Audience under control

[c.ronaldo]

Ok so i did a couple of tricks today, one was the two card monte, i said look i made the card switch and he was turning over his hand, i quickly said lets see how well you can keep up without turning the cards over but he still went ahead and turned it over.
Another trick i did was one of Bill Malone's trick that involves the top change, i said to my friend ok so i found your card, on the count of three say your card, he goes and turns his card over.
Last trick i did was one i saw in ellutionist where the spectators holding their selected card but don't know it's theirs, so i sed ok stop wherever you want me to, did the little acting saying thats your card blah blah and he was saying no, then i sed what was you card and he goes 6 of spades and i said it wasn't, he goes and flips his card and said it was 6 of spades.

I was just wondering how to stop this from happening, ruins the whole effect.
Btw the first two tricks i showed to the same person who is really slow (i said to him riffle your deck and he flips the card over and goes oh right you want me to riffle )

So does anyone know how to stop this because it's not making me look like a good magician lol.

 

[Dustin Lynes]

I think your title is your answer! You need to keep your audience under control. If you are working with an audience member who doesn't catch on as quick as others you may need to talk them through it. You said... ''i quickly said lets see how well you can keep up without turning the cards over but he still went ahead and turned it over.'' You may physically have to hold on to other end of card while looking them in the eye and explaining things very slowly/repeating instruction, eg... I want you to keep the cards face down now, so don't turn them over and we'll see if you can keep up when they're face down. This might work and if it doesn't well then perhaps you can have them sandwhich cards between hands or put cards in case. If this still doesn't work, this person or group might not be worth performing for. Make sure you're in control of your performance. Get them on your side early and you can avoid a lot of this. Hope this helps!

 

[J.R.]

This what I can say from my limited experience.

First of all, try not to do to the same person more than one trick where you hand them a card face down. The reason is that people are pretty smart and they catch up with your tricks pretty quickly. You can fool them once, but next time they see a card that is face down and they are gonna doubt if it is the card you are claiming it to be; and if it is in their hands they will naturally turn it over.

Secondly, keep in mind that these are some of the most effective but also the most bold tricks and in order to perfect them, and be a good magician, you have to practice not only the sleights they involve, but actually practice on REAL PEOPLE. Learn to interact with people. Learn how strong you have to emphasize that they should not turn their hand in a 2 card monte. Sometimes they do not even hear you, or just don't perceive what you are telling them, they are hearing, but not listening. They are not robots, they are human, they are flawed and you have to keep that in mind when you do these tricks. Some people are so not paying attention that you can do three top changes in a two card monte and they still won't see it

Sometimes if you don't want them to flip their card, just keep their minds busy, show them something, ask them something, keep their attention on the deck at all times, be quick - don't let their mind be free even for a moment, because at that moment they may look at the card they are holding and eventually flip it. And at all times be relaxed and confident. That will make them relaxed, but beleive me, they will wake up when the magic is done

 

[Ampersan5340]

Distract their attention away from the fact that you know their holding the card they choose.

Or, here's a better idea, choose better tricks, instead of doing a two card monte which everyone freak'in does

 

[Big George]

I dont know about the situaton you where in and how you perfom so i might not be giving you accurate answers. See if this helps though.

1) Develop raport with the spec. They wll be far more open to suggestion and easier to control. Let me know if you want to learn some simple techniques that you can use.

2) Get you PERFORMANCE good. Dry rambling patter just bores people. It says "I spent a few minutes learning to trick you. Thats all your worth". Then specs start to mess you around.

1 and 2 will help you to get control.

3) Even the top pros get problem specs. Either avoid them or do routines that doesnt require you to have to trust them to do as they are told. After 2 in your hand routines failed, you know that everytime you give the spec a card, they will just turn it over. Do something different.

4) GIVE UP. I dont mean give up you doing magic. Some people just dont cope with magic. The more you blow them away the more they hate it. With this type of person, you are just making things worse. You are wasting yours and their time. Nobody wins. Just say thanks and move on. I promiose you, you will find people who are great to perfom for.

So there it is. its either you not performing well or the spec was going to cause trouble any way.

 

[Tally]

Well, I only have experience with the 2CM so I will do my best to help you with that. MANY MANY MANY times before I have had people turn the card over. What I do to prevent this is, in the beginning i say, something along the lines of this, "Let's see how good your memory is. When you are hold the card in your hand (mabye put the ace in their hand) you will not be able to look at it any longer until I say 'Okay flip it over'. Okay(answer) great." Then go on with the trick. And remind them in the middle of the trick if you must.

If they do somehow flip over the card if though you tell them not to, develop a plan to adapt to the mistake. I haven't made an adaption to this trick yet but I will. I have made adaptions to other tricks though.

Anthony Nguyen

 

[Dylan P.]

You have to keep the audiance under control. I make sure that I specify that they shouldn't turn the card over. This really plants it in their mind. If they do turn it over you can just finish the trick and refuse to show anymore.

As for the trick where he said it was the six of spades. You could simply carry an invisible deck with you. That way if they lie and say there card was different (which it wasn't) then you can pull out the invisible deck and go through to get the named card.

The only reason that they say their card was different was because they didn't want to admit that they were truly amazed with you. But if they lie then you do the invisible deck, they get hit with a double whammy and they can't deny it to anyone.

But the key point is make sure that your audiance knows that your the entertainer, not them.

 

[J.R.]

Or, here's a better idea, choose better tricks, instead of doing a two card monte which everyone freak'in does

This is actually a worse idea. 'Everyone' does it because it is one of the best card tricks ever. Props to David Blaine who chose this trick among thousands of others for his TV special.

 

[Jakeh]

Perhaps you shouldn't do those kind of tricks until you're confident enough. Just a thought.

 

[Big George]

This is actually a worse idea. 'Everyone' does it because it is one of the best card tricks ever. Props to David Blaine who chose this trick among thousands of others for his TV special.

I disagree. dont just do a routine because you think it is the best. Do what works for your audience. Just pressing on with "in your hands" routines isnt going to help. Try a basic ACR. When the spec selets the card make sure you both openly know the card. Get the spec to cut the cards and then you turn it over. This sometime gets the spec saying hey you know what the card is (like it matters!) but if you move into the routine quickly the spec will start to enjoy the revalations. If you are still getting problems with this person, move on.

 

[Jakeh]

This is actually a worse idea. 'Everyone' does it because it is one of the best card tricks ever. Props to David Blaine who chose this trick among thousands of others for his TV special.

Just because Blaine likes it, doesn't mean anything.

 

[2ndDeal]

If you're performing to friends, audience management can be a serious problem. If you perform to them often, they like it, but your performances became "standard" thing. So, they act like they act normally.

What I do, I refuse to perform, so when I perform (rarely) everyone is interested. Because it's rare occasion, and some of my "previous audiences" have hyped me up, they don't want to miss it. If audience is interested in your performance, it is "easy" to have them under control.

Sorry for messy post, I hope it's readable.

 

[Corey]

try different patter, "i said look i made the card switch" kind of tells them to turn the card over. With my 2cm I make ita game, because that's what the real 3 card monte was...
But if you say the right things, they won't turn the card over, they won't essentially ruin the trick.
Practice you'r patter in a mirror first. Practice makes perfect, even with patter. Good patter, will keep the audience under control. Think about what you say when practicing. If you do, and you find that if someone said what you are saying to you, would you do the wrong thing for the trick's sake?

ie: "look i made the card switch" tells me that I should look at the card, I do, and the trick is not as good as i was before...

I hope I helped, good luck.

 

[J.R.]

Just because Blaine likes it, doesn't mean anything.

OK, what's the trick you like most? Let's say an impromptu trick. Or give me three tricks, if you can't choose. Don't be afraid to say an Ambitious Card routine, just because 'everyone' does it...

 

[Daugava]

2CM:

When I perform 2CM for example. I take the Ace of Spades and turn it over, and then give it to them. Then I ask them "What card do you have?", then I wait and 8/10 of the time they answer - "The Ace of Spades", and they don't turn over their card.

But SOMETIMES when I ask "What card do you have?" they immiedtly turn their card over, then I say someting like "Hey, take it easy it's the Ace of Spades, but you shouln't turn it over yet, okay?" The next Ace I give them (Ace of Clubs) I tell them to hold on tight, and this time they know they know that they shouldn't turn the card over so fast, so the trick ends up prett well with to different cards without problems!