I wish all my spectators would react like this!
kiki

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0w5k9Ct7e4&feature=related

Freaking americans.xD

?

!

I’ve performed magic in Greece, Italy, Germany, France, Austria, Holland, England, as well as in the States and the reactions from spectators is almost identical in every country. People love magic, and the only issues I’ve run into are with certain religious beliefs. Magic breaks the “social ice” with nearly everyone. A closed mind to nationality, race, etc… will get you now where…
Sometimes reactions to my effects are met with lots of cheers, wows, screams, and the sort; whilst at other times, people are just too astonished to even react.
Yes I love the crazy reactions of people jumping all around, and acting silly. I also love the reactions from people that reveal pure shock. One of my favorites is when spectators scratch their head, look around and say “that’s impossible,” and the rest of the specs say “but he just did it.”
David Blaine touches base on how to guide your audiences’ reactions in one of his books. If you want to guide the momentum of an audience reaction, I recommend practice practice practice practice. The more you know how to read that millisecond of reactions after your reveal the better you can milk the reactions. I often use body language to squeeze out the reactions from specs that are just on the cusp of exploding with emotion. It’s ok to say things like, “wow,” “that’s crazy isn’t it,” “what the,” … and so on… I’ve found that the timing of saying these types of things is critical, so wait and be aware of your surroundings. It’s your responsibility as a magician to manage the audience, and managing the reactions is just as important.
Here is a little suggestion I’d like to make: Use the reactions of a group to influence the reactions of another. If you get an audience pumped up, and reacting with great energy look around for the eye contact of groups close by. Look for the curious ones in the adjacent groups not presently in on the current performance. Go straight over to the ones that were looking at you from afar, and use them as a foot in the door of your next performance.
A final note here, after I hand out my business card I often ask people if they’ll remember my name… I’ll say, “please tell your friends about me” and as I walk away I’ll say, “what’s my name” and people shout ROMAN… It brings the energy up in a room, and lets people know you are worth watching.
I’m curious to hear what my fellow magicians have to say about how they work their spectators’ reactions.

Roman

That wasn't meant as criticism.
But my experience showed me that the Americans react much "harder" and more enthusiatic than the middle European citizen. And there is absolutely nothing bad about this. Of corse every American will react differently but IMHO (and also many others share my opinion) the Americans react much more enthusiastic.

I would add that when you put people on camera there's a tendency to go overboard.

MoTown,
I agree with MoTown, when I've had a camera crew around people do act out. That’s all the more fun for working the crowd. At first I was nervous as to what the camera may see (possibly me flashing something), but I’ve learned to use the camera as a shield of sorts or to use my audience control by treating the camera like they are the most important spec. I’ll do things like ask a spectator (after a reveal) to show the people at home, and show “them” as I point to the camera lens.
Roman

Looks like a pretty standard reaction.;-)

Was it just a set up for TV? Over reaction to make it interesting?