All of us are constantly living in an ever-expanding world; one which will never be the same from one second to the next, or from one year to another. Being magicians and performers, this statement can also be applied into our performances. How and why? Because none of your spectators will ever be the exact same; appearance, personality, their characteristics -- they will all be different and you will have to adapt to these changes most often in whichever performance scenario you are in, in order to get the best possible performance, reactions, satisfaction of your spectator(s), etc.
Magic -- the artform of tricking the eye and human mind into believing what they are not actually seeing. With this, how can any spectator watch magic like they see cars crossing the intersection? It's going to be exciting because they will rarely have an opportunity like this when such an event does occur! In most cases, you will gain the audience's undivided attention, and with this you will have to learn how to react to some of the things that they say during your routine or after it, know how to respond and reply to these, know what subtleties to make in your performances, etc.
Because magic is magic, and spectators are watching things that simply defy laws, and them seeing in person (usually) things that their mind knows is impossible, they are going to be, and have the full right to be, shocked once they watch an effect, let alone an entire routine! A considerable amount of the time though, you will be put "on the spot" when someone asks you questions afterwards such as, "Is that actually magic?", "Can I inspect the deck?", "I know how you did that!", "Do that again!", and/or "How do you do that?".
First of all, in my personal opinion, the best way to learn what answers fit for you in all of these cases, are going to be to learn from your performances. Don't prepare any specific response. Reply in the sense that feels most natural for you. The most important thing to keep in mind though when you're doing this is: believe. You have to believe in the magic and keep it alive as well for your spectators. If you just performed a revolutionary effect that totally could not have just happened, and your spectator asks "Is that actually magic?" and you relpy with, "No, actually. It's a combination of sleights that I use." Are you really going to satisfy your spectators and enhance the moment and performance with your spectator at this instant. No. You must believe that the magic is actually happening, and reply in the most convincing way possible. Maybe around 50% of us will be able to comfortably be able to do this (on-the-spot answering of these "difficult" quesitons), because as magicians, we are most likely to be extroverts because we perform for others and have to take the innitiative to do so and talk aloud during the routine.
However, for the others who may happen to be a little more doubtful and not as confident in themselves in experimenting with this, you can easily research possibilities of things to say in response to each question. The one in which I'm going to talk about today I actually got from performing on-the-spot and I just happened to like one of my answers to the questions. So here it is:
We perform. (We will be using both the Vegas Card Cheat Routine and our Ambitious Card.) Now, because you're spectators are going to vary, if they are going to indeed ask you a "difficult" question, when they do so in relation to where you are in your routine will also change. You may not understand what exactly I'm talking about, but I hope you get a context near the end. (Also, sometimes, you can try using this at the start of your routine to "get your audience into it"...it works great!)
Cheating and magic. I actually came across this when I was performing in a foreign country, believe it or not! I was performing a routine filled with magic. And one person asked, "Is that really magic?" Having two options from here and being a magician, I naturally replied, "Yes." I believe they asked this after I performed a single, impact-effect I had learned. (I hadn't done the Vegas Card Cheat Routine yet or the Ambitious Card.) In order to prove that I was magic and not a "cheater", I showed them something: "What I do is magic. However, in places like Las Vegas, people sit in the back rooms of casinos their entire lives and practice the artform of cheating. Let me show you..." From here I enter a basic Vegas Card Cheat Routine (only the Pass), and show it to them real-time. Once I've done this a few times, adding in things here and there to keep them interested, I will show them how the pass is done. Then of-course, show it slowly, immediately proceeded by a pass as how you would normally do it. NOTE: DO NOT do the One-handed pass here. I continue: "So, this is what people learn and practice ALL of their lives in the backs of casinos. However, few people are born with the ability to actually be able to perform true magic." From here, I chose to follow certain elements of an Ambitious Card Routine, specifically the Spectator Card Insert: "You're holding the deck. I have not touched it. Watch. I snap my fingers. That's all..." they flip they're card over, shocked. "That's magic!"
People believe you! The psychology behind this must be so weird, yet interesting! If you're ever caught up in being involved with magic and one of these questions, this is one of the things I personally love using to bail me out. You can relate back to the difference between "cheating" and "magic" at the end, and then simply continue on with your routine, and conclude it with a BANG! This is also an element which enhances "the moment" and will lead up to an even bigger climax than you would have had otherwise. Just a quick note, notice the selection of words I chose to incorporate. They weren't abrasive and aggresive to the spectator(s), but were used to make more of the moment and to get my point across more vividly, by using magic, which is very cool, in my opinion.
Also, please notice that this can be used to answer a variety of questions the "heckler-type" of spectator may impose:
* "How'd you do that" --> "Magic." --> <continue with this>
* "Do that again" --> "I don't have enough energy to right now. I just did it! I'm sorry." (This doesn't involve this, but it is something that will work for this instance.)
* "Is that acutally magic?" --> "You bet! <optional:> Here I'll show you."
There's the traditional "Magicians don't show their tricks more than once to the same audience" phrase, and "It's a secret", but in reality, if you analyze these, they may be good for the 6-year old magicians, just so they know that it's "right" not to tell someone the secret of an effect. However, being more-intelligent magicians now compared to back at that age, we should do our best to alternate these typical responses, and personilize them, and have them refer back to "Magic is something that can actually happen!"
Magic -- the artform of tricking the eye and human mind into believing what they are not actually seeing. With this, how can any spectator watch magic like they see cars crossing the intersection? It's going to be exciting because they will rarely have an opportunity like this when such an event does occur! In most cases, you will gain the audience's undivided attention, and with this you will have to learn how to react to some of the things that they say during your routine or after it, know how to respond and reply to these, know what subtleties to make in your performances, etc.
Because magic is magic, and spectators are watching things that simply defy laws, and them seeing in person (usually) things that their mind knows is impossible, they are going to be, and have the full right to be, shocked once they watch an effect, let alone an entire routine! A considerable amount of the time though, you will be put "on the spot" when someone asks you questions afterwards such as, "Is that actually magic?", "Can I inspect the deck?", "I know how you did that!", "Do that again!", and/or "How do you do that?".
First of all, in my personal opinion, the best way to learn what answers fit for you in all of these cases, are going to be to learn from your performances. Don't prepare any specific response. Reply in the sense that feels most natural for you. The most important thing to keep in mind though when you're doing this is: believe. You have to believe in the magic and keep it alive as well for your spectators. If you just performed a revolutionary effect that totally could not have just happened, and your spectator asks "Is that actually magic?" and you relpy with, "No, actually. It's a combination of sleights that I use." Are you really going to satisfy your spectators and enhance the moment and performance with your spectator at this instant. No. You must believe that the magic is actually happening, and reply in the most convincing way possible. Maybe around 50% of us will be able to comfortably be able to do this (on-the-spot answering of these "difficult" quesitons), because as magicians, we are most likely to be extroverts because we perform for others and have to take the innitiative to do so and talk aloud during the routine.
However, for the others who may happen to be a little more doubtful and not as confident in themselves in experimenting with this, you can easily research possibilities of things to say in response to each question. The one in which I'm going to talk about today I actually got from performing on-the-spot and I just happened to like one of my answers to the questions. So here it is:
We perform. (We will be using both the Vegas Card Cheat Routine and our Ambitious Card.) Now, because you're spectators are going to vary, if they are going to indeed ask you a "difficult" question, when they do so in relation to where you are in your routine will also change. You may not understand what exactly I'm talking about, but I hope you get a context near the end. (Also, sometimes, you can try using this at the start of your routine to "get your audience into it"...it works great!)
Cheating and magic. I actually came across this when I was performing in a foreign country, believe it or not! I was performing a routine filled with magic. And one person asked, "Is that really magic?" Having two options from here and being a magician, I naturally replied, "Yes." I believe they asked this after I performed a single, impact-effect I had learned. (I hadn't done the Vegas Card Cheat Routine yet or the Ambitious Card.) In order to prove that I was magic and not a "cheater", I showed them something: "What I do is magic. However, in places like Las Vegas, people sit in the back rooms of casinos their entire lives and practice the artform of cheating. Let me show you..." From here I enter a basic Vegas Card Cheat Routine (only the Pass), and show it to them real-time. Once I've done this a few times, adding in things here and there to keep them interested, I will show them how the pass is done. Then of-course, show it slowly, immediately proceeded by a pass as how you would normally do it. NOTE: DO NOT do the One-handed pass here. I continue: "So, this is what people learn and practice ALL of their lives in the backs of casinos. However, few people are born with the ability to actually be able to perform true magic." From here, I chose to follow certain elements of an Ambitious Card Routine, specifically the Spectator Card Insert: "You're holding the deck. I have not touched it. Watch. I snap my fingers. That's all..." they flip they're card over, shocked. "That's magic!"
People believe you! The psychology behind this must be so weird, yet interesting! If you're ever caught up in being involved with magic and one of these questions, this is one of the things I personally love using to bail me out. You can relate back to the difference between "cheating" and "magic" at the end, and then simply continue on with your routine, and conclude it with a BANG! This is also an element which enhances "the moment" and will lead up to an even bigger climax than you would have had otherwise. Just a quick note, notice the selection of words I chose to incorporate. They weren't abrasive and aggresive to the spectator(s), but were used to make more of the moment and to get my point across more vividly, by using magic, which is very cool, in my opinion.
Also, please notice that this can be used to answer a variety of questions the "heckler-type" of spectator may impose:
* "How'd you do that" --> "Magic." --> <continue with this>
* "Do that again" --> "I don't have enough energy to right now. I just did it! I'm sorry." (This doesn't involve this, but it is something that will work for this instance.)
* "Is that acutally magic?" --> "You bet! <optional:> Here I'll show you."
There's the traditional "Magicians don't show their tricks more than once to the same audience" phrase, and "It's a secret", but in reality, if you analyze these, they may be good for the 6-year old magicians, just so they know that it's "right" not to tell someone the secret of an effect. However, being more-intelligent magicians now compared to back at that age, we should do our best to alternate these typical responses, and personilize them, and have them refer back to "Magic is something that can actually happen!"
