After ages of practicing, I'm now at the stage of performing in front of friends and family.
my first attempts went well but I have one quite annoying relative who constantly wants to check everything, shuffle the cards and criticises every trick I do.
although ive basically stopped doing tricks when he is around its still knocked my confidence a bit.

are there any good books or training dvds on how to deal with audience reactions? what should you do if they want to examine cards (and I'm only taking about close up magic in front of 3-4 friends) or they question what you are doing?

any advice - greatly received. (i tried searching other posts so apologies if this has been covered off before)

The foremost advice people are about to give you is

a) don't perform for relatives.

However, I'd like to give you some pointers how I lower their guards whenever I perform for relatives (since I know they will be questioning a lot of things).

a) befriend the heckler. This may be counterintuitive (we all know these "great" heckler stoppers, believe me.. they don't work (read Ortiz' work in Strong Magic for example). Say something along the lines of "how come you know this trick? Nice, that's kinda cool. Can I try it on her, let me hear after the trick what you thought about my performance." Now it isn't about fooling the heckler anymore but about him looking how you perform the trick for somebody else (i have to smile whenever I do that)

b) another one is to preclaim before you start that you just started out. By being modest, you lower their guards a little bit. Say something along these lines "You know I just start with magic.. well I practised for a long time but I have no real experience of performing. YOu know what, can I show you guys something and afterwards (subtle hint that they don't interrupt your performance) you can tell me how you like it ok? Remember , I don't have real experience" This will lower their guards a bit.

c) Darwin Ortiz rwrites a lot on this. His advice was to ignore the heckler, totally ignore his existence. This is hard to do, but it might help also. I prefer the psychologically softer approaches though, but will resort to this when those fail

d) if nothing helps, just quit. not your loss mate. Its their loss not yours

Hope these small pointers help. Give them a try, I urge you

Good advice, that...

Greetings Nick;
Out in the "real world" you are ABSOLUTELY going to run into these types of people- they want to examine everything, shout out "explanations", and generally disrupt or even ruin your performance.
I would suggest just being prepared- If this guy wants to examine the cards and shuffle them himself- do some research and learn a few soild effects that you can do with a shuffled deck or ungimmicked props. Juan Tamariz' book Verbal Magic is full of fantastic material. As you perform more for audiences, your confidence will grow.
I agree with Michael's point he made- "heckler lines" can really backfire on you if you're not careful with them.
In my opinion, I am not under any obligation to perform for an individual whose only investment in the experience is to challenge you. He is never going to admit that he is satisfied with your performance. On more than 1 occasion I have said to somebody, "you're not here to be entertained; you're here to play 'bust the magician', but unfortunately for you I'm under no obligation to play along. Have a nice day."
Best of Luck;
Mike

I think there is a spacial issue at play, also. "Close up" does not have to mean shoulder to shoulder. If you watch a good magic busker, you will see that they keep the specs at a reasonable distance (until they want to bring them closer for obvious reasons). If you can create a 3 or 4 foot space between you and the specs, it really helps with the grabbers, etc....

I was about to mention FASDIU effects, but Mike beat me to it with some good advice. To this I would only add "Stripper".

Jim

[quote]On 2010-07-19 10:31, mandarin wrote:

I was about to mention FASDIU effects, but Mike beat me to it with some good advice. To this I would only add "Stripper".

Great idea Jim! Hire a stripper to distract him !
Cheers;
Mike

Works everytime, Mike... most hecklers are men!

Jim

The advice about busking is a good one. When I was doing street magic, I worked out of a full size suitcase and had a folding table. Setting up the table and putting the suitcase on a camp-stool created a "performance space" and thus a barrier that in general no one crossed unless I invited them to.

You *could* try a sucker trick with these guys but it might backfire as it might just upset them. Clearly they already have issues or they wouldn't be heckling you. I always look for good sports for a sucker role, not bad ones.

In the end, yes, "ignore them" while hard at first is probably the best advice. They are looking for attention and giving it to them just feeds the need. Of course its easier to ignore strangers then relatives (which speaks to Mike's first point.)

What makes you think only men watch strippers?

LOL- well there is that,,,

You can check this book out:

http://www.leeasher.com/store/books/handle_hecklers.html

Is there any way you can chat privately with this person? "You know I'm brand-new at this, and I don't have a lot of performing confidence yet. When you shout comments and grab stuff, it really takes me down and makes me feel like I don't want to perform for you any more - or maybe not at all for anyone. Can you please not do that? I could really use your encouragement, instead of your verbal beatings."

If that doesn't help, then you're kind of stuck. Some of these people view a magic trick as a threat to their intelligence or to their sense of self-worth and control. If there's something they don't know and can't explain, their world gets a crack in it. And especially if it's done by a younger relative!

(There's also those - usually much older people - that have a secret suspicion that if they can't explain it then it's demonic. So they must expose you as a "fake", if only to protect themselves and others. rust me - it's real. But usually these people will come after you with fear, not with a smirk on their face."

There would only be one other thing to try, and only if it's really very important to you to continue to perform for these people and you _must_ shut him down. The next time you are surrounded by others who are very supportive of you and this guy opens his mouth, just stop right in the middle of your trick. Gather your cards - or if he's grabbed them then let his keep them. Sigh big, look around, and say "I'm sorry - I can't continue if he's going to keep doing that." And walk away, apologetic, but not defeated.

Ed

The street is no place for beginners. Do not, I repeat DO NOT try to entertain out in the street. The street is best left to professional buskers, and not a rookie with a deck of cards.

Your reletave is trying to fluster you, and he is succeeding. Having a war of words will only wind up in an argument. If I were you I would slow down, look him in the eye, and laugh in his face everything he is doing is an effort to take your head out of your game. The cooler you are, the more stupid he will look.

Nick
Did anyone welcome you to the magic Café? If not let me be the first to welcome you to the magic Café.

When I do walkaround at a banquet, or restaurant I will aproach a table, and look for the one person who will be the hardest to fool to do my first trick for, because I know when I fool him everybody else at the table will applaude me. Do not let anything distract you, maintain a steady rythem, and everyone will listen to you, and ignor the heckler.

The other choice is to stop doing tricks for your family.

HAVE FUN

Thanks for the great advice everyone. ive ordered a copy of "strong magic" to have a read through but I must admit I think treating any dodgy questions with more of a non-confrontation approach suits me much better, but I hope reading the book will give me lots of ideas anyway.

also - really appreciated the advice about distance. because I'm only practicing still in front of family, its often round the dinner table and we are close together - this certain family member would be close enough to spot my DL for example. need to create a bit more distance and I think this will help loads. (and yes - more practice needed!)
I will try and find some "shuffling tricks" too - I'd love to show him a trick that really blows him away ha ha.

and thanks for welcoming me to the forums. its such a great source of inspiration especially when I cant master that really simple sleight and I'm about to give up!!

thanks again everyone and good luck with your own magic.
nick

I found doing street magic that very often you can use your surrounding to help with angles and distance, given a bit of forethought. Position yourself to your own best advantage

Close relatives are hard to deal with, especially siblings. Younger ones are contantly trying to pull you down so they can look bigger, and older ones keep trying to push you back down so they can keep "top dog" spot.

Maybe stay away from the after-dinner "venue", and instead ask them to all gather in the living room for a show. It allows you to get the distance you need, and changes the set-up to put you on a stage. That lets you put on a "magician" character, and you actually become less threatening because once you step out of character, you're just "my brother" again.

Ed

ISo.. I only half agree with Al about the street btw.

The street is wild and difficult to control. Its certainly not the easiest environment at all. OTOH it will give you a baptism of fire. My cross over from amateur to semi-pro (and now I'm back to amateur again) was accomplished by just going out and doing it.

Its NOT for the feint of heart or weak of ego. But if there is one thing I've found true in life, its that the one thing Nietzsche said that wasn't impossible to understand is very very true... "That which does not kill us, makes us stronger."

My whole life has been better for the strength I gained doing street magic.


Oh and the advice above is all excellent. The most important thing to remember is that you don't *owe* anybody an explanation or a response. Its your show, you are in charge. Believe it and act like it and you'll find you get a lot less heckling.

If they bug you quit showing them stuff.just say,"i'm working on some new things."the old rule is,if they're not paying,make them ask you twice.the first request could be a sympathy screwover,a gotcha maneuver or just plain horse's ass.asking the second time signals that they may be genuinely interested.but beware always for the double cross,esp whe women are present.if you look bad,he looks good.gravitate toward the watchers who treat you with courtesy and a measure of respect.and remember,some will be laying for you to bum you out.remove these individuals from your society.if you're not being paid,you are working for them as a favor(and to get better,so somebody will pay you).when the mechanic repairs your car,try heckling him w/some snappy retort like,"are you sure about that?" and see how he takes it.perfing magic is a business and you must conduct yourself like a businessman.as you age it will become more difficult to retain your dignity doing,"tricks" so look to the future.don't wind up some bozo.learn a few things real well and don't stoop to the level of a heckler."i always gently ask them,"do you feel better now,now you got that out of your system? can we go on?"joey bishop and billy mccomb each had the perfect hecklerstopper.in time you will find yours rooted in your delivery and personality.never go after them.you always lose,even if the laff is huge.don't pander.