talkmagic.co.uk

mark lewis wrote:I would still love to know who the offender was. Of course I am always motivated by mischief.

and i had a one-on-one kickboxing lesson last night. i need to practice my moves!

I am impressed by the courage of all those who would get the heckler to help.... *shudders* I definitely do not think I have anywhere near the stage/ people management skills to pull that off. The other suggestions, however, I can see myself doing (in response to dealing with kids not the adult).
and I really hope this doesn't stop you from performing =) I sounds like the heckler KNEW how the trick was done and didn't just figure it out so that's nothing to worry about.

I don't normally advocate getting hecklers up to help. However, on this occasion I would need to separate him from his father. He can't yell out how the trick is done if his father can't prompt him. And I would have made him sit in the front row and said out loud that I didn't want his dad telling him how all the tricks were done.

If in fact he crawled back to his dad I would have kept pointing out the father in a seemingly joking manner and embarrased him. I would even have said "Don't tell him how it is done" before I had even started the next trick. I would have threatened to put a spell on the father in a tongue in cheek manner but the audience and he would have got the message.

Sometimes you just have to take control.

I do believe that I would have told the other children that the heckling kid was a dummy. After they giggled I would have followed up with, "No, really. The kid IS a dummy! See that man next to him? He's a ventriloquist. Do you know what that is? No? Ventriloquists stick their hand up the dummy's ass and tell them what to say..."

But you handled it the way that is probably best- acted professional there and vented here. Keep yer head up.

You were put in an impossible situation by a complete idiot. You couldn't be aggressive in front of children or be too rude so he knew what he was doing. You did the right thing and just carried on best you could.

Myself personally I would have had a few choice words with him after the show and away from the kids that would have made it clear what would happen to his testicles if I saw him again.

thanks for all the comments, everyone. it was a horrible experience and the man was a lot bigger than me and quite intimidating. some of the kids knew him because apparently he has performed at parties they have been to and he's quite popular.

some of the comments he was getting his kid to shout out were quite personal. i know i am a little podgy and need to get down the gym, but having a kid shouting it out and all the other kids joining in is heartbreaking.

I think you should actually come right and use his name here. And then he can defend himself. We have only heard one side of the story, after all.
Mind you, on the face of it, what you have said has the ring of truth. He sounds like a real scumbag. But he may have another point of view that we haven't heard yet.
The only way to bring him out of the woodwork is to name him. Besides I could do with the entertainment.

i would love to do that mark, but i think he lives fairly local to me and i am worried about annoying him any more. i am not very good with confrontations

I understand. Well, I hope you feel better having been able to vent your feelings here. If you belong to a local magic club you might be able to vent your feelings to a few of the local lads who probably know him.

He was obviously upset that you got the booking and he didn't. Did you say anything to the host of the party, who I think you said was a friend of yours? Or did anyone else notice the bad behaviour and comment on it to you?

This is one of the worst stories I have ever heard about unprofessionalism and jealousy. It must have shaken you up quite a bit. Don't let it discourage you from doing future shows. Pick yourself up, dust yourself down and try again. The next good show will make you feel better.

And I shall tell you how to get your best revenge without confrontation. Use your anger constructively and sweat and sweat and work and work to get the best show you can. Make your aim to be twice as good as this fool and get twice as much work as he does. Make it a holy mission from now on and some good will eventually come out of the incident.

It could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

Thanks for your very true words. I shall work on making my show the best it can be. I didn't say anything on the day to my friend as I didn't want to cause any upset or scene at the birthday party and the child himself went off to write a note for me thanking me for the show and saying how much he enjoyed it, so I must have done ok

Eddie Booth wrote:thanks for all the comments, everyone. it was a horrible experience and the man was a lot bigger than me and quite intimidating. some of the kids knew him because apparently he has performed at parties they have been to and he's quite popular.

some of the comments he was getting his kid to shout out were quite personal. i know i am a little podgy and need to get down the gym, but having a kid shouting it out and all the other kids joining in is heartbreaking.

You should have decked him. I know he was bigger than you, but bullies crumble when you confront them.

Alas Eddie doesn't sound the decking type. In any event punch ups at birthday parties have a certain unprofessionalism about them. There is enough trouble fighting off the kids!

I am quite sure in time everyone will know who this is. The magic grapevine is a powerful thing. All Eddie can do is to target this fellow in his mind while he improves his show and attempts to get more work than him in the future. I predict that within two years Eddie will be light years ahead of this idiot because he will be so fired up with anger and motivation.

I wish him luck with it.

That's very kind of you. In fact your words have inspired me today to work on some new material for my show, hopefully things that people like him aren't aware of.

You can do it. And you WILL do it. Remember that I am a professional psychic and know these things!

That's very kind of you. In fact your words have inspired me today to work on some new material for my show, hopefully things that people like him aren't aware of.