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I did a gig yesterday...and for the first time ever I lost it....

There was this one spectator who followed me pretty much all day.
Everytime I did a trick she basically told the other specs almost in a narrating fashion how I was doing it..(although some of what she said was wrong, it was so off putting)...I never get taken down by a spec if anything I destroy them if they start getting lippy...But I literally couldnt perform..I got really snappy towards the end and it irratated the hell outta me...It wasnt the fact she knew what was goin on, cos she really didnt it was just her constant persistance to humiliate me whilst I worked...

It was rather devasting and my ego is bruised somewhat today, I keep goin over in my head why I couldnt handle the situation but i cant seem to find a reason...most gutted!

dont go over the reasons why you couldnt handle the situation.
put that down to having one of those days.

But......

what you should do, is try and work out why she took it upon herself to act like this. What was the trigger that turned her into the beach from hell.

What was the trigger that turned her into the beach from hell.

Well she said she didnt like being tricked or scammed---

I told her to just enjoy herself and that I wasnt their to trick anybody, but purely to entertain...after she keeped goin on it was apparent she had some issue with opening up to people, when i decided to cold read her in front of everbody she then said


"dont you catergorise me, its all rubbish"....

The part I didnt get was she kept saying that I was really good!!!! I was stumped?

and heres the kicker...

She asked me for a drink at the end?

Woman scare me

From that, i take it she wasnt with friends, and latched onto you because you had a circle of people around you.


if you have someone like this involve them, but dont cold read as this could be humiliating if done in front of strangers.

By involving them, they become part of the act, and will be less inclined to try and top your performance.

but dont cold read as this could be humiliating if done in front of strangers

No she had friends with her....She was just being rude...

hence I started cold reading to get to her....which was proffesionaly wrong but I had been pushed to far by that point...

Despite our best efforts at entertaining people, some people are just not interested and see it as an insult to their intellect or an attempt to humiliate them. I think they see it as a confrontation and a challenge to be overcome, rather than the entertainment that it is. This is not aimed at you, Chris, but some performers don't help themselves either, and their style can often just provoke the spectator in question.

Oh well, such is life. Hopefully you learned from it and will be that bit better prepared to deal with similar situations in the future.

I think that I'd have just refused to perform with her around. Have a word with the organiser, let them know wat was happening and that she was disrupting your performaces.

and their style can often just provoke the spectator in question

Good I like a reaction...

NEVER fight with any member of your audience. It is entertainment suicide. There are ways of handling hecklers. I do not approve of the Darwin Ortiz method but it will be easier to explain than my own which is infinitely superior.

Ortiz maintains that you turn on your deaf aid and just don't give the spectator any attention whatever. This makes them mad in my opinion because attention is what they want in the first place. Still Darwin says just ignore them and don't even look at them. They might then go away. However if they don't leave and persist in being a pest you are supposed to say (again without looking at them) "This is what happens when cousins marry"

I believe the above is faulty procedure but I am a mood to give bad advice today. I am sure everyone else will so I don't see why I should be any different.

Later if I am in the mood and I am begged sufficiently I may give some better advice on the matter. I shall simply say that it is far better to use charm and cunning to get the spectator on your side. You are being paid to entertain people not call them names or fight with them. I have turned hecklers into my best boosters on many an occasion. That is the clever thing to do .

And I am indeed terribly clever.

the exalted mark lewis wrote:...And I am indeed terribly clever.

NEVER fight

lol I didnt fight....Im usually awesome at dealing with sh**ty specs...

However this job was unusual for me, being firstly in the day, secondly I wasnt drinking and thirdly having never been heckled by a woman put me off!

Never mind, Chris.

Remember, you learn nothing from success, only from failure.

Magic Chris wrote:
However this job was unusual for me, being firstly in the day, secondly I wasnt drinking and thirdly having never been heckled by a woman put me off!

You normally drink during performances?

Magic Chris wrote:

NEVER fight

thirdly having never been heckled by a woman put me off!

Well we dont mind giving you some practice (looks for lommie and Queenie) im sure us girlies can give you more insults so that if it happenes again you'll be able to brush it off with "ha ive heard worse "

Fairie x