I just finished working a 2 hour strolling gig for a local college open house that had a few hundred people attending ranging from age 2-60. I had prepared with about 9 strolling effects and enough variety to entertain young children with sponge balls, silks, hot rod, etc. and had taken some cards, money, and mental magic for the adults.
All in all my performances were spot on and went well except for 2 girls who were in their 20's. I approached them, introduced myself just like I always do and asked them if they wanted to see some close up magic and they both said sure. I am performing Danny Archer's Eye exam (which is phenomenal by the way if you don't use it) and in the middle of the effect the one girls cell phone starts ringing so she looks at me and says oh sorry I have to talk to my friend for a minute....ugh....completely killed the momentum and magic. She gets off about a minute later and I proceed to finish the packet trick however by then she couldn't even remember what had transpired and could have cared less. She proceeded to give me a thumbs up and said, "Good job with your trick." I could feel myself getting heated so I just said thank you, enjoy your day and walked away.
Am I the one in the wrong here or was she being completely rude or was it just bad timing? Two other times while performing for adults today, when their phones started vibrating or ringing they just ignored it and enjoyed the performance.
On a better note I think I handed out around 50-100 business cards to people who genuinely asked for one or I felt showed enough interest.
Has anyone noticed cell phones kind of "ruining" the intimate entertainment lately? And before you guys start telling me it is audience management and I need to be more entertaining....I seriously don't believe that is the issue. I am not a rookie here by any means and have over 10 years of actual performing experience.
Perhaps these two girls do not understand that it was rude. Thoughts?
All in all my performances were spot on and went well except for 2 girls who were in their 20's. I approached them, introduced myself just like I always do and asked them if they wanted to see some close up magic and they both said sure. I am performing Danny Archer's Eye exam (which is phenomenal by the way if you don't use it) and in the middle of the effect the one girls cell phone starts ringing so she looks at me and says oh sorry I have to talk to my friend for a minute....ugh....completely killed the momentum and magic. She gets off about a minute later and I proceed to finish the packet trick however by then she couldn't even remember what had transpired and could have cared less. She proceeded to give me a thumbs up and said, "Good job with your trick." I could feel myself getting heated so I just said thank you, enjoy your day and walked away.
Am I the one in the wrong here or was she being completely rude or was it just bad timing? Two other times while performing for adults today, when their phones started vibrating or ringing they just ignored it and enjoyed the performance.
On a better note I think I handed out around 50-100 business cards to people who genuinely asked for one or I felt showed enough interest.
Has anyone noticed cell phones kind of "ruining" the intimate entertainment lately? And before you guys start telling me it is audience management and I need to be more entertaining....I seriously don't believe that is the issue. I am not a rookie here by any means and have over 10 years of actual performing experience.
Perhaps these two girls do not understand that it was rude. Thoughts?