Approaches

Sep 1, 2007
172
0
Edmonton, Canada
So I've heard time and time again you never ask them if they want to see a trick actually sankey says their not qualified to answer. And if you do ask them more often then not their probaly going to say no I don't want to see it. Here's what I do and I would like to here some of your guys approaches as far as resteraunt, bar, cocktail, street or any kind of magic where you have to appoach them. I say may I interupt you for a second then introduce my self and say watch this and go into my opener witch I'm not going to say but the best opener is not cards and not somthing you have to borrow and somthing that's quick and visual and strong to establish I'm not uncle Harry. Then say would you like to see somthing else and 99% of the time I find they say yes. So what approaches do you guys use.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Nov 20, 2007
4,410
6
Sydney, Australia
Well, look, this is the thing. A lot of people do say don't ask to perform, but there are some serious limitations on this advice. I'd add a few qualifications:

If you're going out for the express purpose of performance experience... Well, you won't get that without asking.
If you're hired as a professional entertainer... You must entertain.

But if you're at a party with friends, I don't offer to perform in that sort of casual situation.
 
Mar 6, 2008
1,483
3
A Land Down Under
There are a few different schools of thought on this.

And I do not subscribe to anyone in particular, but a combination of a few. The two main ones that I use are trying to get everyone involved in a fun pseudo - game, or look for an opening and play on that. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. The worst thing you can is walk up to a group holding onto a deck of cards and ask them if they want to see something.

If I am formally walking up to a group I will hold a few coins and shake them get everyone to take one and play a sort of which hand sort of game with every at the table.

If I am doing something just randomly I usually start a conversation first and then go into a which hand effect. Or just tell someone to pick up or take an object and play a which hand game.
 
Oct 27, 2009
71
0
Philippines
For typical day-to-day people, I approach them and say, "Good day, may I interrupt you for a bit, I'd like to show you something and you may find it entertaining"; then show them a quick effect, see their response, and start from there.

For people who're a bit afraid of magic, I'll just add: "I promise it won't harm you in any way".

Or, to check the mood, I do a trick using an IT, then if there are people who're watching and seems interested, I'll approach them and ask them if they want to see something interesting. :)
 
i just go to a table and start a conversation of sorts with the people, get to know who they are what they like , small talk of sorts. then i'll explain that i am an entertainer, i ask them if they would like to see a few effects. If they say yes, then i go for it. If they say no i say," well then how about just one quick one so you get your moneys worth (a joke)" usually they say yes. this works because i am somewhat giving them something. Instead of showing them 3 tricks (a few) that they dont want to, i say alright for you i'll just do one, which is somewhat doing them a favor, so its not a commitment, just a trial.
psychology of approach.
a test was done where someone would ask random participants if they would like to chaperone some juvenile delinquents for one day at the zoo without getting paid. only 17% agreed. now they did this same test again, but instead of just chaperoning for a day, it was to consul juvenile delinquents for 2 years, twice a week. Everyone refused. then, they were asked if they would like to chaperone for only 1 day. 50% of the people agreed to chaperone.
its a door-in-the-face technique that people use.
its like doing them a favor. and when someone does you a favor, you are somewhat required to help again. Norm of reciprocity
 
Sep 1, 2007
172
0
Edmonton, Canada
I was in a bar with some freinds a couple weeks ago and they wanted me to do some magic so after a few drinks I just randomly went over to a table and said watch this. The funny thing is as crazy as this sounds it worked. with those two words I got everybodys attention and that's kind of how I developed my method.
 
Searching...
{[{ searchResultsCount }]} Results