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i had a nightmare show this weekend, i was booked to do a birthday party for a friend of mines six year old kid. all through the act one of the parents was whispering things to his son who kept shouting stuff out like "He's holding two cards", "It's a fake thumb!", "The cup has a magnet in the top!"

The father came up to me at the end and said that he was a magician and wanted the gig but I got it because I was cheaper. I told him that he was ruining the show for the kids as well as for me and he made me feel a complete fool. He said "you an ar****le" mate and walked off.

now should I just forget about it and put it down to experience or tell people who this fellow is. he is a lot bigger than me so i let it go at the time.

This doesnt sound good. im really sorry to hear this.

The guy has NO showmanship what so ever and acted like a kid.

dont go ranting him about him tho, that puts you on his level, a low cowardly level.
let it go- you got your money, he didnt.

brush it off, chin up and on to the next.

He's got issues

thanks. that what I shall do. It really upset me at the time and I didn't know what to do. I watch loads of other magicians peform and would never do something like this. i suppose these kinds of things happen from time to time.

I would have called a short comfort break for the kids and then spoken to the person who was paying you and asked THEM to have a word with the guy.

After all, its them that are having their kids private show ruined.

If they didnt seem bothered at the time then its just unfortunate that you met a prize idiot.

Reading your post made me sad that this sort of thing happens and ruins it for all the kids.

Alec

I tried to be professional and ignore it and just carry on with the show. everytime his kid shouted something out all the other kids laughed especially when it was something personal, such as about my weight. i got paid of course, but having a whole room of kids laughing at you rather than with you is soul destroying.

a couple of my tricks he didnt get his to comment on, so maybe they were ones he didnt know and these went down really well. i suppose you live and learn

Hi Eddie

Don't take this personally as it's not intended to be.

Put this down to experience and move on. No matter how good you were, guys like this would have spoilt it anyway. They always do!

He may call himself a magician but he's not! he's a guy who knows a few tricks as a true magician would not have acted in this manner.

Sounds like the guy had no balls anyway as he got his kid to do all the shouting by the sound of it.

thanks. the man was obviously bitter about not doing it himself. he's apparently quite a good childrens entertainer as some of the kids were saying they had seen him at a party earlier this year and he was better. i suppose i will just carry on and forget about it.i felt such a fool.

you did the exact right thing. by confronting him at the time you only would have made things worse. Perhaps with more experience you could have made a few modifications but seeing as this guy was bitter there was probably no where to go. Just pick up and on to the next one.

Be comforted in the knowledge that this guy may know some tricks, he may even go out and perform for money. But he is not a magician. Magician don't behave that way to other performers.

Be comforted that he is probably a rotten trickster and business man, otherwise he probably would have gotten the show in the first place, regardless of price. Usually with a person of that attitude it comes across in the performance as well. A rotten egg always smells.

If I read your post correctly he was a father of a boy at the party? And still he didn't get the show? He was probably an *rse when they spoke to him and wouldn't budge on a price even though they were being invited to the party, most would make an attempt to lower prices a bit for friends and family.

In short, guy was an idiot, and will probably always be an idiot. You are already miles ahead.

I beg to disagree. I would have clocked this guy. I would have taken a short break, asked himself outside, and sorted it out.

He was a moron who managed to make you look like a fool. It wasn't your fault, but with experience you realise you do not let those situations continue. You stomp them out immediately.

What an absolute c**k.

Too many "Magicians" have egos large enough to be seen from space. And they hate being out done.

A real shame. Sorry to hear about it.

Well for one the guy shouldn't have been ruining a kids show. What kind of tosser does such a thing? I can understand somebody doing it at wedding who is drunk or something. But most people at a kids show should have the dignity and self respect to not ruin stuff like that. Specially even if their son is doing it. The man should have told his son to quiet down and enjoy the show.

This probably taught you a lesson though. Not to work for that group of people anymore.

That sounds utterly horrible. I would have put a psychic curse on the b*****. (not really).

Of course Tony's solution sounds very tempting but he is built like a gorilla from what I understand and the fellow probably wouldn't have said a word in the first place out of sheer fright. However, you stated that the guy was bigger than you and in any event it isn't professional to fight with birthday party guests even if they are scumbags of the first order.

I think your solution is simple. If you are the loving forgiving type then just put it down to experience and move on. I am quite sure it will never happen again. On reflection if it had happened to me I think I would probably have nipped it in the bud during the show by saying to him, with a smile, in front of everyone, "Don't tell him how it is done sir, let him figure it out for himself"

If you are not the loving, forgiving type and a nasty vindictive b***** like me then you have another solution.

Just name him to us all and you will have your revenge automatically.

Not that I am the sort to stir up trouble of course............................

I suppose I had better give some constructive advice on this. Although it is highly unlikely that on a future occasion the son of a magician will be in the audience with his father egging him on it is very possible indeed that a kid will heckle anyway without the help of a parent and yell out possible solutions to a trick. This is how it can be handled whether or not he is being egged on by a parent.

First recognise that kids will heckle by nature. However there are ways to deal with it. Sometimes I stare at the kid and make a funny irritated face and that makes the other kids laugh. Or I stare at them over the top of my glasses and again the other kids laugh. Or if they yell out how it is done I say, "don't tell anybody"

You can also use bribery and corruption by saying "the quietest one can help me do the next trick" I learned that from an old Clayton Rawson book and it has been invaluable for me for many years. The kids will go as quiet as a mouse including the heckler.

Or you can do this if one kid or in fact several kids get too noisy. Just say, "when I say three you all say shhhh. One! Two! Three! Shhh!" All the kids will say shhh and you will have some quiet.

With this particular case I think I might have got the kid up to help and away from his father. And perhaps used him in a longer routine. The father might have felt pleased that his little brat was getting some attention and kept quiet. Then after I had finished I would have made the kid sit down in the front row to watch and made sure I separated him from his dad. I would have said quite openly, "I think you should sit there away from your dad who is telling you how all the tricks are done" I would have said it with a smile but in such a way that the dad would have been embarrassed in front of everyone and they would have known what he was up to.

Anyway, live and learn. Incidentally I am not sure you are doing the right material for a kid show anyway by the sound of the tricks you are quoting. Still, live and learn. In time you will find a way. Don't let this b***** bother you.

A good friend of mine, who does loads of birthday parties for all ages, told me whenever he is heckled by kids (not having the dad coaching though), he does one of 3 things and it always seem to work.

1) He smiles or laughs at comments and says: Yes, you're absolutely right!
if that doesn't work:
2) He asks the heckling kid to join him and assist with some magic.
and if that doesn't work:
3) For example if a kid says: You've got two cards, he answers: No, you're wrong, I actually have four cards and counts 2 cards as 4. (Or something similar to show to the other kids, the heckler is not correct).

Sometimes it's better to focus the attention for a moment on the heckler in order to keep on with the show. Once he went to a heckling kid and asked him to stand up, gave him a magic wand and asked him to lift the wand as high up as he could. Then he left him standing like that and kept on with the show, disregarding the kid.

I doubt this kind of experience will re-occur, but something similar will. You just have to be prepared. I would have said to the other guy, when he told you that you were cheaper: Yes, and I'm giving it all to charity!

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