Shaun, Great opening line. I love it!

"Which is very cool when there are people at them but when there's no one there it is kinda weird."

Thanks jrbobik,
it only comes from hitting the trenches enough times and being shot down too!!

I also ask if they would like to see some magic before their food shows up. If they say no, well, yeah it hurts a little but thank them for coming to the restaurant and wish them a good evening. Walk away and shake it off. The next table will be dying for entertainment!!!

Trust me
Shaun R.

I'm not a table hopper but have considered it. Here are my thoughts on "opening lines".

Introduce yourself. Maybe doing a coin roll or something.

Then ask a question where the response will not be a simple "yes" or "no".

"Where are you from?"

"What brings you to our establishment?"

"Who is you favorite magician?"

"If you could trade palces with anyone in the world, who would it be?"

Questions like these may seem like your prying but I think this can also be a good way to break the ice.

Am I wrong here?

I believe he's very careful to keep them out of reach, and I think his line if someone says yes is something along the lines of, "oh, that's too bad, because this once actually appears to be white" and then goes along with his routine.

I've said it before on here but I wouldn't say you are there to entertain every table. By ssaying "some of the tables" it makes the people seem special that you have chosen them as one of the few you have chosen to entertain.

That has to be the lamest excuse for an opening line I know of. I use "Did anybody at this table lose a pearl - handled pocketknife?" That's a much classier line.

The VERY FIRST time I did the cold approach, I used that stupid line, "Excuse me. Did you happen to lose a little black knife."

This guy at the bar reached into his pocket, came out with a knife virtually identical to mine, and said, "Nope."

He put his knife back into his pocket and turned back to his beer. I felt like such a dumba**!

LOL I can't believe no one has said....let me show you my red balls...LOL DEVO......

The line I used when I was table hopping years ago was.....
My Name is....I lost a pair of glasses did anyone find them? Oh sorry I ment a contact...then I produce a huge plastic contact from my eye.... of course some of you will think that is not a good thing at a restraunt but I believe it all depends on the performer and it worked very well for me.

tpdmagic

From most of these lines, you can see why people don't like magicians.

Since I do mentalism I say "excuse me can I get your opinion on something... do you believe in esp?" what ever they I then ask think of a number from 1 and 1000 then tell them what they are thinking... after that they usually want to talk to me

I liked the line of one of our brothers in the Street Magic Forum..

"Excuse me, I'm doing random acts of magic. Do you mind if I show you one?"

nice!

I'd recommend everyone get Ken Weber's book "Maximum Entertainment" No effects just real world advice, his opening line is ... " ", No, that would be spoiling it for you, get the book and get all the rest of his advice aswell.

Regards

Al.

First I make an eye to eye contact, then I approach the table and ask 'Any magician came to this table already?'. The reply is 90% 'Magician??? No! Is there any magician here???', then I say 'Yeeesss, here I am. And I have something very special for you. Would you mind to see it?'. Again, 90% of the reply is 'Yes'. From this moment on, everything depends on you.

That's how I do.

Be friendly, be confident, introduce yourself, and ask people if they'd like to see some magic in a way that doesn't make them feel uncomfortable or put on the spot. I'd share my exact line, but it's too idiosyncratic to be useful to others.

Larry D.

I Loooooove Romulo's approach!

Good Sir I beg to differ with you there are a ton of great magic openers depending on who’s hands they are in. And for you to tell anyone never to open directly with a trick is just wrong. The reason I say this is you seem to be imposing your performance style on someone who may have a completely different style than yourself. I many times will open with a very visual effect at the table and then move into my introduction while I am performing a follow up. This may just fit my style or tempo at the time. Something else that I think that you should take into consideration is that in a lot of restaurants people will know that you are a magician before you even get to the table because they have seen you at other tables prior to getting to them. As far as your comments on the color changing knife routine I have used versions of this as well the one thing that you may have not gotten when watching the “Named Magician” is that if the spectator says yes the magician says “too bad because this one is white” and then moves into the remainder of the knife routine. Other “Named Magicians” have covered this topic in depth on several DVD’s, Lecture Notes, and Books for example David Stone talks about this in Stone Live at FFFF, he uses a fire wallet as his opener. Joey Brummett a very talented performer and creator of magic from South West Florida, uses a Hot Line Cell Phone (Fire Phone) as his opener when he approaches a table and it gets a great reaction prior to introducing himself and I will add that it is very funny to watch as well.

I understand that you may have a performance style that works well for you and I am not questioning that or the fact that guests of restaurants do not always want to see a magician, but what I am questioning is the fact that you would tell someone to “Never” do something in a creative nature. I would say why not step outside of your comfort zone every once a while and see what works test things out as the old saying goes there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Best wishes,
Kris

Ken Webers book "Maximum Entertainment" is an excellent book but Darwin Ortiz "Strong Magic" has it beat in a big way. Every magician should read strong magic.

This may sound corny, but I developed it when I was new and nervous. I'd go up to the table and tell them the restaurant is providing entertainment and would they like the House magician to come over and entertain them? If the say no, I don't feel hurt ( I don't feel that way now, but your first few nights you tend to take it personal ). If they say yes, I say " let me get him. I spin around, throw out my arms and say" I'm the Magician".

They always laugh.

I don't do this to every table. Over the years I've learned to read the room and know who wants to see magic or not. But, on those occasions where I have doubt, I use this technique.

I have found out after several years of table hopping that if you simply ask the table if they would like to see a trick it gives them an opportunity to think about it ("I wonder if he is going to be as boring as uncle Joe's card trick was last Christmas" or "No we don't have any children with us tonight"). When doing restaraunt work I almost always wear a very nice expensive suit as I perform at some very upscale venues on a very regular bases such as 4 and 5 star dining experiences, Country Clubs, Cocktail Parties and so on, So I always approach the table or group by saying "Hello, how is everything this evening?" Imedietly they asume that I am the manager, so I have there attention. "Is this your first time dining with us?" if I don't recognize them. "Well my name is Matthew and I am the House Magician" At this point they are more than comfortable with me because they know that Iam supposed to be there and didn't just wonder in off of the street. I imedietly go on with the first effect that I intend to do. It is not uncommon for me to recieve $10 and $20 tips at each table (even thought the restaraunt is paying me very well) but I guess that it depends on the venue that you are working. I hope that this helps.

MDS

Personally, I'd rather give the table a choice than to force magic on them. There are approaches that result in mostly "yes" responses, one of which I use.