talkmagic.co.uk

rather than start ranting in the "lines" thread i thought i'd start one on hecklers, and how you try and cope with some:
first of all, a moral dilema, in a club the other night and a lady asked me to show her a trick, she seemed eager, i was tipsy so i went for the standard ACR, she was happy, her boyfriend was not, he started with his "pah, that's rubbish, you big @#?%" so to finish the trick off i apparently lost the card then told the guy he could find it in his pocket, he did, and in exchange for the card i gave him his wallet back, while he stood there in bemusement i made a swift exit. is this an appropriate way to use pickpocketting in magic?

and one that was my own fault for picking the wrong audience, a guy who simply didn't care, when i turned over a card and asked if it was his he casually said no, it was his card, so i left it with him and went to do a trick for someone else, a minute later he leans over my shoulder to give me my card back, and by some amazing coincidence it was the same card the next guy had selected (52 to 1, not overly amazing really), this got such a good responce from the new guy that I'm going to have to start doing something similar whenever i can

I've found that a well placed shotgun blast in their general direction tends to work best

The best thing to do is stop

If they only want to wreck it, or don't want to see it, then why give them the pleasure?

Or do what Craig said

The best line I've ever heard a heckler being shot down in flames with was said by a very good and very successful magician friend of mine. He told me he was performing at a dinner one night and there was a very rude man at one of the tables he was entertaining at. Near the end of his set, this nuisance loudly said something along the lines of "I've seen enough, you're rubbish!" to which my friend replied "And YOU'RE paying to watch it!" before thanking the rest of the table for their time and moving on. Genius!

Personally, I like Craig's suggestion!

Or, if you want something a little less gory, you might try a variant on Magic Bill's suggestion: "Hey, I didn't come looking for YOU!"

I have repeatedly said elsewhere that one shouldn't get involved with a heckler unless one is sure the spectator is, in fact, a heckler. (Most often, a well-meaning spectator will think your act isn't funny enough, moving quickly enough, or whatever, and will try to "help" by injecting some comments or actions. )

That person, and the rest of the audience, is surprised and shocked when the magician lets loose with an "anti-heckler" barrage!

And you, as the magician, will have lost your whole audience; because a preceived "heckler" is first considered by the audience to be one of them and your attack on that person is seen as an attack on all of them.

So, first of all, make sure that the person is, indeed, a heckler.

I think in the two cases mentioned above, there is no doubt that the performers involved met up with real hecklers. Pity.

you might try a variant on Magic Bill's suggestion

I'm trying to understand why this line triggers images of David Carridine in my mine...

The only heckler I've had (so far) was in the context of the restaurant I work at. I was tempted to take out a spoon and twist it like a corkscrew and give it to him as a demonstration of what I could do to him . I didn't do that - but I did take a pink balloon out of my pocket - blew it up, made a balloon poodle and gave it to him - all without saying a word. I went on to another table and ignored him the rest of the evening. Don't know if it worked - but it felt good

I get an amazing amount of heckling considering much of my work is done in a church or parachurch setting! Much of it comes from the OAP group who often have the one member who might start with the 'it's up your sleeve' line and then move on to diatribes concerning lack of money, governmental woes and much worse.

I try to pick a point from whatever and answer it by using a trick to illustrate their point, my point or no point. Often this has the effect of shutting them up because their spot in the limelight is often what is at the heart of their behaviour, or so it appears. I have seen others engage and take on the heckler but it becomes something quite nasty most times as both parties fight for supremacy and the audience (congregation) becomes split into three camps: for, against and appalled!

HTH

Vic

If you encounter the 'up the sleeves' line quite frequently, why not get a blank card and write or print 'NOTHING' across the face. Shove it up your sleeve so the next time someone claims you are using your sleeves to cheat, you can confidently say "I have nothing up my sleeves." Try and flash the card (as if by accident) - inevitably someone will shout out that there is a card up your sleeve. Then simply reply "Oh, that's NOTHING!" as you remove it and show it round before rolling your sleeves up and carrying on with the routine!

Hecklers....

I've only ever had real hecklers when doing school fayres.

I once asked for a volenteer from the audience and this teen girl who had been making fun a little decided to put her hand up. No-one else wnated to volenteer. So i looked at her turned my head and said to the audience (who could see she was being disruptive) "Anyone else there" in a sarcastic voice. This didnt please her.

However i was stuck with her. Luckily it was a comedy trick that starts off appearing to be a real serious prediction thing. So i do the first bit asking questions about where she goes shopping etc

Then i revealed the joke bit at the end and she never said a word after. She felt slightly silly after being used for a COMEDY trick that she believed to be dead serious.

All they want is attention. Most of the time, i dont give them the attention. As i work in a team, i mostly bounce off my mate and he bounces of me so much that thgey dont get a chance to go too far.

If i do give them attention (as with that experience) i am craeful in how much and why i am givinbg them what they want;

I find hecklers very difficult but seem to cope most of the time. I've never had a REAL BAD one to be honest.