Approaching People
- Thread starter demagus
- Start date
One thing I have use a few times is to walk by a group of people and drop a coin, pick it up asking if it were one of theirs then proceed to vanish it and introduce myslef. David Stone has a lot of work on this in his book and DVDs on restaurant magic.
Is lighting a matchstick enough? Without such blatant betrayal to the purpose of your introduction, you might follow a greeting and small bit of pleasant chat with the "lit match production" found in the Practical Encyclopedia of Magic, by Nicholas Einhorn. If this does happen to be the reason for the title of this thread... cheers!
hi would you like to see a magic trick?
that WILL work just dont think about it, if you are like: "should I ask them? no, its to strange"
just walk to them and say hi. They will look at you and there you ask if they like to see a magic trick, or something, whatever fits you i say magic trick. If they say no, say: thank you and walk to another couple or something.
And DO NOT BE NERVOUS! im have never been a nervous person and thats great for me but keep in mind you can do it also, im not better than you at any point, just remember you can do it if you really want it ;D
would you like to see a magic trick?that WILL work just dont think about it, if you are like: "should I ask them? no, its to strange"
just walk to them and say hi. They will look at you and there you ask if they like to see a magic trick, or something, whatever fits you i say magic trick. If they say no, say: thank you and walk to another couple or something.
And DO NOT BE NERVOUS! im have never been a nervous person and thats great for me but keep in mind you can do it also, im not better than you at any point, just remember you can do it if you really want it ;D
well, I just take my deck and I throw it to a person's head, once he grabs the cards from the floor all messed up and comes to me( cards face up and face down) I ask her to think of a card, then I perform an amasing triumph routine and they forget about me hitting them with the deck....
works everytime, it is parents tested.
works everytime, it is parents tested.
Well, I don't have any particular set thing to say. I walk up, asking them if I can join them, introduce myself and what I do before I perform. If you walk up to someone, and offer them a deck of cards, 90% of the time you'd be mistaken in thinking that they care whether or not the deck is gaffed - no, they spend that time making judgments about you and whether or not they like you. That's time you want them to focus on the magic. So I usually wait a minute first, give them a chance to like me and prepare to watch magic because you enter their space by approaching them, so you have to be likeable, whilst maintaining authority; only then can you draw them into watching your magic, on your terms.
All the while DLeerium walks up to spectators of our flourishing and says, "Hey! Wanna see a magic trick?" and they have a shocked look on their face like he's nude or something. [/inside joke]
It's the whole "sell yourself before the trick". You should really work on connecting to them on a person-to-person level, not as magician-and-spectator. Pretend you don't have any magic, you don't even do magic, then go up to these people and start a conversation. Be confident and dominant, but not irritating.
One of my good friends, myself and some others were hanging out at a hobby store when he came in. This guy's got a strong charismatic air about him - he's playful, flirtatious, bold, and quirky. He owns the room. He doesn't care if you like him or not (though he aims for like), he just wants everyone to know he's arrived. He's also a really great guy. He came up to us and just sat down and got into a conversation. We all got that "stranger-anxiety" at first, but when we saw the guy just wanted to talk and had interesting things to say, and invited us to come back a different day to hang out, it worked out. He turned out to be one of my very best friends.
My general philosophy is this - approach people, as said above, as if you weren't going to perform anything. Be like-able, interesting, and presentable enough to sustain a conversation without magic. Hunt for people you'd like to talk to, and who you think you could get along with. Start with like-minded folk, then move on to more challenging game: people who appear to be total opposites. Actually go out and meet new people, have fun with it. Be confident, be in control, and present your audience with a really cool and intriguing person. Someone colorful and fun.
And, yeah, you should be able to sustain conversation about non-magical things. And, yeah, it needs to last a few.
Once they're enamored with you, then bring out the magic.
One of my good friends, myself and some others were hanging out at a hobby store when he came in. This guy's got a strong charismatic air about him - he's playful, flirtatious, bold, and quirky. He owns the room. He doesn't care if you like him or not (though he aims for like), he just wants everyone to know he's arrived. He's also a really great guy. He came up to us and just sat down and got into a conversation. We all got that "stranger-anxiety" at first, but when we saw the guy just wanted to talk and had interesting things to say, and invited us to come back a different day to hang out, it worked out. He turned out to be one of my very best friends.
My general philosophy is this - approach people, as said above, as if you weren't going to perform anything. Be like-able, interesting, and presentable enough to sustain a conversation without magic. Hunt for people you'd like to talk to, and who you think you could get along with. Start with like-minded folk, then move on to more challenging game: people who appear to be total opposites. Actually go out and meet new people, have fun with it. Be confident, be in control, and present your audience with a really cool and intriguing person. Someone colorful and fun.
And, yeah, you should be able to sustain conversation about non-magical things. And, yeah, it needs to last a few.
Once they're enamored with you, then bring out the magic.