talkmagic.co.uk

this thread has been discussed before but in an american situation.

but not this part:

British People HATE Magic

Hate to admit it but it's true. it's much easyer to walk up and preform to some one in the usa where as here people think you are some kind of weirdo.

I tried to preform to some people in trafalgar square but i got alot of wierd looks.

I've tried all the tips discussed here on tm before such as use fire, noise and grand stuff such as levitations but still no reaction.

in the end i only got five 7 min shot of me preforming in an hour!!!


any tips on changing the views of londoners

thanks

Post your footage and let's see.

Well, for starters, British people DON'T hate magic - they may hate being approached on the street but that doesn't mean they hate magic. I was performing some for some restaurant staff quite recently, and that went down well.

Part of it all depends on who you approach. It's true that we British are more reserved ON THE WHOLE, but I have seen a few videos of people performing Street Magic right here in the UK. Try The Hit and Run Magician's Handbook for details on this sort of performance of magic.

Don't forget that you are still quite young and we all know what stereotypes go along with youngsters.

So I think that you need to work on your approach and your attitude towards people before simply saying that British people hate magic. It's a tough area to work in, and takes time, effort and practise.

I totally disagee. I find virtually EVERYONE is intruiged by live magic, mainly because their experience of magic, particularly close up magic is gained from television. I would agree that to many, TV magic IS perhaps a turn off as much of what you see is repeated or repetative and is often thought by laypeople to be heavily based on camera trickery.

Forget street magic where in my opinion there are many performers but few of them considered good, and instead look at the main opportunities for real people to experience a real magic performance at close quarters.

You're talking about corporate and wedding receptions (either table hopping or walk about) and I have to say that the VAST MAJORITY of people are very receptive to magic if you're performing well and entertaining. I'm stating this from personal experience of both performing, and watching other magician perform and looking at audience reactions.

if you are doing your job then they listen but otherwise they as you said "reserved".


Tomo which footage do you want the magic or the people ignoring me?

lol

krazy ace wrote:Tomo which footage do you want the magic or the people ignoring me?

lol

Well, both really, so we can see what's what.

my friend got the footage now

as soon as he does the editing ill let you know

(it might take so time)

if you are doing your job then they listen but otherwise they as you said "reserved".

I take it from this post that you're not doing your job as you put it. At this point I would give up performing for the time being and go back to basics, look at the material that you're using including the routining of the tricks and then work on your presentation before you start performing again for others.

I find that when performing and to get people's attention you have to have an air of authority (not to be confused with arrogance) to get people to sit up and take note. Your first trick then needs to hit them hard and then keep on building and building.

If you don't keep it building then they will walk away the moment that they lose interest. I have to say that age / maturity will also have have an effect on your audience.

Don't give up if it's not working for you now. Use the time constructively and one day it will happen for you.l

thanks all

I think that you might be expecting too much from your audience. They are not going to react like they do on David Blaine's programs everytime. In Glasgow for example you can have 100 people watching a street show and you could pull three peoples heads off juggle with them and then put them back on the assistants and the crowd wouldn't bat an eyelid they will stand with there arms folded until you ask them to applude, where they impressed? hell yeah, but different people from different cultures and backgrounds react in different ways thats one of the beauties of being a performer, you get to meet many different people and grow as a person from that experience.

Yeah, I know what you mean Figo. I asked a woman if I could show her a trick and she jumped out of her skin!

But I find that if you do magic at a place where people are not doing things such as shopping, then you won't get rejected.

Examples would be things that happen in your community. We have a 'Gala Day' and nobody is doing anything it would be a great day to perform magic, along with anything else that might happen.

We also get a travelling carnival that comes once or twice a year, or as we call it, 'the shows', that I think would be an excellent venue for magic.

So try and find a place where people aren't doing anything, then they will be much more receptive