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Andrew Mann New user Australia 22 Posts |
G'day, due to the nature of our job we often come into contact with children who are a little naughty, overexcited etc, these kids I'm fine with. But now and again you get some kids who are really bad, shoving people aside, swearing, stealing and performing various other types of anti-social behaviour.
I had one group of 11-13 year olds who were shining lasers in young childrens eyes, swearing, shoving etc etc. After telling them to leave they became worse. I'm curious to hear other peoples stories and how others they dealt with the "Really Bad Kids" cheers Andrew |
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keeblem Inner circle Essex, UK 1167 Posts |
I think the more you perform, the more confindent you are, the less likely you will have a problem with misbehaved kids. I think the 11-13 year old group that you mention is probably the worst age group - and it's not an age group that I would normally perform for.
One thing that really gets to me, is when a child is playing up, quite often the parents will just stand there and watch - without saying or doing anything. Mark |
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Joe Howard Loyal user The Peoples Republic of Massachusetts 204 Posts |
I once had a boy, (he was maybe, 7 or 8), tell me, "If you don't give me a balloon RIGHT NOW, I'm going to stab you in the B**** with this fork !" And he held up the fork. I just looked at him and said, " Maybe your parents let you talk to them like that, but you won't talk to me like that, you're getting nothing, now go sit in the back of the room." And he did, and he got nothing. You should have seen the look on the birthday boy's father when he heard the other boy say that. it was priceless.
Joe H |
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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
Andrew: I really hear you and completely understand. I had a situation hapen tonight that is a bit similar but a tad different as well.
I was performing for the premire of the new Harry Potter movie at a local cinema near to where I live. I was to perform in the lobby and the long lines from about 7-10pm. My main goal was to perform for the families and the kids seeing the movie and to perform for others who may like to see some magic and have a good time. Most everyone was well behaved and most enjoyed what I did and had a good time with it. The problem lied in the early teenagers around 13-16 who tended to hang out in the lobby just causing problems with no intention of actually seeing a movie at all. Now as a performer, I can tune out quite a bit of stuff and things usually do not bother me. I let things go if I can as long as it is not ruining the enjoyment of the people I am performing for. However, tonight those teens went too far and this magician was not going to stand for it from them or anyone who acts in the way they did towards me and my audience. As I am performing for a family and a group of younger children, this punky teen finds it funny to bad mouth me and the group I am doing magic for. That was fine and I can choose to ignore that. What I WILL not tolerate is when the kid came over to me and flicked the back of my heair and my head with hsi hand during my performance. Now I do not care WHO you are. NO ONE touches me and NO one ruins and disrespects me in that fashion. I will not take that form a punky teen and I will not have a kid that age ruin the enjoyment for the kids I am doing magic for. Well that sent me over the top. I stopped the show right there and turned around so fast to stare that kid down that he literally steppped back a few. I basically told the kid, "I do not care who you are or who you are trying to be, but I will not stand here and have you disrespect me and worse disrespect this audience who came here tonight to see some magic." Well that pretty much put the kid in his place really fast as his posse went outside. I went back to the show and apologized to my audience for them having to see that and spologized to them for kid who was acting like an immature idiot. You know what happened? The audience loved it. They literally thanked me afterwards and shook my hand telling me that they apprecitaed me doing what I did on their behalf. There are bad kids, and then there are really bad immature teens who will do nothing short of ruining your show, swearing or worse just to try and act tough in front of their other immature friends. I always show respect to anyone I meet and usually the person causing the problem will get a polite warning. However, if you swear at me, touch me or act ion a way that is disrepectful towards my audience, then I will put you in your place and fast. Just my 2 cents. Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
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KenW Elite user 439 Posts |
2 cents well spent...
Thank you |
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glodmagic Special user USA 501 Posts |
It sounds like Malfoy was there.
Remember ANY of your posts here can be Googled by your customers and Clients. Just entering your name in Google can bring up your negative comments that stay for years!
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Steve V Inner circle Northern California 1878 Posts |
Worse kid I ever had at a show I popped in the head with a balloon pump. He behaved after that. Note, I do not suggest popping a kid in the head with a pump unless you can get away with it.
Steve V |
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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
Thanks guys. Malfoy was an angel compared to these um..er lets just call them CREEPS and leave it at that. I mean I am a pretty nice guy and I can allow a lot of stuff to happen and just let it slide. But, I WILL NOT tolerate any teen being disrespectful to me and my audience by swearing and touching me and causing a problem infront of young children I was performing for. That is where I draw the line. I had no problem stopping the show and putting that kid in his place. Maybe others in his life never did that to him, and maybe that is part of the problem, but I was not going to stand for it and I would do the same thing again if I had to.
Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
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Danny Hustle Inner circle Boston, MA USA 2393 Posts |
Quote:
On 2005-11-19 09:44, Joe Howard wrote: Sounds like a twisting gig I had the Saturday before Halloween. It was in a very urban area and a couple of kids were swearing and acting like this but the thing that really shocked me was the nine year old who came up and said, "Make me a Mac 10 mother %@$*(^!" I looked at the two adults that were with him (both guys in their 20's)and they were laughing like crazy. In hind sight they may have put him up to it. Anyway, I made him a ray gun and pointed out that lasers penetrated body armor better than a nine millimeter. They found this acceptable, and amusing. Because of the situation I did not feel comfortable telling them to take a hike. I am glad that this is a rare occurrence. It's funny...now. Best, Dan- "MT is one of the reasons we started this board! I’m so sick of posts being deleted without any reason given, and by unknown people at that." - Steve Brooks Sep 7, 2001 8:38pm ©1999-2014 Daniel Denney all rights reserved. |
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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
Dan. I can respect you trying to keep your cool in the light of a situation like that. I am glad it worked out ok for you. However, I still never find it appropriate or cool for any kid or teen to swear like that or to disrespect me or my audience by their rudeness.
It is also a very rare occsssion when it happens for me also and I usually never have a problem with it. It is just those rare occassions when you usually have teens or early 20's kids trying to act up infront of their so-called friends just to try and make themselves look good. It is really sad if you ask me. In last nights situation, It was this case exactly. I do not mind anyone sassing me or goofing off. I can zone that out or say a funny comment that puts that right down easily. It was when this teen started swearing to me and to my audience and then proceeded to flick my hair and hit my neck while I was performing, that I had enough and had to set that kid in place. I will not have kids like that ruin the enjoyment for the other young kids I was performing for. I certainly will not have them swearing at me and never AT my audience who was mainly 5-8 year olds and their parents. That was taking it one step too far. I am glad my audience understood and thanked me for doing what I did. it does not happen often, but when it does, I like to confront the issue head on. Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
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Steve V Inner circle Northern California 1878 Posts |
You are in Philly Kyle, you should have grabbed the kid, dragged him home, then beat his father in front of him. That is the Philly way.
Steve V |
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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
Steve. hehehe Man I came really close to doing that. =) This was in Quakertown, PA which is probably even worse then Philly in some regards. I did not even tell you what happened outside when I was loading up my truck. That was even better. At least I can laugh at it now.
Let us just say that another bunch of hoodlums starting calling out obscenities towards me as I am loading up my truck. I did not care and made light of it. However, my wife comes out and they start swearing at her and making fun of her. Well let me tell you THAT did not settle well with me. I swung around so fast that I think that kid's head is still spinning. I never touched him at all, but man I walked right up to that kid and stared him right in the eyes and told him a few things that were on my mind. Oh he listend alright. Then finally a rent a cop came over and kicked the kids out. The cop said thanks for handling it the way I did. He says the kids have no respect for anyone around here and it takes someone with an attitude and a person with respect to do what I did. You can make fun of me all you want and you do not even have to like magic. That is not a problem for me. Do not ever ever make fun and swear at my wife. Well let me say at least it was an interesting evening and one in which I now can laugh at. You know what made it all better though? Today I had the honor of seeing one of my SYM kids I teach magic to obtain the highest ranking in boy scouts by becoming an Eagle Scout. This kid is the same age as those teens last night, but he chose a different path and I was so proud of that kid today. Man it made all of last night vanish from my mind. Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
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olivertwist Special user Nashua, NH 588 Posts |
Way to go Kyle. Good stories. I haven't run into anything that bad yet, but I'll keep your posts in mind for when it does happen.
Oliver |
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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
Thanks Oliver. It means a lot to me. To be dead honest that was the worst experience I have ever had with any person in my 20 years of doing magic. At first I was really quite shocked that the kids actually said and did what he did. I have never had anyone be and act that rude to me before on any occassion. Itwas quite shocking really. I can't say I want to go through it again, but if it ever happens again, I would be safe to say I would handle it the same way. I will not tolerate anyone disrepecting me or my audience the way that kid did.
Watching my former SYM member become an Eagle scout today made last night vanish from my mind. Watching him up there receive that honor and recognition almost brought me to tears. In some ways I felt he was my own son because I had taught him for so many years with magic and with the club. This kid could have chosen to be like that teenager last night but he didn't. He decided to go on a different path and for that I am truely grateful. Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
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Brian Tanner Loyal user Ohio 297 Posts |
Kyle, you handled the situation like the total professional that you are ! However, it seems to me that if an establishment has persons on the premises acting in a socially unacceptable manner,(such as what seems to be the case that evening) that the manager should be alerted and throw them out !
I had a somewhat similar experience when I managed a music store. One evening we were extremely busy at the counter with parents and their children in line to purchase musical instrument accessories.There were children there as young as 6 years old. My staff and I were filling orders as quickly as we could.There were two gentlemen in the line, about in their early 20's. They were using one obscenity after another, and they were quite loud in doing so. Everyone in the store could hear them, including women and children. I had to stop in the middle of filling a customer's order, and I said " Excuse me , gentlemen ! This is a place of business! There are women and young children in here. If you can't conduct yourselves accordingly, you'll both have to leave !" They had apologized for their behavior and left the store. As they were walking out the door, the other customers burst into applause ! One man thanked me for what I said to these creeps. He told me he wished that more businesses would react that way to these ill mannered jerks, as it was not the first time that he had been embarrassed by other's behavior in front of his young children. I can let a lot of things run off of my back, but blatant disrespect for myself and others, I cannot tolerate. I imagine most businesses need every dollar they can generate just to stay open. However , a line must be drawn somewhere. Most decent people will not patronize a place that they don't feel comfortable in being. It is so sad that there are those who will behave so vulgar and crudely in public. Thank goodness that most people are good , honest , and decent human beings. |
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Joe Howard Loyal user The Peoples Republic of Massachusetts 204 Posts |
Steve,
You're killing me (popping him in the head with a balloon pump, you're killing me) Joe H |
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cardone Special user 860 Posts |
I arrived at a 10 bedroom mansion to entertain at a 12 year olds birthday party ... The housekeeper brought me to the room I would be performing in.... I like to meet the kids before the show so I can size them up,but this time the kids were in another wing of the house....It was show time and I could hear some one running to the room... A boy almost as tall as me ran in the room and looked at me and said " I can tell by the way you dress ..you are going to S--k!" quickly I asked him if he was the birthday boy and he said no....I said"I'm packing up and leaving right now and you can explain to the family why I was leaving ...I'm not putting up with imature talk like that!" He said he was sorry....I told him I was going to do my night club show because I heard the group was very mature....The show went very well.....smooth as silk.......
I always use the mature thing to gain respect.....I think a lot of kids act immature because they think it is mature....... I guess they see a lot of bad examples...... |
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rhinomax Regular user 188 Posts |
Often at younger bday parties 6-8 years its ez to pick out the problem its 10- 13 year old cousin Joey sitting in the group 2 heads taller than the rest. He is already out of place and needs to prove his superiority, very dangerous. I usualy try to win him over before the show starts with the promise of teaching a card trick or how to juggle after the show. this early interaction qualifies him as a problem or not. I have had times when he tells me Im toast already. At this point the client ( the one wrighting the check no matter how the show turns out ) is informed that the quality of the performance will be greatly dimminished as long as Joey is involved, thier choice. afterward never engage these children simply ignor them.
NEVER UNDER ESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE FEW TO CHANGE THE WORLD "THATS USUALY HOW IT WORKS" MARGRET MEAD
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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
In my case, it was really a matter of teenagers aged 13-16 who wre hanging out at the theater in groups just to cuase problems with no intention of actually seeing a movie at all. Also, they were not forced into seeing the magic I did nor was it a party sitauion where they were there because they had to be. In my case these kids chose to act in a disrespectful way just because they thought they could make themsleves look good and feel important infront of their friends. It was quite sad to be honest with you and the theater management should have done something sooner then they did, but I handled it the way I only could and I would do the same again if I had to. I just will not tolerate disrespect towards my audience.
Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
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Steve Haffner Regular user Kentucky 108 Posts |
Kyle,
I wonder how many "Bravo!"s you have received that you don't even know about. Probably form most of the magicians reading this thread! You got one from me, that's for sure. I don't know what I'd do in that situation, but I hope I would have the guts to stand up to the trouble-maker and the grace not to go overboard and make a fool of myself. Thanks for the good example. I'll remember it. - Steve |
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