Why do some spectators insist on messing with you?

[NinoIng]

Although there is some decent advice in that video, the whole approach is wrong. You don't engage hecklers because that just rewards them for being a jerk. Plus, even if you one up them, you come across like a jerk.



See above. Heckling a heckler lets them win because it allows them to control YOUR show.



That is a great out. Also, if they name a card that isnt the one you forced, you can say, "that's strange" and look through the deck face up and cull it to the top or bottom. Then, in the process of handing the deck to the spectator do a top palm or gambler's cop. Ask them to find the named card in the deck.... its not there. You then have a bunch of options -- you can add the card back reversed in the deck, put it on top of the deck, put it on the bottom of the deck, etc. From there you can do an any card at any number (dealing seconds or just bottom dealing the last card). You can put their card under a glass on the table as they look throught the deck or you can simply reach into a pocket and produce their card.



Control named card to top, take DB card out of pocket, put DB card on top of deck, do a DL, hand out top card and then smile.



Quoted because everyone needs to read this again and again and again.



Agreed.



Think of the difference between asking someone, "do you want to see a magic trick?" or "do you want to see something absolutely incomprehensible?" I do think we should present our magic as being real... in the theatrical sense of the word. Does a performer in a play stop and tell the audience that he really isn't a 16th century nobleman and that the sword he is using isn't sharp and the blood you will see isn't real? Do Marvel movies have the hero tell the audience that he really can't do what you are about to see and it is all a CGI "trick"? I like the word Christoper uses "trivializes." Saying that something is just a trick trivializes the magic. When you get down to it, we are presenting a real illusion. That said, our character has to give the magic context. The context is what differenciates from mere "look at these tricks."

Does everyone HAVE to present magic this way. Of course not. But I think that doing more than just tricks makes the magic better.



I've done ball and vase for older audiences -- they were amazed more so because they thought they knew how it worked and there was no way that what I was doing was consistent with their understanding.

I don't think that Christoper is saying that you have to present an ambitious card trick as if the card actually moves through the deck on your command. Rather, he is saying not to present it as a trick or as having fast hands or as you have to pay attention to what I'm doing or I'm going to fool you. That said, there are a lot of magic effects that can't stand up with a presentation that is more than "I can fool you." Within a performance, those effects may have a place, but your performance should consist entirely of those types of effects.

As to insulting intelligence, I think that telling them it is a trick actually is more insulting. People know that magic is an illusion. I invite my spectators to come into my imagination and to enjoy that illusion. It isn't enjoyable if they try to figure it out.



I'm glad that you are thinking about this. What things specifically are you changing in your performance?

Agreed x1000.

I loved watching David Blaine when I was younger and whilst its easy to look back and pick holes I'll share what stood out for me.

Here was a guy, in the era of Paul Daniels and magic wands, top hats and rabbits walking the streets with a deck of cards and freaking people out. He didn't speak much, and he never alluded to 'mystical powers' but that was just it - he didn't have to.

Why do we get scared by things that go 'bump' in the night? Your mind immediately jumps to illogical ways of explaining it. It's the reason ghosts exist in folklore, it's the reasons monsters have been spotted for centuries but never proven. Our brains fill in the gaps where logic or knowledge cannot.

With Blaine he let his spectators fill in the gaps - and you can almost see what they;re thinking. They have no explanations and to me that's what magic is.

We all know deep down that there's a logical explanation somewhere... but for just a second that little bit of doubt is what I love about the art.

When magicians come along and start saying 'look guys we know magic isn't real so admire my card handling skills' it's just... exactly what Chris said. It's cold.

You have a precious few minutes to brighten someone's day and challenge their perception of the world. Don't waste it!

 

[Maaz Hasan]

See above. Heckling a heckler lets them win because it allows them to control YOUR show.

I don't think I phrased what I meant nearly well enough. Basically what I mean is that during a performance, create a scenario you know the heckler will jump for, but make them look like a fool without blatantly confronting them. Just by layering your effects and having specific moments set up to quiet a heckler without ever acknowledging them gives you control over them. You aren't really heckling them as much as simply gaining control over them.

 

[RealityOne]

I don't think I phrased what I meant nearly well enough. Basically what I mean is that during a performance, create a scenario you know the heckler will jump for, but make them look like a fool without blatantly confronting them. Just by layering your effects and having specific moments set up to quiet a heckler without ever acknowledging them gives you control over them. You aren't really heckling them as much as simply gaining control over them.

Anything that makes them look like a fool IS confronting them. Have you tried that and does it work? My sense is there are two possible results, The first is that you make them look like a fool which can lead the audience to think you are a jerk because they didn't deserve that. The second is that it only encourages them to heckle more to get back at you. Design your performances to be heckler proof -- don't incorporate opportunities for a heckler to jump at. If the audience is enjoying your show, no heckler is going to take you on because they know the audience will turn on them. However, if you present magic as "look what I can do" or "let me fool you" (not saying this is what you do Maaz, but saying it hypothetically) - they will heckle you because there is an implied challenge.

 

[CWhite]

We can contemplate the things we can do to lessen the impact of a heckler...but at the end of the day..
Some people are born assholes..
Their mission in life is to prove this point to be true to anyone they come across.
There is nothing we can do, aside from going back in time and making sure their parents used birth control.
Rant..... finished.
Have a great rest of your weekend everyone. Cheers!

 

[Maaz Hasan]

Anything that makes them look like a fool IS confronting them. Have you tried that and does it work? My sense is there are two possible results, The first is that you make them look like a fool which can lead the audience to think you are a jerk because they didn't deserve that. The second is that it only encourages them to heckle more to get back at you. Design your performances to be heckler proof -- don't incorporate opportunities for a heckler to jump at. If the audience is enjoying your show, no heckler is going to take you on because they know the audience will turn on them. However, if you present magic as "look what I can do" or "let me fool you" (not saying this is what you do Maaz, but saying it hypothetically) - they will heckle you because there is an implied challenge.

I essentially use it as a final resort when the audience begins to tell him to shut up, but they wont. Yes it does work. But you have to be very careful not to make it look like a challenge to them, or else the whole thing blows up in your face.

Its a great technique, but you gotta have some sort of quick wit response experience, like if you are really good at comebacks, or "roasting". Then you have to apply that through your magic without blatantly saying it.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

I just finished a 3-weekend run at a ren fair in CT. 7 shows per weekend, 3 were sideshow 4 were my solo mentalism show. Keep in mind, this is busking.

Couple things really stood out to me.

1) Setting the tone of the show right off the bat does wonders to both get people invested, and prevent any possible heckling. This is a fantasy renaissance fair, so there's fairies and goblins and stuff. I'm a Witch Doctor - in comparison, it seems like a very serious thing. So I started opening the show with that ridiculous thing where you have "No" written on a paper and ask someone if they could predict what's on it. They say "no" you show the paper, everyone laughs/groans.

Here's the thing though - I openly admit it's a silly joke, and then everyone's on my side for the rest of the show. I start out by introducing myself, saying I'm a mentalist, saying that mentalists deal with thoughts and energy, and you know what? Let's try a demonstration real quick. I then go right into this though transfer idea, and I treat it very seriously. I have someone imagine they're in a huge, black room, and to let their mind go blank, and then I ask them, "If I were to you ask you, right now, if you knew what was on this paper, what would you say?" And they inevitably say "No". Then I open the notebook and say, "Perfect!"

What I expected to be a silly joke to purposely knock me down a peg, has actually turned into the perfect opener. Because right after I show the paper, most of the crowd will laugh at how ridiculous it is, and then I outright say, "It's a silly joke. I know that. I do this for two reason. The first is because - I use a lot of hoity toity words in my show, and I know that some people could get the impression that I take myself very seriously ... I don't. I don't take myself seriously, at all. The second reason is that I like to establish right off the bat the kind of humor you're going to be seeing in this show.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm not here to provide you with proof. I'm not here to change anyone's beliefs. What I am here to do is to give you a unique experience, and maybe a story to tell when you go see your friends. With that in mind, let me show you this ...."

So to summarize, I give them a very quick idea of what they can expect from the show. I make it seem very serious at first, and I get a lot of questioning looks. I then do something completely stupid and it breaks the tension entirely. They know I'm not a blowhard, they know I respect them, they know my style of humor is kind of ridiculous, and they know that my only intention is to give them a cool experience.

Once I started scripting it this way my shows were distinctly going better. Better tips, better reactions, better energy.

Now for my opening show today, there was a guy in the audience. He didn't even sit down (even though there was seating). He stood there with his arms cross over his chest, blank faced, basically staring me down for the whole 25 minute show. Stone faced, no reaction at all. Never clapped, never laughed, the only thing he did was at one point he tilted his head from one side, to the other.

Now, in my hat line I say, "For a 1 or a 5 you'll get a sincere thank you. For a 10 or a 20, you'll get a slightly sweaty, but extremely sincere hug."

This dude, who seemed 100% like he was only sticking around because his family was watching the show, walked up to me, plunked a 20 into my tip box, and accepted a hug from me, then shook my hand and said the show was incredible.

I bring this up not to brag - but because sometimes we read an audience member wrong. I thought this dude had no interest in what I was doing. I fully expected him to walk away at any minute for the entire show. But he loved it.

Just like how so many magicians will label someone a heckler, when in reality it's just how they think they should be interacting with the show. Sometimes you just need to realize how you can take what someone is saying, even if it seems a little negative, and work it into the show and make it funny.

 

[Al e Cat Dabra]

So the question that has been posed is, "Why do some spectators insist on messing with you?" There have been some very insightful answers and comments posted here on this. In my opinion, there is no single reason, but most often it boils down to the personality or attitude of the performer, and/or the personality or attitude of the spectator. If the magician is motivated by trying to impress to feed his/her ego, they will sense it and will not like it and want to put you down. I think we need to check in with ourselves every once in a while and ask ourselves the question: "Why do I perform magic for people?" People want to feel that it is a two-way street - that they are not simply pawns for someone to show off their skill or how clever they are. So what are we giving to them besides implicitly saying, "Hey look how clever I am," or "Gotcha!" Which is really giving them nothing. Thus, the individual performer's personality/attitude is a huge factor in how people will respond. Magic can be a wonderful means and opportunity for self-discovery, where we can actually improve our personalities and the ability to interact and relate to people, and make them feel good. We can't just look at it from our own perspective (thinking, "I'm gonna blow these people away.") They will sense it, and rebel. So, I think it is important to understand human psychology - and try to approach it from the point of view of the people we are performing for. What gift can we give them? How can we make them feel good? How can we make them, at least for moment, forget about the tough stresses, cares and issue they face in their daily lives? When we start to develop this kind of perspective, we will find fewer and fewer people trying to mess with us and more genuine fans and admirers...

The other side of the coin is the personality of the individual spectator(s). There are certain individuals that have very big egos and THEY want to be the center of attention - and that means trying to seize the spotlight by challenging the magician or otherwise giving him/her a hard time. And there are people who just plain don't like to be fooled. They want to think they are too smart for that. Others have encountered "wise-guy" type magicians who have tried to make a fool of them or who had a superior attitude, which has soured and prejudiced them against magicians in general. Finding ways to soften the "fooling" aspect of magic is a good way to prevent people from messing around with us, for example by making them the star or center of attention. Telling interesting stories with our magic is another good technique - taking the focus away from the unsaid, "OK, now I'm going to do a magic trick and fool the pants off you." The key is to get and keep them on our side.

And when heckled, i would advise strongly against confronting them or trying to one up them. That diminishes the audience's enjoyment and they will turn on us, because even if it's a heckler, it's usually one of their friends, or part of the group they are with, or at least someone they consider as one of them as a fellow audience member. In situations like that, I act like I am on the heckler's side and that he is right. It is like using Judo, rather than resistance. I humorously make that individual part of the show and turn it on myself with self-deprecating humor and comments, even acting as if i agree with the heckler. Turn it into an opportunity for fun and entertainment, and to show that your ego is not at stake at all. Next thing you know, because you have not resisted but embraced that person - all of a sudden, they are your biggest fan and supporter. It's like Magic!