It seems that hardly a thread can go by without somewhere in it, someone says (paraphrasing) "Well, you probably won't get away with (insert sleight/gimmick/effect here) with a magician watching, but otherwise you should be okay."

Is this a big issue for people? Pardon my naivety, but I don't think I personally know of one other person in my circle of friends, family, or acquaintances who performs or even knows a lot of magic. I find the occasional person who knows a 'count off 10 cards in 3 piles' type of trick, but in general nobody I know does any sleight of hand, use gimmicks, etc. I'm sure that's not the case for everyone as some of you come from magical families (or larger communities than I), but I may not be alone, either.

My question, therefore, is how much should I worry about whether I'll have a magician in my audience vs just do the tricks and hope for the best? And, actually, I'd think that if there *was* a magician in my audience, if they were smart and/or a reasonable person, they'd not announce to the crowd how every trick was done. Or is the point to be so amazing that nobody could ever guess, magician or not? While I'd like to be able to perform like that, I'd imagine it takes a tad (read: tons) more practice.

Maybe I'm wrong here, but, again, is it so much a problem for people that other magicians might figure out our stuff? Let me know what you think.

If the person was really a magician, he'd never be a heckler.=) Most people aren't magicians so don't worry about it. I perform my magic to magicians not to fool them, but it's more to give ideas.

It really depends on what you want to do. There are effects that can fool magicians. A lot of these effects rely a lot on misdirection or usually use gimmicks. But there's really no point in them.

Your magic performance should be more to entertainment than trying so hard just to fool them. I love watching people like Bill Malone perform even though I know how he does his effects. As long as everyone has a great time, everyone goes home happy.

If you were performing for a large audience which included one or more magicians, don't worry.
No decent magicians would EVER tell anyone how you did anything and, likely, they would lead the applause.

(Of course, part of the problem is that there are so few DECENT magicians around!)

I know when I end up in an aduience I have to keep myself from applauding at the wrong thing. But I am always leading the applause. I'm here, as are most magicians, to support the art!!

When I watch other magic shows, I like to pay as much attention as I can to the performance. I don't usually care how a particular effect was pulled off. The way the magician presents himself is of great interest to me. The routines, the audience. Personally, I always lead the applause, and usually it is well deserved. I'f you're worried about magicians in the audience, wory about how the whole show comes off, and not whether a magician can figure out a particular effect.

Enjoy!!

The only way you have to worry is if you are being taught to be a magician. Your "mentor" may be a little critical. As for your audience, magicians are rarely there. Even if they were, they wouldn't dare say a thing except maybe compliment or criticize you (for your benefit) after the show. Unless you plan to perform in a magic club or something, you don't have to worry about "Uncle Bob who pulls coins out of my ear" figuring out your act.

My approach is simple. Know your audience.
If you are performing for the general public, don't worry about the magician that might be there. Work for the group.
If you are performing for magicians, make sure your show and you are ready for them. They are your audience.
Most performers like to check-out what other performers are doing. Don't worry about them. Others performers are not there to give you a hard time.

MagicRMA

Magician's tend to look at a performance in a different way... If you have good (technical) skill you'll have the magicians applauding very easily!

Wouldn't you love to go to a magic convention or magic club meeting and lay out three rows of seven cards with really lame patter and presentation--and THEN proceed to name any card thought of rapid-fire, one after the other, without asking questions or touching the cards?

You would fry us all and get a good laugh to boot!

alleycat

Alleycat,

What a BRILLIANT IDEA! I'm desperately waiting for some literature that might actually allow me to make that happen! I think I might try that at the next SAM meeting! Hilarious!