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I'm brand new to magic, have been buying & practising for around 3 months now.
As a DJ I'm in an ideal position to wonder over to a table & perform tricks, which if goes well enhances my DJ reputation as well, in theory.

My plan is to start doing this in December, my questions for now are:-

What if a routine goes wrong, ie you do a dl & the punter spots it's a dl & says something or you lose a selected card during a shuffle (ID is the answer possibly on that)

What are the angles like when you work at a table with people at both sides of you, particulalrly for turning a face down card face up discreetly (as I was asking about on another topic). Concerns me as punters sitting down have their faces a lot closer to your waist & also you have punters on both sides?

Do you get many people who ruin tricks deliberatly by denying that the revealed card was theirs, or by turning a card up when they've been told to keep it face down.

Lastly, working tables I imagine you'd approach one person one side of the table & work with them, then move to the other side & work with another person, then move onto the next table doing the rounds & thus always selecting different people to perform to.
How do you pro's here work weddings for example?

I'd appreciate any suggestions to any of the posers I've er posed!

First I don’t work proffesionaly but when I do perform I try and work this way,

Johnny Bravo wrote: What if a routine goes wrong, ie you do a dl & the punter spots it's a dl & says something or you lose a selected card during a shuffle (ID is the answer possibly on that)

Always give your self an out, it may be a gag or if it’s a forced card another way to reveal it

What are the angles like when you work at a table with people at both sides of you, particulalrly for turning a face down card face up discreetly (as I was asking about on another topic). Concerns me as punters sitting down have their faces a lot closer to your waist & also you have punters on both sides?

Get friends round or other magicians and set up tables in different settings to see what can or can not be seen

Do you get many people who ruin tricks deliberatly by denying that the revealed card was theirs, or by turning a card up when they've been told to keep it face down.

The best way to avoid this is tell them to show it to their friends or who ever else is sitting at the table, that way more than one person has seen the card. Also getting it signed proves its their card

Lastly, working tables I imagine you'd approach one person one side of the table & work with them, then move to the other side & work with another person, then move onto the next table doing the rounds & thus always selecting different people to perform to.
How do you pro's here work weddings for example? !

When I have had to do it I try and work to the whole table at one time it reduces distractions for you (ie conversations carrying on) and cuts down you distracting them.

Hope this helps

Everything helps, thanks George.

Get friends round or other magicians and set up tables in different settings to see what can or can not be seen

Problem with that is at events the tables are set, we have to work around them.

Re other magicians yes, is anyone here near Worthing, Sussex & fancy meeting up & practising on each other?

i think that he means when you at home get some friends or other magicians to sit round a table and then you can work out your body positioning from there to see what works and what doesnt

Do you get many people who ruin tricks deliberatly by denying that the revealed card was theirs, or by turning a card up when they've been told to keep it face down.

It's not a problem if YOU have the right attitude. ie if your aim is to entertain them and not show them how clever you are, the vast majority of people will go with you. However if people feel you are showing off, or trying to make yourself look good while making them look dumb, they will go all out to catch you out and make things hard for you.

What are the angles like when you work at a table with people at both sides of you, particulalrly for turning a face down card face up discreetly (as I was asking about on another topic). Concerns me as punters sitting down have their faces a lot closer to your waist & also you have punters on both sides?

Can't answer that as every trick is different and a slightly different handling also can make a big difference. Only way to know is to test each trick out, with one person that knows how you do the tricks. They can move around into different postions and let you know at which angle they start seeing things.

What if a routine goes wrong, ie you do a dl & the punter spots it's a dl & says something or you lose a selected card during a shuffle (ID is the answer possibly on that)

Again every trick is different. Your correct an ID is good for a find a card type trick. Always plan your outs for every trick but in a worst case scenerario don't be afraid to c**k up a trick and just laugh about it and move on. It shows your human and some people will actually warm more to you if you can make a mistake and show you don't take yourself to seriously.

I find that it helps to start performing after your audience has had at least a couple of drinks. Usually the lights are dimmed as well so you're starting with things set to your advantage.

When working around tables I try to get people to introduce themselves by asking their names before I start any trick. It's a good ice breaker but usually allows you to sus out anyone who's going to be a potential problem and then I move to the opposite side of the table so that they're furthest away.

If I get anyone who's a real *rse***e and is trying to spoil everyone's enjoyment (including your enjoyment of working) then I will make my excuses at the end of the trick and move on to the next table.

OR

consider turning the tables on them by giving them a normal deck of cards and asking them to perform a trick for everyone, or even ask them to stand and pretend to shuffle an imaginary deck in front of everyone whilst you walk away. Always gets a laugh at their expense.

Thanks dat8962, useful stuff.

Generally do you find women easier & less cynical to perform to?
Also are the more chatty fun people better to perform to or is it better to perform to the more intent trick watcher?

Love the idea of getting an ar*****e to shuffle an ID while you wonder off great. Will remember.

i'd go for self working tricks myself or failing that keep some rope in your pocket for thoughs times when you get an anoying people, give him a piece and say well just follow what i do then sucker him into a cut and restored rope trick.
i have found that some gental teasing of your mark tends to settle him down as he realy dosn't want to loose face around his mates.

women are great for scotch and soda and in there hand type of tricks and men prefer mental tricks done to them.

as a guide try darals fooler dooler tapes there chock full of good magic for table work, card wise i always use a wizard/ stripper deck to gaurentee the outcome.

To answer Johnny Bravo's question I do find, as magicdiscoman has said that certain tricks perform better on women, particularly cards and that men do generally like the mentalism tricks.

When I try my newer tricks on friends before I put them into a performance I ask my friends to score them for impact etc. and this is a good way to find out what works and what doesn't, and also what needs more practice!

Spot on that no bloke wants to lose face around his friends.

What about the quanitity of tricks to perform to tables.

Say you have 15 tables of 10 people each. Initially I'd be inclined to do 1 - 2 tricks per table with a variaty of tricks which can be repeated as one moves around, just not to close to each table.

When you've done all 15 tables you head back to the beginning & start again.

To start I'm doing it for nowt & it's an unexpected bonus (I hope) for my bookings, but for you pros who have been hired specifically for the event how many tricks & generally for how long are you expected to perform for non changing guests at table hopping gigs?

With 15 tables I would tend not to 'table hop' unless the client particularly asked for it. Personally, I would show now more than three or four tricks per table if there were ten or more tables as this will take time.

As an example, four tricks may take ten minutes depending on what you are doing, resetting, introductions, chatting to people etc. Ten tables will therefore be 100 minutes and so on, as a rough guide. Doing 15 to 20 tables will take a few hours and it's not everyone that will be able to then afford your time.

If you're doing this for free then the experience will hopefully be good for you but be carefull that people don't then expect you to do it free for them, particularly as you're also trying to get some money out of your next gig.

With up to ten tables I will use three routines of three or four different tricks per routine and would rotate the routines. With more then ten tables then personally, I wouldn't do it that way but would recommend using four routines to rotate.

What I do with this number of people is just to wander around, show a couple and then wander around some more with a different two tricks and do this constant for however long I'm being paid for.

I'm sure everyone will have their own ideas which will be interesting to read.

When you're getting paid, another option to consider if it's a big job is to split the work with another magician.

You need to know whoever you consider recommending to ensure that they are up to the job and won't ruin your hard earned reputation.

It can be fun working with other people, particularly if you have totally different routines (one doing coins and cards and the other doing silks, ropes etc.)

dont run if youre not being chased. I know people who start of with flourishes and i find that this is very intimidating for the spectator.Start of with simple magic.Once you get to know the crowd a little better, gain their trust, then do the difficult tricks. if the spectator is having a good time, he or she generally wont make it difficult for you. Personality has alot to do with the magic.Present your magic in a friendly way. If you're not confident,and you know someone is trying to make it difficult,maybe you can do a self working trick,or one that requires little sleights to build up your confidence.

just some of my opinions