How to deal with Tough Cookies ( Hard Audience )

[Steerpike]

Am I the only ones that think magicians are pussified when it comes to "hecklers"? It seems there is a massive inferiority complex that makes us play to them instead of demanding the respect we deserve like other performers do.

C

Oh god, that set off a warning bell. Please, please tell me you're not going to suggest any of the that hyper-macho posturing bull****.

Demanding respect is all well and good, but how would you act if you were truly secure in your superiority? I guarantee that if magicians were that secure, they wouldn't act like such morons over this subject.

This doesn't make the heckler angry it just puts him in his place.

Oh my mistake. I forgot that as magicians we always possess the moral high ground.

I'm speaking from experience that the Brian Tudor approach doesn't work. It just creates more ill will. Far more effective to let him tie his own rope.

You can also say that your not going to perform if this heckler, or hecklers continue to heckle. I've had groups of people push those people or tell those hecklers to go away, it's very funny. Then again, they might like the heckler and dislike you for not continuing the trick, but you never want to perform for a crowd that is wanting to see you screw up, might as well just not even or or accept a trick.

This works if you can actually tell the difference between a heckler and someone who's just being difficult. Yes, there is a difference.

It'll shut him up. I don't know about you, but if you've ever expereinced a heckler, they don't just stop. They go to the worlds end to make you feck up.

I have my doubts that you have ever experienced a real heckler. In my own professional career, I've only encountered a few. I can count the number on one hand.

And the whole "put him in his place" crap I really think comes from a position of powerlessness.

But your not giving them anything, your making the other spectators have a gross dislike of them making them feel bad for what they did. it's worked for me 100% of the time and whenever I ask tehy how I did it they're like, "No man, don't want to dis-courage you or anything." They learn a lesson.

Confirmed. You've never faced a real heckler. And all you're swaggering was for nothing.

rofl, I'm not proving anyone wrong, i'm teaching them a valuable lesson, "Never feck with the performer".

Ooh, look out ladies! Internet tough guy comin' through!

And how many times have other spectators stopped hecklers? you have a more likely chance of being hit by lightning.

Let me think... 3 out of 4 times.

Once again, proof that it pays to let a real heckler tie his own rope.

but whatever, you do your magic your way and I'll do mine my way.

Ultimate cop out. When you lack the proof, experience, or wherewithal to defend your stance, you use this argument.

God I hate magicians...

 

[Randy]

I wouldn't call him a magician.

 

[Rozzer]

Loudest member in a group of people

When I start to scout potential people to perform magic for, I always observe the groups before hand. And then I look for the person who is talking the loudest, or trying to be the center of attention in a group of people. I did a couple of experiments to test this theory, and each time that I spotted someone like that, and I decided to perform for them, I always opened up with a card effect that requires just sleight of hand, but I maintain control of the flow of the presentation, which does take some practice. The loudest person usually tries to show off and sometimes wants to look cool by trying to make fumble, and perform the way they want.

So I've found out that if you happen to see someone like that, either ignore that group of people, or if you want to give it a try, do your routine and if the insist on you doing the illusion a certain way, tell them to "hang on a second" and continue. And then once I've usually finished, I hand the deck or whatever item to that person to inspect to their hearts content.

Although you'll find it sometimes you just can't deal with the person and will continually harass you, just say, "thank you for your time" and then walk away and find the next person or group of people to perform for.

 

[Shodan]

I have dealt with this situation with ease many times. Part of the battle (a MAJOR part!) is to make it clear to your audience that you are there for THEM, not for YOU - that performing for them is not an ego-trip. Its easy to read that and go "yeah, I'm not doing it for the ego trip" but the majority of amateur performers (i.e. not WORKING magi) are very much in it for exactly that reason, so be honest with yourself - if you encounter challenging spectators over and over then buddy, the common factor is YOU!

This approach tends to cultivate a more relaxed, co-operative vibe between you and your audience, which takes the aggression out of the difficult spectators, but doesn't stop them questioning you, challenging you...they want to know how good you REALLY are! Here's my line "You know, I have a special trick JUST for people like you who don't trust me...I'll finish this one up and we'll do that one next" The bit about "people like you" is said very lightly, with a hint of "here we go again", and actually generates quite a bit of laughter in the group - settles them down while you finish what you're doing and builds anticipation for what you're going to do next.

The trick I use is always a STRONG SELF WORKER - there's NO sleight of hand for you to be caught on, and the good self workers have logical procedures that put the control into the spectator's hands. If you don't know any strong, performable self working effects, all I can say is go and learn some - its very, very useful stuff, and some of the best card magic you'll ever do. And if you're sitting there thinking "I don't like self workers I want to dazzle them with sleight of hand" - or any variation on that theme - then put yourself into the "ego trip performer" category my friend, because what you SHOULD be thinking is that here's a whole new way to entertain an audience with cards - where do I sign up?!

Cheers,
David.

 

[DLeerium]

Spring the cards into their face and run away.

But honestly, everyone has their own way of dealing with hecklers and it does depend on your personality and how you present your magic.

Personally I have effects that satisfy difficult audiences, as it allows them to shuffle and handle the cards as much as they want. For hecklers I joke around with them, and try win them over, if not then I get the audience on my side to silence the heckler anyway possible.

 

[magicman]

haha, hilarious Steerpike.

 

[Nino]

Hey,

i think when that happens you need to kill them with a trick that makes them shuffle the deck. like 5 speed or blind. my brother in law always find out how i do it but with blind i kill him with that trick. There is always going to be easy audience and hard audience, so my advice is practicing day and night.

 

[fkace63]

learn the classic force

learn the classic force. Its the ultimate out to almost every trick. And it doesn't have to look like an out...

For those of you who don't use it you'd be shocked at how effective it is, even hecklers pick the force card...

Or carry an invisible deck. Thats the ultimate gimmicked out to any effect that goes wrong.

 

[jmstrings]

I think some people here are mixing up the terms "heckler" and "pain in the ass spectator".

In my opinion, a heckler is someone who wants to make YOU (the magician) look like a fool. He wants to intentionally make you mess up and from that he gains some sort of validation.

A pain in the ass spectator is someone who's sole reason for watching you is to figure out what you're doing. These are the types of people that will:
-ask if they can shuffle the deck
-not have any trust in you
-immediately interject when you flip a card face down, asking to see if they can make sure that's the card (again, they don't trust you.)
-keep their eyes LOCKED on your hands (even when they are at your sides) and not pay any attention to YOU (the magician)


There's a bunch more, but you guys get the point. I've only encountered one true heckler before, and the other spectators told him to go away because they wanted to watch. They blew up his spot and the heckler stopped.

However, I do encounter "pain in the ass" spectators occasionally. These are the types of people who HATE to be "fooled", and like I said, gain satisfaction in figuring out all of the exact moves you pull. They're not trying to make you look dumb, rather they're trying to save themselves from looking dumb (which is a fallacy in itself because, as a magician, the goal is to entertain).

As a magician, you need to know how to deal with aggressive spectators. The way I see it, you have two options:
-1) Continue your routine and expend extra effort trying to change the aggressive spectator's mindset (so that they realize magic is much more about the presentation than the actual trick)
-2) Not perform for these people.


Personally, I take option 2. However, I only take option 2 when it's clearly evident that the spectator is only watching you to figure out the trick. At that point, I feel there isn't a single good reason why I should perform magic for them. They do not want to be entertained, they just want to figure out what you're doing. I can almost guarantee you that showing this type of spectator how to cheat at cards would make them shut up and listen. Again, because they just want to know the mechanics behind what you're doing. Like I said, I see no point in performing and "putting on a show" for these type of people. They are uninterested.

With all that being said, I want to state that as a magician, it is essential to know how to deal with every type of spectator. There are some spectators that are more aggressive than others. Again, I only close up shop and call it a day when it's blatantly obvious that the spectator just wants to figure you out. Knowing how to deal with someone who hasn't invested their trust in you yet is a different story.

 

[Steerpike]

i think when that happens you need to kill them with a trick that makes them shuffle the deck. like 5 speed or blind.

And what do you do when that doesn't work?

I think some people here are mixing up the terms "heckler" and "pain in the ass spectator".

Even that might be a little strong.

Although it is a truism that magicians in general take any challenge to the supremacy over the conversation as an insult of the highest magnitude. In other words, they're a lot of thin-skinned wimps and assume that anyone who does not praise them is a heckler.

A pain in the ass spectator is someone who's sole reason for watching you is to figure out what you're doing.

Yes and no. They're trying to figure it out because you haven't successfully found a way to involve them in the act yet. They need to have an emotional hook or investment in the show. Once that happens, they stop analyzing everything.

 

[Andy.Boss.Glass]

God I hate magicians...

me too man, me too. its not really the magic fraternity as whole, its the internet newbies who have this ego the size of canada. i just dont see how these people have this god given right to give advice, when they themselves have no clue what they are talking about.The magic fraternity didnt see this until the rise of internet magic and internet magic forums. Perform your art, take criticism, and stop b****ing.

 

[Steerpike]

me too man, me too. its not really the magic fraternity as whole, its the internet newbies who have this ego the size of canada.

Oh, I'm all-inclusive. One of the reasons I left the Magic Cafe was because the hallowed working pros had just as much potential for myopic mother****ery as the YouNoobs. I tried to ask a few of them some questions, but getting a decent answer out of them was like trying to find a good Nickelback song.

 

[Andy.Boss.Glass]

Oh, I'm all-inclusive. One of the reasons I left the Magic Cafe was because the hallowed working pros had just as much potential for myopic mother****ery as the YouNoobs. I tried to ask a few of them some questions, but getting a decent answer out of them was like trying to find a good Nickelback song.

i loled the nickelback thing, but i can see where you are right. but i think it has to change. It has to change. Because if it doesnt, we are all just going to become egotistical a**holes whose only audience is a mirror.... oh wait.

 

[Quickshot]

This question of Hecklers versus pain in the ass spectators is a good one. I think there are very very few hecklers out there, but there are alot of pain in the ass people. This definition nails it pretty well:

Yes and no. They're trying to figure it out because you haven't successfully found a way to involve them in the act yet. They need to have an emotional hook or investment in the show. Once that happens, they stop analyzing everything.

I can confirm this from my own experience because when magicians performed for me, i used to be a pain in the ass spectator. Of course, i never called out the magician, but i would pull him aside after and always guess how he did it. I only really did that on the tricks i wasn't involved in, because when he would hand me the deck i was so much more focused on what i was doing because people were watching.

In other words, theres your answer. Its hard to be focused on what a magician is doing when you have to focus on yourself as well. The more you involve someone in a routine, the harder it will be for them to figure out what you did due to basic psychology.

 

[Optical Illusion]

Well... I dont think this is really going to help but i know from experience because i used to be one of those people. My friend who had been praciticng for around a year started performing tricks and i always gave him a hard time and pointed everything out until he started doing things like i would do now.

Most of you dont know me because i am new here and have been practicing magic for about a few months now. My friend introduced me and i started performing with him and there are always those people who try to mess everything up. We just would do tricks where it seems like we failed. It would look as if we just sucked so bad at the trick and then in the end Bam there it is the trick is done and the person just becomes surprised and doesnt even know what happened.

 

[James Smith]

I'm going to post something from the last heckler thread I saw on this site.

What you a refering to is a heckler. If they do it just say "Well even if you really did see how I did that, try to figure out how i do THIS!" and do some type of trick or routine that will really fool him.

To which I replied:

Yes, and if a Lion is ever attacking you, you should wave meat in its face and punch it.

In reality, there is no correct way to deal with a heckler. (But there are a lot of incorrect ways^^^^)

The way that I find best is to turn the rest of the audience against him.

For example:

"Didn't they teach you in Kindergarden that it's impolite to talk while others are speacking?"

"Are you drunk or something?"

"Your friends are going to hate you after this."

"Your new nickname is, "magician annoyer" your friends will call you this for the rest of your life."

Those are some that I just thought of. Do enough of this and eventually the other spectators will get mad at him and he will most likely shut up.

You could also try and make him feel as if they're in on the trick. This is probably a better method, but it can be quite difficult and requires a lot of presentational skills.[QUOTE/]

[QUOTE/]

 

[canadamagic]

Like said before, if you have an entire audience that are haredheaded do some trick that will work no matter what, because most of my friends are also hardheaaded always trying to slip me up i noticed if there is one perticular person that is rude what i do is just a simple click change or jones change even in an entire group, i tell them that they will be the only one that will not know how to do the trick and that usually does it especialy the jones change because that is very hard to explain their friends won't easily tell them how the trick wotrked if they see, and if that doesn't work look up Daniel Garcia's "gaterboots" haha

 

[canadamagic]

Oh god, that set off a warning bell. Please, please tell me you're not going to suggest any of the that hyper-macho posturing bull****.

Demanding respect is all well and good, but how would you act if you were truly secure in your superiority? I guarantee that if magicians were that secure, they wouldn't act like such morons over this subject.



Oh my mistake. I forgot that as magicians we always possess the moral high ground.

I'm speaking from experience that the Brian Tudor approach doesn't work. It just creates more ill will. Far more effective to let him tie his own rope.



This works if you can actually tell the difference between a heckler and someone who's just being difficult. Yes, there is a difference.



I have my doubts that you have ever experienced a real heckler. In my own professional career, I've only encountered a few. I can count the number on one hand.

And the whole "put him in his place" crap I really think comes from a position of powerlessness.



Confirmed. You've never faced a real heckler. And all you're swaggering was for nothing.



Ooh, look out ladies! Internet tough guy comin' through!



Let me think... 3 out of 4 times.

Once again, proof that it pays to let a real heckler tie his own rope.



Ultimate cop out. When you lack the proof, experience, or wherewithal to defend your stance, you use this argument.

God I hate magicians...

This couldn't have been said better, he/she wrote it out for me, if you've got someone that is a jerk, do what you think is right, keep in mind that their an audience, if you have no audience...than magic is kinda pointless, magicians already know how to do it anyways