talkmagic.co.uk

Had a disaster the other night.

At our xmas night out I was about to do some card magic when some girl saw the cards and went "Ooooh, cards, I know a great trick!!! Can I show you?" I gave her the cards and she done some crappy 'trick' where she spent ages prearranging the deck, asked me to "cut the deck as many times as I want" proceeded to lay out all of the cards on the table in pairs, then put the cards in a special order and was able to find the twin of my chosen card.

Not many people were impressed , much less me, because she laid my cards on a soaking wet table and ruined the deck. It was the only deck I had on me. I managed a "torn and restored card" and saved a bit of face cos that was about ll I could do with them. I also lost my TT and the music was too loud for any serious mentalism.

She ruined my night so she did.

Rant over!!!

A timely reminder to never, ever, let the specs handle the props unless you really want them to !

I must admit it is slightly awkward when a spectator suddenly shouts "Hey, I know a great card trick. Can I show you?"

Up to now I have always been polite and allowed them to go for it once I've finished my routine but it does pose the question if there is a polite and professional way out.

I let her do her trick first because I wanted her to have her 'moment' then I would go on and do more seroius tricks which she would hopefully then enjoy.

I wonder that aswell. I usually let whoever shuffle the cards at the very beginning. I always find myself almost cringing at watching them do it! Why the hell are you shuffling them like that!!

I've lost a good number of decks to the dreaded beer-soaked pub table. With decent stripper decks still running to £6 a pop, it's quite painful, but you live and learn.

I suppose if in a walkabout situation you can always say you have only a finite time to perform to all the people in the room and then say you will attempt to return but it would be hard not to come across as a bit of an arrogant git.

On the same theme when someone doesnt want to show you a card trick why is it always one that takes about 10 mins

Ahh what to say when a spectator wants to perform. If I'm being paid to perform I always tell them, that 'I am here being paid and it just would not look right for me to watch somebody else but perhaps when I'm on break you could show me something" If I am not being paid that gets tricky. If I let them go first then they may be upset when I perform and make them look bad, (not intentionaly) or the reverse happens that the person is amazing and I end up looking like the idiot. So far that has not that has not happened, (that I know of). Usually I just very politely tell them sure just let me show a few first and then you go ahead. So far nobody has actually gone after me.

Another way to handle this is in a video, 'The Silver Fox, his own self" I believe. Not sure it is the recommended way but it is certainly effective.

Harnass their enthusiasm and build it into the next trick....using the line from bmat "I am being paid to perform.....would be wrong to stand around, etc" but you can help me with my next one.

Use something like the daly Show and have them demonstrate their "magical prowess" by tapping their finger...or get them to do some foam ball work with them. Find a trick that happens in their hands and with them in the spotlight.....often if you perform well they will either forget they asked, realize that they may not be as good as they thought and be sheepish about following your routine, or simply fill their ego with the "moment in the sun" they wanted in the first place.

I carry a ton of decks in my performance bag just in case mine get wrecked....as they can get wet even in an accidental fashion when you "offer" the deck to someone to shuffle...so best to be prepared.

Depending on the nature of your style and audience - I enjoy some comedy in my act - I have taken the time to glue an enitre deck deck togeteher card by card so that it was in one brick.

Have the deck in your pocket ready....when they ask, say...one more trick and I am through with this set of my routine so you can show us your prowess with the cards in a moment.....pull out a couple cards to do a packet trick and put the rest of the deck in the box and back in your pocket.......when done hand the person the gaffed box and the cards left out from the packet trick and watch them all get a laugh.

I NEVER let them handle my cards, on the basis of a similar situation to yours...

I was in the local SU bar, doing some tricks on an empty pool table, had a crowd of 5-9 people (mainly nosey gits who were just mooching then vanishing) and one guy said he knew a really good poker based trick - being on a green felt surface it seemed like a good idea, and he sold it quite well to the remainder of the spectators, he did the trick quite well, except he did one thing that all poker players seem to do, bent the living hell out of my cards as he delt them...GRRRRRR - in trying to stop him it really looked like I was being an annoying spectator and trying to ruin the trick, so I had to just let him carry on, through fear of loosing the crowd, lol

I managed to unbend them, but as it was a new deck (litterally just opened tha night) everytime I shuffled them and held the deck square, it looked like I had a p****e b***k in about 6 places, haahahaa, I ended up just doing some random tricks with them for the rest of the night then put them in my 'use to practice' pile of cards back home...

Yeah, wet cards are a bit of a pain...1 way to solve it / stop it hapening again...just carry an old kitchen towel around with you

Dan

I'm very protective over my cards and hate letting other people handle them, my excuse is that they'll loose their magical training if other people touch them (all my card routines are based around a little story that I have to train my cards to perform tricks). But I do always keep an old deck on me for other people to play with. It's actually quite fun sometimes to let other people have a go.

Earlier, before I got bikes (they are my children now) I used to let people examine the deck. no-one seems to trust me
But 1 time after performing a jaw dropping trick if I say so myself, cant remember it ow and mostly every1 was sozzled so anythin went down wel, a spec asked if he could show a trick, not really knowing what to say I said ok.

I removed the cards from him after he failed to faro 4 times.
Ever since the cards (my children) have stayed firmly in my hands.

Shame about the TT, I almost melted mine and burnt my thumb vanishing a cig on a night out with 1 of those.

Mandrake wrote:A timely reminder to never, ever, let the specs handle the props unless you really want them to !

Yeah I only ever get asked to watch a card trick when the spectator is either drunk, known to me or is a youngster.

Come to think of it that covers just about everybody. Certainly most of my friends are drunk.

My normal response is let them do their thing but simply ask them, very matter-of-factly, "watch out for the beer, since the cards will be ruined". People do readily accept this since you are after all letting them use your cards.

Mind you, if I EVER see that f*****g 21 cards in three rows trick again in my life it'll be me who is responsible for the damage to my cards. And their ar*eholes.

The spectators handle my cards all the time. Yes, I had people spill beer on my pad. Once a drunk guy spilled some beer, and then asked me to impress his girl friend. "No, I am not sure this is good idea" and the slightly wet cards went to the pocket. I then chanced my mind , and took back the cards that curiously now were gimmicked. I remembered to leave the partitioning in the pocket

I was unpacking my pockets onto the dresser in a hotel after performing a few tricks in the bar for other people at the same conference and knocked my own drink of water over my In A Flash cards. Gutted.

I now perform a full COSHPC (care of substances hazardous to playing cards) risk assessment before placing my pastebaords down anywhere...