I Mean Really People!

[WakingHollow]

Ok so i realize that im young this i'm very aware of, magic has been an art i've been proud of and loved for many year's, recently at the rec center in downtown i was there for a meet and greet because i had won 2nd place for a recycling poster i had drawn and naturally i brought my card's, well a woman from the center approached me and asked if i would be interested in teaching simple magic at a call in the center. At first i was thrilled i assumed it would be some little kid's and maybe some kid's from my age group there as well, when i got there i was suprised people from many diffrent age's were there and i think one man was like 35 or 36 year's old i thought that was really cool but about halfway through the class one man started being a problem cussing and yelling and calling everyone a "gob stoper" he was just becoming a huge problem he would not quit yelling and complaining and everytime i asked him what was wrong he would insult and cuss at me, now i realize that im a young like i said but i have put the practice in and i have read book's, bought DVD's and done my est to make thing's seem "genuine" and "magical" for everyone i dont think i deserved this type of disrespect so i left i told the woman that i refused to go back and i dont plan on it either, i would like to know what you fellow magicians would have done.

 

[RickEverhart]

The first thing you should have done was type up some type of contract or entertainment agreement between you and the client(s) which would have included many details about payment, work schedule, etc. Without a contract and signature....it's simple...I don't perform.

Was this just a spur of the moment thing she wanted you to do for free right there at that minute? That would have been difficult to do not knowing who your audience of students would have been and their demographics. So basically any layman, regardless of age, could come over for free and sit down and learn magic?

I'm a bit confused. Can you provide us a little more detail of the scenario?

 

[WakingHollow]

I apoligize for the lack of information, as it regard's to the contract i did do it for free due to the fact that i dont really need the money all that bad and i'm not entirley sure why she wanted me to take the class, we had set thing's up so that the people who wanted to take the class would pay 10$ for each time they come to a class and they could buy what they called a "pass" where they would come for a month for 30$ and also do you have any idea what a Gob Stoper is?

 

[William Draven]

I'm not sure what a "gob stopper" is but I'm not sure this person was playing with a full deck either. Most of the time when someone gets upset at the entire room like that unprovoked and won't communicate what is bothering them usually means their are either drunk, high on something, or otherwise mentally impaired and something just triggered their outburst. Given that you say this is a rec center downtown then it's likely that this individual may have been one of not all three of those.

This is a good lesson to learn and one I think everyone goes through at one point in time or another. You have every right to request to be treated with respect, and if the venue can't provide that safe respectful workplace then you have every right to shut down and not perform until those conditions are met or the rube is removed.

Rick's got the right idea with contracts. In this situation dealing with a municipality having a contract in place that clearly defines what you'll provide, what you expect, what they'll provide, what compensation is, and what are conditions that could void the contract can be a life saver. It could save your rear in situations like this in the future.

I'd call the person back who booked you to do this and discuss with them what went wrong, and see if you can't move forward. Having a class like this is a GREAT experience. It'll help you grow as an entertainer, and it looks good on a resume too. Obviously you don't want to be disrespected, so maybe this could be something that can be avoided in the future. Just talk it out, explain what you need to do your job correctly, and what they can do to help you get it done.

 

[Adrian Honcharov]

Well man,i am not quiet sure what does ,,qob stopper,, in your country means.But in mine country Ukraine,Russia etc. gob stopper is a such type of bandit that assault people at the late night.Smth like that.

 

[Ashrei]

My guess would be Gobstopper => Jawbreaker Candy => Sucker.

 

[WakingHollow]

Thank you all for the help and i will call her back and i don't think any of us know wha ta god stoper is but sucker is the closet i've seen, and i think william is right he had to be drunk.

 

[popchris3]

Was this rec center like a public gym/hangout area that might have had security?

 

[WakingHollow]

Well i got off the phone with the woman from the center and were trying to discuss what need's to happen to work this out.