Need Serious Advice :: Very Awkward Performance

[Pete Pridanonda]

Recently I got asked by a nurse at a hospital to perform at her house during a family gathering. She saw me perform some mgic for the patients at the hospital and she thought that I owuld be a great entertainment for her party. She told me there will be around 20 kids ages 2-8 and about 50 adults so I decided to bring most of my best effects in my repertoire that plays well for both kids and adults.
When I got to her house, I saw that my performance space was HORRIBLE. The kids have their own little table to one side but the table for the adults are a long table that extends almost 270 degrees around my performance space. Therefore, the adults won't be able to see some of the effects unless I constantly turn back and forth from the kids to the adults table. So I found a way to deal with this problem and started to begin my show.
When I asked for a volunteer from the kids, ALL of them are very shy and do not want to come up (hard to believe but it's true). I have to beg one of the kids and after about 2 minutes, he finally came up. So after the kids saw that he is having fun a few more of them started to have the courage to raise their hand.
So a few more mimutes after interacting with the kids I decided to do some magic effects for the adults and decided to have some of them come on stage. I was getting ready to perform my comedy rope escape and asked for two volunteer, and NONE of the adults wanted to come up. They stare at me with such a monotone look and a dead silence that you can literally hear a person swallow. After about 5 minutes of polite talk and arguments between the adults, I finally found my two volunteers. All in all, I ended the show right after this effect and perform some close up magic for the seated adults.
So my question is, what would YOU do if no one volunteers to come up? Do you just grab their hands and pull them up or do you just stare at them?
My performance style is very engaging and I do not make my audience feel stupid in anyway. Here is a sample video of my kids show so you can see how I interact with the audience (this is not the show I am referring to in this thread)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV3F7JQDly4

 

[Simon_Magic]

This is a strange one. I personally have more trouble getting a spectator out of the audience when I am talking, than when i am not. My first trick for a while (and still is in certain shows to be impressive) I walk onto the stage to complete silence with tape over my face, and get a volunteer up by pointing at them or walking over to them and not giving them the choice to come up. When I do talking shows or am doing a trick where I need volunteers on the stage, I will ask for volunteers and inevitably get no one putting their hand up. Usually the only people that do volunteer in the environment I work in are very drunk. I therefore just ask someone to come up. I'll point to them after making a joke about no one volunteering, and ask them to come up. They always do.

Of course another way of doing this would be in case no one volunteers in any way, ask someone before the show informally if they'd help you out on stage later. It gives you plenty of time to find the right volunteer, and if someone says no, you can just go and ask someone else informally, no biggie.

Hope this helps

Simon_Magic

 

[camrynsmagic]

Sometimes it gets really frustrating when no one seems to want to participate. They don't really seem "into" the magic.

Some tips I would give you is to be really friendly and enjoyable, act like you're happy to be there. From what I read, it sounds like you were being a good performer, so I don't think being friendly is the problem.
Adults are sometimes the worst audiences because they don't believe in magic like kids do...so you have to MAKE them believe. Maybe perform some more advanced and spectacular tricks.
For getting volunteers from the crowd, I usually don't really give people a choice. I will ask, "All right, guys, I'm gonna need a volunteer!" I then look around, and if no one steps up, I just go "Hey, how about you, come on up here."

I hope this helps!

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Sounds like you didn't have them engaged yet. Asking for a volunteer right away pretty well guarantees that no one will want to do it. They don't know you. They don't trust you. You might make a fool of them. Perform a trick or two that really amazes them, then ask for a volunteer.

 

[RealityOne]

A couple of tips for getting people to volunteer:

1. Don't use a volunteer for the first effect - establish yourself first. Have the first effect something that sets the tone for your performance. If people are having fun, then they will volunteer.

2. Don't ask. Just say, "I need someone to help me out." Point to someone in the audience. "What is your name?" Let's say their name is Alex. "Alex, can you come up here and help me out?" If they say yes, then say, "Everyone give Alex a big round of applause."

3. Treat your volunteers with respect (I know you do from your videos). Some people make fun of their volunteers and that really isn't fun for anyone except the performer.

Also, you had a difficult set-up in that it wasn't clear who you were performing for. A show for kids is different than a show for adults which is different than an "all ages" show.

Finally, I watched most of your video... let me know if you want some suggestions of how to improve.

 

[Pete Pridanonda]

Thank you very much everyone for your advice! Sometimes even if I choose my volunteer from the audience without them volunteering, they will be even more scared to come up. So, I figured out another method that I think might work. Silence.
Just stand there and smile without saying a word. This way, the atmosphere in the room will be a bit uncomfortable and hopefully someone will volunteer. What do you all think?
David, if you have any suggestions on any of my videos, PLEASE send me a private message. There are details that only seasoned, experienced, and professional magicians like you will be able to catch. Thank you in advance!

 

[AndyW]

Tom Stone wrote an essay about his thinking about "volunteers." It's in his Vortex book. I thoroughly enjoyed the essay, and recommend the book. His writing on volunteers or "victims" is really well done. Check it out!

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Thank you very much everyone for your advice! Sometimes even if I choose my volunteer from the audience without them volunteering, they will be even more scared to come up. So, I figured out another method that I think might work. Silence.
Just stand there and smile without saying a word. This way, the atmosphere in the room will be a bit uncomfortable and hopefully someone will volunteer. What do you all think?
David, if you have any suggestions on any of my videos, PLEASE send me a private message. There are details that only seasoned, experienced, and professional magicians like you will be able to catch. Thank you in advance!

Making the situation more awkward will only motivate people to stay put and probably hurt your ability to book shows in the future. Who wants to pay for a magician that makes them uncomfortable?