Been a while since I sat down to write one of these. In this case, I want to address an issue that’s come up for a lot of magicians recently. With the advent of Celebracadabra, the panic attacks are coming in regularly and scaring the bejeezus out of everyone. Among the panic attacks are a few calls for blood and destruction that would put Varg Vikernes to shame (if you don’t get that joke, you’re not metal).
I’m coming to understand the hard way that trying to argue a point does no good, so instead I’ll try to illustrate it. Let me tell you a little story…
Chuko Liang
Chuko Liang was the chief minister and master strategist to the king of the ancient Chinese land of Shu. He was renowned for his brilliance, deceptive thinking, and cunning. One of his great secrets was to do things that seemed counterintuitive, but always with a good reason. He turned out to be right more often than not. After many military campaigns, he gained a fearsome reputation that caused many foes to think twice about engaging him.
In 225 AD, the neighboring kingdom of Wei declared war on Shu. To hurt the Shu military and weaken their defenses, Wei made a deal with the barbarian king Menghuo. Wei was to the north of Shu, and Menghuo’s lands lay to the south. The plan was to stretch Shu’s military by forcing them to defend two different borders simultaneously. Chuko Liang knew that he’d have to deal with the barbarians to the south first.
When the army began marching south, Liang and one of his most trusted advisors came to the mutual agreement that brute force would not win this war. Defeating Menghuo’s army would be easy. But the instant they redirected their forces to concentrate on Wei in the north, Menghuo would just invade the south again. And the cycle would continue until the barbarian king was dead. So they decided to try a characteristically counterintuitive approach.
When Menghuo’s formidable army attacked, Liang sprung a trap that captured a significant portion of the attacking army as well as the king himself. He had the soldiers brought to his camp where he treated them to a feast and praised their bravery and honor. At the end of the evening, he gave them their freedom. He then had Menghuo brought before him and offered him his freedom as well. The king promised he would strike again, but if he were defeated a second time, he would surrender. Liang released the kick despite protests from his lieutenants.
The second attack came, but in the heat of battle, Menghuo’s own officers could not attack the man who had spared their lives, so they captured their king and surrendered to Liang. Again, Liang gave them their freedom. Menghuo said that he was not beaten fairly and refused to submit, and was again set free.
This went for a while. Like about half a year. After being captured a sixth time, Menghuo still refused to submit, offering up a new excuse as he did each time. He did promise however that if captured again, he would yield with no excuses. Liang swore to hold him to that.
With the stakes now higher than ever, Menghuo forged an alliance with a neighbor, King Wutugu of Wuge. Their armies would attack Liang together. But they didn’t account for the master strategist’s ingenuity. Liang led Wutugu’s army into a trap by feigning retreat. He lured them into a narrow canyon and then trapped them with bonfires. The armies of Wuge wore an armor made of vines that were first woven tightly together, then soaked in oil and dried to a rigid shell that could deflect even a swift stroke of a sword. Unfortunately, that armor proved to be their doom as the oils used to make it burst into flames from the proximity to the bonfires. It didn’t take long before the entire army of Wuge was destroyed.
Liang had not anticipated having to do this, and he deeply regretted having to destroy the opposing army as he had done. Unable to face Menghuo who his men had captured just before the slaughter, Liang sent a messenger to the barbarian king telling him he may leave and amass another army to attack.
Instead, Menghuo came before Liang on his hands and knees and surrendered unconditionally. He no longer had the heart to resist after the mercy he had been shown.
With the campaign finally at an end, Liang threw a banquet and in Menghuo’s honor, restored him to the throne along with all the lands that Liang had seized during the months of battle, and departed home to the north leaving no occupying force.
Neither Liang nor his army ever returned to the south again, because there wasn’t any need to do so. For as long as both men lived, Menghuo was Liang’s most trusted and loyal ally.
The Lesson
Some of you are probably asking yourselves right now what all that had to do with magic. Read the story again. Think about what Chuko Liang did. He knew that using strongarm tactics on such a tenacious foe would be ineffective in the long-term. In order to keep Wei’s plan from working and protect the southern territories of Shu, Liang had to win over the heart and mind of Menghuo and his army.
It was a long and tedious process, but in the end Liang gained a staunch ally who supported him to his dying day.
Many magicians worry about hecklers, and rightly so. There are people out there who are so hostile they will stop at nothing to steal the spotlight from you. Fortunately, individuals like this are fewer than we imagine. But the issue of dealing with them is a tricky subject.
When I first started out here, my most common tactic was to either take a Don Rickles approach, or to completely disregard the existence of those giving me a hard time. I’m not Don Rickles, so the former didn’t work that well. The latter I still use on people who I believe aren’t going to be any real threat and are just looking for attention.
But if I believe someone really could present a genuine problem, I take the approach Chuko Liang did and try to win them over. If you don’t open by appealing to people’s self-interest, you run the risk of alienating them and creating the perception in their minds that you’re just another random wasting their time.
Don’t try to argue them into thinking differently of you, break down their defenses with action. Let me give you an example of a tactic I’m holding in reservation for a bad situation for when a guy who’s with his girlfriend doesn’t like me.
I ask him to help me out with a trick, a demonstration of mental power. I reframe his being tough with me as a sign of a strong force of will. Using a simple force and control (whatever I think will work best in that particular situation), I have his girlfriend select a card and move it to the bottom of the deck. I stand facing them from the side and explain to him how mind reading works. I turn the deck up so that he can see the bottom card, tap it with my index finger to get him to look at it and then give him a little nod. She can’t see me doing this because I’ve angled myself away from her. My body language is set so he has my attention, meaning there’s nothing suspicious and I can get away with this rather risky move. Now that he’s in on it, he can read his girlfriend’s mind.
By giving up my spotlight long enough to help him impress his date, I’m now the good guy. A guy who up until a moment ago resented me out of misguided jealousy is now my buddy.
To give credit where due, this is based on an idea I picked up from Kirk Charles, a man whose work I highly recommend you study, especially if you want to get into restaurant magic.
I started out using this technique with spectators who were just plain tough but not actually hecklers. One of them spotted me at The Waterfront a week later with another group of friends, and pulled them over saying, “You gotta see this guy do card tricks, it’s so cool!”
You owe it to yourself as a performer to explore this avenue. Don’t be afraid of your tougher spectators. Work on befriending them. Prop them up and make them your co-stars and the next time they see you, they will give you their friends on a silver platter to perform for. Just don’t forget to continue being cool with them after you’ve won them over.
I’m coming to understand the hard way that trying to argue a point does no good, so instead I’ll try to illustrate it. Let me tell you a little story…
Chuko Liang
Chuko Liang was the chief minister and master strategist to the king of the ancient Chinese land of Shu. He was renowned for his brilliance, deceptive thinking, and cunning. One of his great secrets was to do things that seemed counterintuitive, but always with a good reason. He turned out to be right more often than not. After many military campaigns, he gained a fearsome reputation that caused many foes to think twice about engaging him.
In 225 AD, the neighboring kingdom of Wei declared war on Shu. To hurt the Shu military and weaken their defenses, Wei made a deal with the barbarian king Menghuo. Wei was to the north of Shu, and Menghuo’s lands lay to the south. The plan was to stretch Shu’s military by forcing them to defend two different borders simultaneously. Chuko Liang knew that he’d have to deal with the barbarians to the south first.
When the army began marching south, Liang and one of his most trusted advisors came to the mutual agreement that brute force would not win this war. Defeating Menghuo’s army would be easy. But the instant they redirected their forces to concentrate on Wei in the north, Menghuo would just invade the south again. And the cycle would continue until the barbarian king was dead. So they decided to try a characteristically counterintuitive approach.
When Menghuo’s formidable army attacked, Liang sprung a trap that captured a significant portion of the attacking army as well as the king himself. He had the soldiers brought to his camp where he treated them to a feast and praised their bravery and honor. At the end of the evening, he gave them their freedom. He then had Menghuo brought before him and offered him his freedom as well. The king promised he would strike again, but if he were defeated a second time, he would surrender. Liang released the kick despite protests from his lieutenants.
The second attack came, but in the heat of battle, Menghuo’s own officers could not attack the man who had spared their lives, so they captured their king and surrendered to Liang. Again, Liang gave them their freedom. Menghuo said that he was not beaten fairly and refused to submit, and was again set free.
This went for a while. Like about half a year. After being captured a sixth time, Menghuo still refused to submit, offering up a new excuse as he did each time. He did promise however that if captured again, he would yield with no excuses. Liang swore to hold him to that.
With the stakes now higher than ever, Menghuo forged an alliance with a neighbor, King Wutugu of Wuge. Their armies would attack Liang together. But they didn’t account for the master strategist’s ingenuity. Liang led Wutugu’s army into a trap by feigning retreat. He lured them into a narrow canyon and then trapped them with bonfires. The armies of Wuge wore an armor made of vines that were first woven tightly together, then soaked in oil and dried to a rigid shell that could deflect even a swift stroke of a sword. Unfortunately, that armor proved to be their doom as the oils used to make it burst into flames from the proximity to the bonfires. It didn’t take long before the entire army of Wuge was destroyed.
Liang had not anticipated having to do this, and he deeply regretted having to destroy the opposing army as he had done. Unable to face Menghuo who his men had captured just before the slaughter, Liang sent a messenger to the barbarian king telling him he may leave and amass another army to attack.
Instead, Menghuo came before Liang on his hands and knees and surrendered unconditionally. He no longer had the heart to resist after the mercy he had been shown.
With the campaign finally at an end, Liang threw a banquet and in Menghuo’s honor, restored him to the throne along with all the lands that Liang had seized during the months of battle, and departed home to the north leaving no occupying force.
Neither Liang nor his army ever returned to the south again, because there wasn’t any need to do so. For as long as both men lived, Menghuo was Liang’s most trusted and loyal ally.
The Lesson
Some of you are probably asking yourselves right now what all that had to do with magic. Read the story again. Think about what Chuko Liang did. He knew that using strongarm tactics on such a tenacious foe would be ineffective in the long-term. In order to keep Wei’s plan from working and protect the southern territories of Shu, Liang had to win over the heart and mind of Menghuo and his army.
It was a long and tedious process, but in the end Liang gained a staunch ally who supported him to his dying day.
Many magicians worry about hecklers, and rightly so. There are people out there who are so hostile they will stop at nothing to steal the spotlight from you. Fortunately, individuals like this are fewer than we imagine. But the issue of dealing with them is a tricky subject.
When I first started out here, my most common tactic was to either take a Don Rickles approach, or to completely disregard the existence of those giving me a hard time. I’m not Don Rickles, so the former didn’t work that well. The latter I still use on people who I believe aren’t going to be any real threat and are just looking for attention.
But if I believe someone really could present a genuine problem, I take the approach Chuko Liang did and try to win them over. If you don’t open by appealing to people’s self-interest, you run the risk of alienating them and creating the perception in their minds that you’re just another random wasting their time.
Don’t try to argue them into thinking differently of you, break down their defenses with action. Let me give you an example of a tactic I’m holding in reservation for a bad situation for when a guy who’s with his girlfriend doesn’t like me.
I ask him to help me out with a trick, a demonstration of mental power. I reframe his being tough with me as a sign of a strong force of will. Using a simple force and control (whatever I think will work best in that particular situation), I have his girlfriend select a card and move it to the bottom of the deck. I stand facing them from the side and explain to him how mind reading works. I turn the deck up so that he can see the bottom card, tap it with my index finger to get him to look at it and then give him a little nod. She can’t see me doing this because I’ve angled myself away from her. My body language is set so he has my attention, meaning there’s nothing suspicious and I can get away with this rather risky move. Now that he’s in on it, he can read his girlfriend’s mind.
By giving up my spotlight long enough to help him impress his date, I’m now the good guy. A guy who up until a moment ago resented me out of misguided jealousy is now my buddy.
To give credit where due, this is based on an idea I picked up from Kirk Charles, a man whose work I highly recommend you study, especially if you want to get into restaurant magic.
I started out using this technique with spectators who were just plain tough but not actually hecklers. One of them spotted me at The Waterfront a week later with another group of friends, and pulled them over saying, “You gotta see this guy do card tricks, it’s so cool!”
You owe it to yourself as a performer to explore this avenue. Don’t be afraid of your tougher spectators. Work on befriending them. Prop them up and make them your co-stars and the next time they see you, they will give you their friends on a silver platter to perform for. Just don’t forget to continue being cool with them after you’ve won them over.
