructed her to hide the card from me completely either in a pocket or somewhere??
She never had a pocket but slipped it in her bra lol (which may be the reason for the reactions at the end).
I won't go into my presentation... i'll just explain what happened...
I got her to feel for my pulse and to count it out aloud for all to hear, 1..2..3..4..5...6...7......8..........9.....................10.................................................11 etc
While my pulse was slowing I was acting as if I was unsteady, skaing sleightly and in a trance kinda state.
At the moment my pulse stopped completely, tears of blood started to roll down my cheeks and then I just collapsed...
When I came to (people were already getting a bit freaked lol) I asked for a hand up and steadied myself... I went into a bit about out of body experiences etc an that I have managed to put myself in a state where I can achieve this... I said that while I was out i had peeked at the card... I then named the card (swearing etc followed), I then siad about how I had bought a piece cack with me... there in my fingertips was a torn piece of a card.
The girl went straight to the card she was holding onto and remove it... there was a missing piece, I handed her the piece I had an it matched perfectly.........
I don't think ive ever witnessed quite so much swearing, screaming, laughing, running and just plain freakoutiness (may not be a real word but never mind).
Honestly... it was insane with a couple running off, people looking scared and swearing, people gawping and just blah!
It was crazy, but I really enjoyed it as it was like you see on tv lol.

There have been a lot of times the reactions have been great though... where everyone reacts in a different way even just silence can be considered a fantastic reaction.

I have seen everything from the screaming, swearing and complete shock to just smiles, laughter and complete silence.

Oh one time I remember I was in a restaraunt and as a waitress was walking around with trays of food for people... I was mucking around with the Infinity Loop and 'CRASH' I can't remember what I was doing exactly, but she jumped and chucked the trays which went everywhere... not neccessarily a good reaction (I wasn't even aware anyone was looking) but still a bit different than usual
 
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Sep 1, 2007
268
0
I performed Cyril's sealed with a kiss to the people in my camp and everyone was screaming and a guy was all hyper and shaking me.
I also always get swore at after performing Invisible deck.

Its ironic. Cyril's trick I learnt on my own, and Invisible deck is one of the cheapest tricks I got. Yet they got me the best reactions.
 
Performed Stigmata at my college for a group of people. I was very serious the entire time. I typically do this trick for girls, and I always force either a 4 or 7 of diamonds. I do a gag line that always gets them giggling. Feel free to use it, it's: "What's a Girls Best Friend?" The answer is Diamonds. When they say that, and it clicks that they just said Diamonds, I say "That was your suit." Anyway, the group starts laughing with her reaction. The whole time she's squeezing my arm. I stare into her eyes, and say what her card is. The crowd goes nuts. I finally show my arm, and everyone stops, and one afer the other like dominoes, people start to scream, and one girl starts praying! I kid you not, PRAYING for my immortal soul! That was the best part. She thought I was satan, and prayed for me. Laymen...
 
Sep 1, 2007
181
0
Houston TX
right before a field trip i did some card tricks then after about 15 minutes i did the Balducci levitation for like 5 people on the other side of the bus

they are all still talking about it (its been over a year)
 
Sep 14, 2007
9
0
Another one for Stigmata, really a stunning trick...

I was at my graduation and things where pretty cool, a lot of my classmates knew me for my magic so I kept getting a lot of "do a trick" comments.

Well I gathered a lot of people, and once I started doing stuff I kept getting more and more people. I got like, that megahottie you had in school? You remember the one...anyway I did v2 of Stigmata on her, I almost didn't because the person she choose passed away earlier in the year, but I figured I'd go through with it.

The people freaked, but I almost didn't hear them...she was just, it's hard to explain. Frozen, but like...emotional overload. She just hugged me. Made me feel really good because I guess she thought that this person had contacted her from the other side or what not.

On a lighter note, since I've started college I've done some stuff for people around campus and a little fun fact about me, my last name is Dick. Needless to say, life has been difficult :D

Anyway, I was doing some really simple stuff for this football player and his group of friends, bunch of great people. Laughing, cursing, patting you on the back. Perfect audience. The next few days I guess he told his team mates or something because now they all call me "Slick Dick" it's horrible I know, but it's funny too. Brings in a lot of people too, because most don't know I do magic, they hear Slick Dick and tend to think of something else...so I do some stuff for them and bring in more fun.

It's taking a lot of slips and falls, but I think I'm finally getting to the point where I'm really able to do this stuff without a lot of hitch :) feels good that's for sure!
 
Sep 2, 2007
1,693
1
right before a field trip i did some card tricks then after about 15 minutes i did the Balducci levitation for like 5 people on the other side of the bus

they are all still talking about it (its been over a year)

If you perform a more advanced levitation, you'll become a legend. :D

Its ironic. Cyril's trick I learnt on my own, and Invisible deck is one of the cheapest tricks I got. Yet they got me the best reactions.

I performed three card monte for a group of friends. I ended up winning $100 because it's so simple that they couldn't believe that they wouldn't find the money card. It simply blew their minds -- at first, I let them win a couple of times, and got arrogant. So, I bet them that with my magic, I could switch the cards -- they didn't believe me, but ended losing after that. They are now true believers of magic. The best part was that they enjoyed it (and got their money back).

Cheers,
JTM
 
Sep 14, 2007
35
0
My friend Hussen in art class kept begging me to do a trick, so i did distortion, i swear i saw tears in his eyes and he had a huge grin on his face, then he went on the ground and just sat there in front of me(almost like he was bowing down to me) then the teacher moved him to a new desk:( oh well every time i looked back at him he was staring at me with a huge grin on his face:)


Thats probably my best reaction, although my uncle always goes crazy for my tricks, especially card in banana:)



-magicmatt:D
 
Sep 16, 2007
87
0
Kent, WA state
Did Balducci Levitation for my baseball team and people at a party (after doing magic the whole night). Did it out on the street in the dark and everyone screamed and ran. Our Shortstop wouldn't speak to me the rest of the night.

Another: Did a routine outside a 7-11 for 2 black dudes and a white guy, by the end of Ambitious card they were hootin and hollerin and the 7-11 guy told me if i didn't stop he'd call the cops for loitering.

another: Doing magic at a friends birthday/going away party in a bar. One guy was just burning my hands the whole time and wasn't giving really good reactions and was skeptical about the whole thing. So i picked him out of the crowd and did card-to-mouth RIGHT in front of him. Never seen a bigger look of astonishment and laughter.

another: same group of people: did a 2 deck prediction. where i put 1 deck under a cell phone and give a spec the other. I turn my back, have them shuffle, spread hte deck. Point to a card- wait 5 seconds- point to another (to make it completely random) and look at the card, put it back in the deck and close it up. Turn around and take the deck open handedly from under the phone and spread the deck to show 1 face down card- and it's the same card. bout 15 people just freaked OUT.

I have more!
 
Sep 27, 2007
40
0
Canada... Eh?
I did a trick to my friend on my schoolyard, it was the one where they're card changes colour, then you put it down, have them pick a new one, then it doesn't change colour but it turns out to be the one you previously put on the table.. Simple trick, but my friend left. I did it to him and he just walked away, then realized he had left his stuff near me, so he came back.

That was still pretty funny, and I've had people call me a demon after doing Panic! for them... :D
 
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