How to dazzle people?

[Reakan]

Hey guys!

I've been doing magic for about 1 and a half years and I have begun wondering...

When I'm performing on the street I get different kinds of spectatours. Some are very easy to dazzle, and after the first trick the go like: "Wow! WTH? How did you do that?" Then there are people who are not so easily convinced and they are trying to figure out what I'm doing in the beginning, but eventually I get under their skin and they freak out for the rest of the performances.

The third type of people is those who don't seem impressed by anything I do. I have a budy in magic, whoš been performing for 3 years and he can break any tough cookie, any heckler and make them stop thinking and start feeling the magic. So I want to know... how can I dazzle such people? What am I doing differently? About 70 to 80% of my performances go really well, but thats jsut not enough for me, therefore I need your help guys... any tips would be great...

 

[onimushalord89]

What I found is that you have to make sure the spectator knows that what you are doing is for entertainment. Unfortunately, we have all seen how David Blaine is very serious with his performance, and while we might want to emulate that, it also makes your spectators view the trick more seriously.

I keep all of my performances light hearted. That way all of my trick are fun. If I mess up, its ok, we are all having fun. If I perform well, then everyone seems to be happy. They are not trying to figure out the tricks, they are just enjoying the performance. Then, make sure your last trick is a show stopper. You have trained your audience to look at your magic in a fun way, so when you do a trick that looks utterly impossible, it will floor them.

This is how I manage my audience. I am not saying everyone should do it this way, but I have found it work well for me, and I very rarely get hecklers this way.

Hope this helps

Oni

 

[canadamagic]

Make sure that you are connecting with your audience on a more personal level. If you're doing an effect, I think at least, that it should be relevent to the spectator. Just saying "and your card comes to the top wooo!" may be a neat trick, but how is the audience supposed to cennect to that.

 

[mehar]

thank you very much for that advice, I think i'll remind my audience that I don't want them to try and 'figure out' or think hard about the magic. But rather enjoy it.

 

[RickEverhart]

I am sort of like Oni. I make sure they understand that it is light hearted fun and that I am a cool, enjoyable guy here to have fun with them. Not poke fun at and show them something that makes me better than them.

I also make sure that I listen to what they are saying and actually converse with what they are asking or commenting on. I treat them on a higher level and not like they are beneath me. Use their names throughout the performance, it shows you have paid attention and care about them enough to remember it.