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So I did a gig tonight and I have to say I dont really know what way I feel about it.

It was a gig for a party in a hotel with tables and loud music to be played later with a lounge outside in a quiete area.So I went into the table area at the start of the night and it was fairly quiet with just a few people seated,seemingly bored as it was probably only their first pint.I went around the tables and the people really liked what i was doing and I was conversing with them for quite a while too.In about a space of about an hour I got through most of those tables gettin brilliant reactions.The ''should be on tv'' ''How much you getting paid here'' Did the hotel hire you'' kinda questions.

A bit later I came across some spectators who were just weird.I did the colour changing aces with one guy but he already said I put the ace of so and so in his hands even though he clearly seen me put the one I claimed to have put in his hand.I asked him did I show him the trick already and he said no but I'm just guessing.This happens sometimes with this trick anyways but it was the arrogance of this guy that p***ed me off and ruined the trick for all watching.

There was another guy who knew the pen through bill effect and explained what I was doing as I was doing it.''Yeah we have those in the joke shop''

Don't get me wrong.95% of tonight was brilliant but It's just the strange annoying things that stand out.

There was some bald guy too who was bored and alone that I approached and asked him did he want to see magic.''No'' and looked away.The first of 100s of people thats ever happened.

I was entertaining a lot of rich people with big business's tonight.One of the guys I was in the middle of a trick and he took the cards off me and showed me his stupid 3 jacks one which p***ed me off cause it was so silly and people were laughing at his lame jokes cause they held him in such high regard.He had no respect for me and looked away in the middle of my trick as I was talking to him

Then there was the guy who saw my TT.I just put it away as quick as I could and moved on.

Then there was the strange guy who wasnt interested in my magic but instead telling me he knows the secret of winning 1000s of euro and that he can tell where the ball of a roullete wheel is going to land every time.That he earns 1000s a day and that he also has a career in acting and singing.Telling me how hes going to write a book someday and tell the world his secret.I had to say ''are you winding me up mate'' but he insisted.What a strange strange person.Insulting my inteligence to say th least

I did about 200 people tonight so apart from those the rest were brilliant(even met an entertainment agent who got my number) but those few things really stand out an bug me.I'm used to the perect performance of never getting caught and staying in control 100%.

Dicuss please.I've nowhere else to vent

Flood wrote:Then there was the strange guy who wasnt interested in my magic but instead telling me he knows the secret of winning 1000s of euro and that he can tell where the ball of a roullete wheel is going to land every time.That he earns 1000s a day and that he also has a career in acting and singing.Telling me how hes going to write a book someday and tell the world his secret.I had to say ''are you winding me up mate'' but he insisted.What a strange strange person.Insulting my inteligence to say th least

I've met him before as well, he hangs around near the bar every evening and for most of the day in every single pub in the country. He'll tell you anything just so long as you stand there and listen to him. Best way to end the conversation is to ask him how far he's got with writing the book.

We all have off days

How many professional gigs have you done?

Flood wrote:There was some bald guy too who was bored and alone that I approached and asked him did he want to see magic.''No'' and looked away.The first of 100s of people thats ever happened.

And he won't be the last. It's no reflection on you.
T.

Congratulations, welcome to the real world. Most tables are amazing, but sometimes you get the odd few people who arent interested.

As for people telling you how things are done whilst you are performing, its one of two things:
1: You performed it badly and the method was obvious to the spectator, and in their drunken splendour they blabbed
2: You are performing tricks which do come from the joke shop (like one bloke said)

Drop the effects that didnt work. As soon as an effect doesnt get the reactions I want, I drop it for a while and either work on it or cast it to the side. Maybe work on the routining and try and work out why the spectator may have said these things.

Overall, you went out in the trenches. It maybe sounds like you wern't 100% to go out working if it has casued you concern. You've got to remember, you are only in that room for an hour or so, and when you leave, you are several hundred pounds richer.


Hope that helps somewhat.


Mark

Mark Waddington wrote:Congratulations, welcome to the real world. Most tables are amazing, but sometimes you get the odd few people who arent interested.

As for people telling you how things are done whilst you are performing, its one of two things:
1: You performed it badly and the method was obvious to the spectator, and in their drunken splendour they blabbed
2: You are performing tricks which do come from the joke shop (like one bloke said)

Drop the effects that didnt work. As soon as an effect doesnt get the reactions I want, I drop it for a while and either work on it or cast it to the side. Maybe work on the routining and try and work out why the spectator may have said these things.

Overall, you went out in the trenches. It maybe sounds like you wern't 100% to go out working if it has casued you concern. You've got to remember, you are only in that room for an hour or so, and when you leave, you are several hundred pounds richer.


Hope that helps somewhat.


Mark

I completely agree with Mark. I performed the pen through note effect last night as well for children and still some of the children knew the trick. Its a shame that such a great trick has become so well known but there is nothing you can do about it apart from cut it out from your act.

I'm most certainly ready to perform in the real world mark as I have been doing this for a long time.I think my problem is that I'm used to everything going so perfect that when bad things happen I get annoyed.

Since when the hell is pen through bill a bloody joke shop effect.I feel its only a matter of tim before every grandparent is showing their grand child how to DL.

Flood wrote:I'm most certainly ready to perform in the real world mark as I have been doing this for a long time.I think my problem is that I'm used to everything going so perfect that when bad things happen I get annoyed.

Sorry, my mistake, it just seemed from the way you were speaking that maybe you were fresh to it and were trying to work out why it didnt all go as you wanted it to

Flood wrote:Since when the hell is pen through bill a bloody joke shop effect.I feel its only a matter of tim before every grandparent is showing their grand child how to DL.

Since your spectator said it was a joke shop trick unfortunately. Things like this happen

Flood wrote:Since when the hell is pen through bill a bloody joke shop effect

I beleive a cheapo version was on sale at British Home Stores last Christmas so the secret is certainly more widely known than we'd like.

Flood wrote:I'm most certainly ready to perform in the real world mark as I have been doing this for a long time.I think my problem is that I'm used to everything going so perfect that when bad things happen I get annoyed.

Since when the hell is pen through bill a bloody joke shop effect.I feel its only a matter of tim before every grandparent is showing their grand child how to DL.

I hate say it, but I don't think Ive ever performed to someone who didn't have some knowledge of the dl. Luckily, they still dont spot it!

I wouldn't perform pen through bill to a real life audience personally.

themagicwand wrote:I wouldn't perform pen through bill to a real life audience personally.

Me neither!

Think I'm definetly gonna have to leave that pen in the case so

There is no such thing as a perfect performance.

I don't do table hopping, but I have performed enough for semi-drunken people to understand.

I was at a wedding and was called over to 'show him some mind reading' and so I asked two people to pick a card each. The whole idea was that they would answer 'yes' all the time- thus sometimes lying, sometimes telling the truth. A bad concept to try on drunk people. Someone was convinced that I was just asking them what colour, suit, number e.t.c it was and exploiting their drunkness.

In the words of Jim Morrison, people are strange.

You're always going to come across people who aren't interested in magic, that's jsut part and parcel of it I'm afraid. But sometimes as Mark said you do need to have a little think about exactly why things didn't go as you would have liked. After every gig, I go away to make notes on each routine and think about how well it went down. The ones that aren't so good are actually more helpful, they're the ones that show up where you can improve. Have a look at what wasn't so good and think about ways it can be improved.