An anecdote, followed by the lessons I learned from this particular performance. Maybe this will help some of you, and maybe you'll be able to add to what I've said here. (Longer post)
I had a job during the summer working as a magic demonstrator at a theme park, and, even though it has little bearing on the story, I didn't like what I was doing because I was performing tricks that didn't fit my personality. Anyway, one day a rather large black man came in and said, with a smile on his face, "I'm gonna catch you!" To this, I quivered on the inside, and replied something along the lines of, "Oh really?" Of course, I delivered this line with a smile on my face that hopefully said that I'm not as cocky as I may sound. At this point, I'm not sure exactly the sequence of events, but all I know is somehow I ended up with a coin (English Penny?) in my hand, ready to do a quick coin trick.
Here's where things get interesting. I did a classic palm vanish, without the classic palm, i.e I actually put the coin in my left hand. The man was "on to" it. He thought I'd retained the coin in my right hand, so when I opened my left hand and showed him that the coin was still there, he was "fooled" in a sense. I followed this up with the actual move, mimicking exactly what I'd done in the feint. This time, when the coin really disappeared, the man was blown away.(I ditched the coin under my watch, a complete vanish.)
After I had done this, and probably a few other tricks, I found out that the man loved magic, and could never "catch" anyone, but he loved trying to catch them and being completely fooled. He wasn't a heckler, as much as what he said indicated it, he just didn't know how to approach magic outside of the "it's a puzzle" mindset. Thankfully, I had practiced enough to create that moment of astonishment.
This event/performance taught me three lessons about performing, not only for difficult people, but for anyone. I learned first of all that not everyone who may sound like a heckler at first actually is a heckler, they may just be confused about how to approach a magic performance.
Second, I learned the value of the feint. A feint is like doing a magic trick without doing any sleight of hand. Not a self working trick though, a trick based on the audiences expectations. They expect you to make a coin vanish, and they may expect you to retain it in your "other hand," and if you follow their expectations, you've been caught, but if you don't follow their expectations, you can fool them twice. Once because they thought they were on to you, and once because you're an amazing sleight of hand artist.
Third, I learned the value of getting people to let down their gaurd, so to speak. The feint is useful here, along with self working tricks, and Card to Mouth. In my experience, the best way to get people to let down their gaurd is to do the unexpected, or do something that, like Card to Mouth, fools those who are trying to catch you and forces them to consider the possibility that you're not just working in the 1ft square box occupied by your hands. Self working tricks are good because, in a way, they're also going against the expectation. People expect you to do "something tricky" with your hands, but when you don't do anything tricky with your hands you force them to consider other possibilities. (See Apollo Robins EMC lectures, especially 2010, for why that's useful.)
That's all. Hope you found this entertaining, if not useful, and I hope that someone can learn from my story, even if they're not learning the same lessons I learned.
I had a job during the summer working as a magic demonstrator at a theme park, and, even though it has little bearing on the story, I didn't like what I was doing because I was performing tricks that didn't fit my personality. Anyway, one day a rather large black man came in and said, with a smile on his face, "I'm gonna catch you!" To this, I quivered on the inside, and replied something along the lines of, "Oh really?" Of course, I delivered this line with a smile on my face that hopefully said that I'm not as cocky as I may sound. At this point, I'm not sure exactly the sequence of events, but all I know is somehow I ended up with a coin (English Penny?) in my hand, ready to do a quick coin trick.
Here's where things get interesting. I did a classic palm vanish, without the classic palm, i.e I actually put the coin in my left hand. The man was "on to" it. He thought I'd retained the coin in my right hand, so when I opened my left hand and showed him that the coin was still there, he was "fooled" in a sense. I followed this up with the actual move, mimicking exactly what I'd done in the feint. This time, when the coin really disappeared, the man was blown away.(I ditched the coin under my watch, a complete vanish.)
After I had done this, and probably a few other tricks, I found out that the man loved magic, and could never "catch" anyone, but he loved trying to catch them and being completely fooled. He wasn't a heckler, as much as what he said indicated it, he just didn't know how to approach magic outside of the "it's a puzzle" mindset. Thankfully, I had practiced enough to create that moment of astonishment.
This event/performance taught me three lessons about performing, not only for difficult people, but for anyone. I learned first of all that not everyone who may sound like a heckler at first actually is a heckler, they may just be confused about how to approach a magic performance.
Second, I learned the value of the feint. A feint is like doing a magic trick without doing any sleight of hand. Not a self working trick though, a trick based on the audiences expectations. They expect you to make a coin vanish, and they may expect you to retain it in your "other hand," and if you follow their expectations, you've been caught, but if you don't follow their expectations, you can fool them twice. Once because they thought they were on to you, and once because you're an amazing sleight of hand artist.
Third, I learned the value of getting people to let down their gaurd, so to speak. The feint is useful here, along with self working tricks, and Card to Mouth. In my experience, the best way to get people to let down their gaurd is to do the unexpected, or do something that, like Card to Mouth, fools those who are trying to catch you and forces them to consider the possibility that you're not just working in the 1ft square box occupied by your hands. Self working tricks are good because, in a way, they're also going against the expectation. People expect you to do "something tricky" with your hands, but when you don't do anything tricky with your hands you force them to consider other possibilities. (See Apollo Robins EMC lectures, especially 2010, for why that's useful.)
That's all. Hope you found this entertaining, if not useful, and I hope that someone can learn from my story, even if they're not learning the same lessons I learned.
