talkmagic.co.uk

Mahoney wrote:

katrielalex wrote: that he won't take too long, etc etc.

I think this is an important point. I've found that, when approaching strangers, sometimes they just want you to leave. So I think it's important that you say something like "just a minute though, my firends are waiting for me". You act as if they have approached you, and you are now doing them a favour. Now they relax and pay you a bit more attention at the start of the trick. Of course once you've blown them away you are in and can stay for as long as you like!

People on the whole, when they hear the words "magic trick", think it's some lame trick they've seen before. So I try to avoid those words. Most of them have never seen any "proper" magic before, so they won't know what you're about until you astonish them.

That's what works for me

Yeah, I agree. I never say to anybody 'a card trick' or a 'magic trick', I say something like 'card magic', or to get some laughs 'an amazing feat involving cards'

bananafish wrote:

I've found that, when approaching strangers, sometimes they just want you to leave. So I think it's important that you say something like "just a minute though, my firends are waiting for me

I would say that if they just want you to leave, you leave. I see what you are saying that they may be willing to tolerate you if they know it is only for a few minutes, but seriously, we do this to entertain them, not so they can tolerate us.

Yeah that's not really what I was meaning. I meant they were uninterested in the magic at first. They are willing to see it but will pay no real attention especially at the start.

Sometimes they don't want to be bothered. But when you do a trick for them they suddenly become interested. I'm not forcing it down people's throats, it's just that sometimes they are indifferent to you. Then I change indifferent into interested.

I'm not talking about people who outright don't want to see magic, I'm talking about the people in the middle who don't care either way. They will say yes to you but their mind and attention will be elsewhere.

This isn't what happens all of the time to me. I was just saying that if you put a time constraint on it then they will relax more. However good you are they still (usually) won't want you hanging around for ages. They have come to have a good time with their friends, so I think most people will see a magician approaching, as a nuisance at first. They aren't used to it and magician stereotypes come to mind. It's a case of "show me something quick or bu**er off".