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I have another question for you guys on the subject of hecklers. I have gotten these people before which was hard to deal with. As in you are preforming a two card transpo. You tell them not to look at the card yet and they flip it over anyhow and laugh and say "got ya." Or hey let me see your other hand the coin is palmed there. "Whoops got ya." Do you you need to proceed quickly during your routine for these folks and not give them a chance? I do not like to feel like I am rushing the trick. Thanks

Comes down to a variety of things.......

One of them is confidence....it is a bit ironic, but the more confident and relaxed you are, the less this seems to happen!

Secondly.....it is often the exact oppoisite of rushing. Take time to sell your overall performance with the effect. Stay relaxed and methodical, don't go quickly and give anyone the impression that anything of any importance has happened yet.

Third.....ensure that you are performing the sleight/effect cleanly. If you are, you will be less likely to draw attention with jittery moves, etc

Fourth......always try to stay one step ahead of the spec. If you know that they are going to want to see your "Other hand" the very instant you show your hand is empty, then draw out the time it takes you to reveal your vanish. Use patter, misdirection, etc......to allow you time to clean up the "dirty hand"....so that you can also show it empty! This will let you actually bluff the spec and allow you to pretend it is really in the opposite hand, only to allow you to say "HA!" got ya!

Lastly.....you will run into these people irregardless of what you do....with time you get better at recognizing them early on in a performance, and you can avoid them.........or........find an effect that allows you to bluff and turn the tables on them. You want to be careful of the heckler, because if you handle them wrong, in the wrong setting, they can make you like the bigger JERK!......if they are obviously annoying the others, you can use a bluff type of situation to turn the heat on them....if you are annoyed, but the others aren't, you must simply try to avoid putting them into an effect......or use them on effects that they can't ruin.....I love to use ID on a heckler, because the can't ruin it, and the harder they try, the more stunning the outcome is!


PS.....these aren't the only rules, they may not even be the best rules, however, they work well for me with my performances, my experience level, and my personality. Bottom line, take lots of advice, try lots of things, and keep your frustration level down.....it only makes it harder!

Thanks a bunch for these tips. That was very helpful insight and gives me somethings to work in my own routine. I do not do magic professionally more so for coworkers and family to provide some entertainment. The family is more forgiving than the coworkers.

in this situation i rely on my trusty shell it usualy goes something like this:-

ladies and gentelmen we have a fellow magician with us this is erm whats your name.
this is bob everyone i want to take the time to thank bob for pointing out my atroicious palming technigue, shakes bobs hand wile slipping a coin in one of his pockets or under watch my favourate.
now bob pleas will you help me with a trick and tell me were I'm going wrong, would you do that for me please bob.
he either agrees or feins off and keeps his mouth shut, now bob i have here two half dollors count them one two ok now make a bad looking classic palm and show one coin bobs itching to say its in your other hand and does so.
you say now thats the trouble i can never seem to make this hand apear empty show empty hand, so i asked bob to distract you so i could do a pass to his pocket.
bob finds coin gets a round of aplause as you take the coin, he goes away confused but with bragging rights a win win situation.
meenwile you clearly pocket the two coins and your already one ahead for your next effect like a spellbound change or coins across.

nice one magicdiscoman. a friendly positive way to handle a difficult situation!

Ohhhhh magicdiscoman........I love it!!!!!!!!!!

There's certainly not a whole lot to add to this that hasn't been covered above. I do notice one thing that is probably part of the problem, though...

Have you ever noticed when someone is told NOT to do something, it makes them want to do it? When you specifically tell them not to look at that card, that makes them want to look at that card.

Much like the old axiom of not pointing out things that should go unsaid. For example: don't say, "I have here an ordinary deck of cards..." Why would you say that? If you have a deck and it appears to be ordinary, then let them make that assumption without you telling them that. "I have here three coins..." If you show them three coins, what can telling them that you have three coins accomplish? The only thing that it accomplishes is to make something suspect that shouldn't even be given a second thought.

And, that's what you're doing.

Instead, place the card on their hand, then have them cover it with the other hand and say, "Make sure that I can't switch that card - hold it tightly between your two hands." They'll lock that card in place.

But, if you tell them not to look at that card, then you've told them that they aren't holding what they think they are holding - you've tipped the gaffe, as it were. Seriously, what possible reason could there be for them not to look at that card, other than the fact that it isn't what it appears to be? If you make it suspect, then it will be suspect. If you pay it no attention, then it will be paid no attention (as a general rule, which is why I suggest that you have them put their other hand on top, just in case).

Mike.

Michael beat me to the punch,

I cant emphisize how important his comment is. Sheer psychology has gottan me past countless tough audiences

I have gottan to where I LOOK for hecklers. Never do I ask them not to look at a card, usually I hand them their ACTUAL card at first and if they dont look at it I go "hm so I know youre REALLY itching to make sure thats your card."

...either way I snatch it from their hand and in the process of showing them and the audience in an embarrasing for him manner, the card is already switched. Sometimes its even fun to do the card change in front of the audience and wink at them.

If I may suggest, Brian Tudor has an excellent card routine made just for this style spectator. The dvds appropriatley named "Heckler"

so check it out!

best out there,

kirk

Another valid point Michaeljay!

How you say something is as important as what you say.......you can use this in reverse though.......when you don't want them to look at a tabled card for example, have them hold the deck, and subtly say.......no please hold those cards half in each palm......(show hands out with palms up) and place half on each hand.......and cuasually mention please don't look at in any of those piles........now you have them A) unable to do much as their hands are awkwardly full, or B) They will make a half-hearted attempt to glimpse something in those two stacks, and they will forget about the card that is tabled right infront of them.......

In kaleidoscopes wrote:Michael beat me to the punch........

Oh ssuuuuuureee! thats what everyone says when someone else makes a good point that they want credit for! LOL

I found this technique when readin about child psychology which extends into adult psychology; it's very simple.

People don't listen and children don't understand.

The result of this is that people only pick up the important words in a sentance and they often ignore a negative. In order to get what you want, you have to give your instruction as a positive.

So ...

"don't play with that on the floor" becomes "play with that on the table".

"don't shout" becomes "speak more quietly"

"don't at your card and ..." becomes "keep your card face down and ..." or "remember your card and ..."

It is true to say that an instruction like that or statement like "I'll put tis in my pocket" are gooing to raise some alarms, and I'm still learning the best phrasing for certain thing.

An anecdote is a trick I can't remember the name of which involves some switching. It is important that the spek does not look at the card, but has to remember it.

When doing tis with my girlfriend, I asked what card she had, expecting her to remember, but she didn't and she turned it over. From her perspective, there was no good reason why she shouldn't, it seemed a perfectly natural thing to do. Hmmm, I thought.

After this I used "without looking at your card, which one [ of the kings as it happens ] are you holding". Raised suspicion. I'm now stopping someone doind something perfectly natural. Hmmm, I thought.

Now, I lay it on thick at the beginning of the trick that they are not supposed to look. There is one point when they can, and I make sure that they understand the "permission to look" rules of the "game" which I make it. From then on, they know they are not allowed, but that's part of their role, not just my will. It's all perfectly natural.

I am still learning in this department, but thought these gems might prove useful. It just goes to illustrate the importance of practicing participation tricks with a real spek.

Like the CF and misdirection, I am practising instructional phrases when they are not needed, in order to practice when failure has no impact.

magicdiscoman wrote:in this situation i rely on my trusty shell it usualy goes something like this:-

ladies and gentelmen we have a fellow magician with us this is erm whats your name.
this is bob everyone i want to take the time to thank bob for pointing out my atroicious palming technigue, shakes bobs hand wile slipping a coin in one of his pockets or under watch my favourate.
now bob pleas will you help me with a trick and tell me were I'm going wrong, would you do that for me please bob.
he either agrees or feins off and keeps his mouth shut, now bob i have here two half dollors count them one two ok now make a bad looking classic palm and show one coin bobs itching to say its in your other hand and does so.
you say now thats the trouble i can never seem to make this hand apear empty show empty hand, so i asked bob to distract you so i could do a pass to his pocket.
bob finds coin gets a round of aplause as you take the coin, he goes away confused but with bragging rights a win win situation.
meenwile you clearly pocket the two coins and your already one ahead for your next effect like a spellbound change or coins across.

Wow that is a NICE way to diffuse the situation.

Using psychological subtleties wont stop hecklers from being hecklers but it will help to a certain extent.

My profession requires avid reading of psychology. The subconscious mind cannot process a negative command. Here's an example: "Do not think of a pink elephant." What just happened?

Our subconscious brain unknowingly leads our mental and physical state, and so when commanding a spectator its best to rephrase commands that involve negatives. Using negative commands also arouses suspicion in a magic performance aspect. "Don't turn over that card..."

I have personally never had a problem as the spectators are obviously using their conscious mind, and the conscious mind can process negatives.

This psychological concept is just a subtlety to assist crowd management. Body language and other factors in your performance are also very important in controlling the spectators.

Icetroll wrote:You tell them not to look at the card yet and they flip it over anyhow and laugh and say "got ya."

Well, if you tip them off like that, what do you expect