talkmagic.co.uk

My experiences table hopping in a pub restaurant are.

1) Don't approach the young couple holding hands and talking intently. You are the last person they want to see!!

2) Be wary of mixed groups of 20 somethings if the boys are a bit loud. There is bound to be at least one in there determined to show the girls how easy all your tricks are.

3) I really like mixed age group parties. I find them generally receptive and appreciative. It is always good to get spontaneous applause just as the manager is passing!

4) Groups of young women can be a great audience. My latest get in line is ..... would you help me with a little mind reading experiment I am doing? It gets (for me) a good reaction from this type of group and my mind reading is just my way of presenting the ID or a couple of Mark Wilson routines that I like

5) My favourite table grouping is a mixed age group with children. The adults almost always let you perform "for the children" but then get deeply involved themselves. Children are always a danger of course, last Sunday I finished off at a table with a little D Lite juggling only to have an eight year old shoout out "I know how he does that he has got false.....s".

I am getting better at deciding which tables to approach and which to avoid, odd though it seems to me there are people out there who do not want to be bothered with a magician between the courses of their meals. I know it sounds crazy but hey it takes all sorts!

I never act anything but gracious if I am turned away, even if the turn down is rude. If I can get it in I do a quick coin vanish and say "sorry to have troubled you, like this coin I will just disappear", corny but it makes even grumpy people smile.

Twice in the last fortnight I have been turned away by tables only to have the group rubber necking and joining in when I perform at the next table. The converts are great and if I can include both tables in what I am doing I will.

Stuff I have learned the hard way. Before you give a pack of cards to someone and ask them to shuffle just make sure they know how to shuffle, its surprising how many people don't!. There is nothing worse for the dignity of the magician than to be crawling about under tables picking up cards.

Make sure that when someone picks a card they show it to other people. Twice recently my "You do as I do" has gone askew because the spectator forgot their card!

Make sure that you do not leave incriminating props on the table at the end of the performance. I have!

To get back to the original question though, what type of audience do I like best? Anybody who will watch me perform, I get such a buzz from performing in public and can't believe my luck when I get paid for it as well!