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thinkingisbelieving New user 100 Posts |
Please forgive me if this has been covered before, but I would be interested in seeing how different people handle audience miscues. Sometimes even the most carefully worded pitches and meticulously planned routines can take a turn for the worst if a spectator becomes unruly or makes a simple mistake.
In my case, I usually have about two or three routines "waiting in the wings" for such an eventuality, and so far I have never had had to reach further than one routine. In one performance recently, I gave a spectator a free choice of books for a book test. He selected his book, and I asked him to look through it to be sure that the book was exactly as it appeared and he did. Before performing my reveal, I re-capped briefly what had taken place and when I mentioned that he had a free choice of books he replied, "No I didn't." In this routine it is truly a free choice. I have learned a variety of book tests so that when I perform this part of my show, it truly doesn't matter which book is selected. But when he said "No I didn't," I was caught completely off guard. I immediately pointed to the books and said, "If you would rather pick another one, please feel free to do so." He declined and we continued. After the show was over, I was approached by several audience members who simply asked, "Was he just an idiot, or what?" Of course I didn't respond with anything but a smile (in fact I agreed with them). But I know in some one's mind his words planted the thought that somehow I forced him toward that particular book. Fortunately this is by far the worse thing that I have ever had happen during a performance, so maybe I should count my blessings. But I would be interested in hearing how others may handle performance flubs. |
Jeff Travilla New user Michigan 45 Posts |
My response would simply be that you really shouldn't bring up the fact that the spec. had a free choice more than once. Whenever you make a statement, you also imply the opposite of that statement to be true. For example, "It's really hot out today" implies that there are days where it is relatively the opposite, either very cold, just warm, etc... depending on the climate of the locale. So you see, reminding a spectator that he/she had a "free choice" implies that there are instances where spectators do not have free choices. This is the same reason why I don't tell specs to "examine the deck and make sure it is normal" because that implies that sometimes I use trick decks. When these things are not mentioned, the spectator doesn't let their opposites enter their mind. I hope that made sense.
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chichi711 Inner circle 5810 Posts |
I usually just grab everything I can and run off stage screaming. It works rather well for me.
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BenM New user UK 53 Posts |
Maybe in such an instance a better phrasing would have been: "You could have gone for any book" - it essentially amounts to the same thing as "You had a free choice" but is less direct. In a similar vein to what Jeff said, if he believed you were forcing him to choose a particular book then he is likely to argue against the statement which is the complete opposite to his belief. It is true however that he COULD have gone for any book. Stressing the 'could' slightly would seem fair to the audience, but to such a person it is a 'confirmation' that he was made to choose a particular book but if he really wanted to could have gone for another.
Kenton Knepper's Secrets of Indirection is a good book for such things. I've not really haad any problems with audience members, but one thing which does stand out in my mind is when I was doing a billet s***** and p***...unfortunately I didn't open it up enough and saw blank paper, and so boldly proclaimed that he didn't write anything down at all...but then when he opened his bit of paper to show me and saw his writing had disappeared he was impressed, thankfully. |
entity Inner circle Canada 5060 Posts |
Perhaps your participant meant that he only had a choice of the books that you offered him, and not a free choice of ANY book. If so, changing your script to say that he had a free choice "of any of THESE books" would solve the problem.
- entity
email: tomebaxter@icloud.com
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Martin Pulman Inner circle London 3399 Posts |
I've found the most effective method is the two sentence solution (I must apologise but I can't think of the creator off the top of my head).
In the above example you could say, "You had a free choice of a book, and now you are thinking of a word? Is that correct?" The spectator is left with little choice but to say yes to your second statement, and the audience assumes he has agreed with both statements. It helps to emphasise the second half of the sentence by volume or slower speed. A little subtlety I've nicked from Sir Anthony Hopkins helps in this situation, which is to put in an elongated hesitation sound after the word "and". It's difficult to put in print but would read something like: "You had a free choice of book and err...(said relatively swiftly, leaving the "err" hanging in the air)...now you are thinking of an interesting word, yes?"(said with a more definite emphasis). |
Carlos the Great Inner circle California 1234 Posts |
There is an excellent section on "convincers" in Strong Magic by Darwin Ortiz. I won't butcher it by trying to repeat it from memory but the idea is that direct statements may not be the best way to convince somebody of something. Perhaps some little action or statement, made in an off-hand way, will do the job better.
-Carlos
Cognite tute
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magicmind Inner circle My fence has 20, 3218 Posts |
Quote:
On 2006-08-31 05:58, BenM wrote: ambiguous statements always work well. You can always restate what happened in better details (wonder Words) |
Sensio Special user I promise I won't exceed 641 Posts |
I was watching yesterday a nice DVD by Gregory Wilson "In Action volume 1". It is full of street performance full of hecklers, children etc. I think he displays a very wise approach to such issues.
It should be better for someone to watch and study it but in my eyes what he successfully does, encompasses three strong principles: 1) Confidence - he is confident of his performance, outcome and possible problems so he is acting naturally while at the same time his mind is full of mental overload on how to handle each situation. This of course is mainly a result of extensive experience of "live" performances. 2) Honesty - although he lies all the time, he behaves in a very honest manner that builds trust and makes things more "believable". 3) He is always there with some emergency plan - you play with his nerves? He will answer in a natural , honest and confident manner by hitting you harder and making you feel that he is there to win the title of the specatcular magician... He very often uses direct phrasing and I think this helps his honesty image. Just some thoughts... aware |
Sven Heubes New user Duesseldorf, Germany 59 Posts |
I witnessed the performance of a fellow mental-magician the other night. It was a stage act. He had a girl on stage and performed a CT with her. Accidantly he misadvised her and asked her to draw an image onto that paper "just in her mind", yeah, and she did... I was siiting ther mouthopen and thought "F***!!! How will he get along with this. She folded it, he turned around to tear the paper and I could see a little astonishment on his face, when he realized, that there was nothing on it. He then used some cold reading to get as close to her image as he could. For the audiance it made it seemingly more believable.. I have to say "CHAPEAU!!!", that he had the balls to rescue the effect that way. That was a pretty impressive way of handling the situation and leave as a winner.
If you were half as good as you think you are, you would be double as good as you think you are...
Dai Vernon |
Carlos the Great Inner circle California 1234 Posts |
Hey Sven, what did she draw? I am curious if Banachek's "generic" drawing would have worked in this instance.
Cognite tute
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Philosophry Veteran user 321 Posts |
The only real problem I've had with spectators is them forgetting what they wrote, or a card they picked etc.
I must admit that I've done it myself. I was at a magic show as a spectator once and picked as a volunteer. I went on stage, chose a card, and then watched the trick unfold. As I watched, I saw the magician force a card on a second spectator. It was so good and I was so impressed, I completely forgot which card I'd chosen. |
Sven Heubes New user Duesseldorf, Germany 59 Posts |
Carlos, in fact she did draw nothing (for real) and so he went onto the "fishing-tour". He came up with something spiky and water so his picture was a sailing-boat on the water. What shew drew in her mind was a mountain with a waterfall. Really not the same but somehow close. By his way of presentation (and he is a strong personality), the people still freaked out... So, this is about 3 years ago and I can't remember every detail, but I think that gives you an idea of what happened.
If you were half as good as you think you are, you would be double as good as you think you are...
Dai Vernon |
Carlos the Great Inner circle California 1234 Posts |
Hi Sven,
Yeah, I was being dumb, I meant, what did she think of and you answered that, thanks. I think that, amazingly enough, Banachek's drawing would have worked out in a pinch in this situation. For those of you familiar with it, there's a mountian right? And a pond or lake or some water at the bottom? And how does water get to the bottom? Thanks, Sven and I guess I should thank Banachek as well. -Carlos
Cognite tute
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Mariagi Special user MIND, MYTH & MAGICK 654 Posts |
Interesting interpretation of Banachek's universal drawing.
Another interpretation ad hoc: What he was really getting was a triangle shaped image and some water so he thought he was a sailboat. But it was the peak of the mountain. This would work well in many situations and if that performer had the strong charisma purported here it woud have worked even more convincingly for him. Sometimes one need just some little thinking on their feet. |
Sven Heubes New user Duesseldorf, Germany 59 Posts |
Carlos you're welcome!
Greetz, Sven
If you were half as good as you think you are, you would be double as good as you think you are...
Dai Vernon |
Carlos the Great Inner circle California 1234 Posts |
Quote:
On 2006-09-01 19:07, Mariagi wrote: Exactly. That was the very first impulse I had with matching the Banachek drawing with what she thought of. I pictured the Banachek drawing with a squiggle going down the "mountain". As such, it looks just like a moutain with a waterfall falling into a lake or pond at the bottom. To me at least. Well, to be quite honest, I convince myself that that is what it looks like and spectators pick up on my belief. -Carlos
Cognite tute
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