talkmagic.co.uk

I had a very strange reaction from a spectator on Saturday night. I was doing a book test where I describe the scene of the first couple of sentences.

When I did it I received a very strange look, he called me a 'mistress of the dark arts', got up and pretty much ran out of the pub

I was stunned, didn't know what to do. The guy was a middle aged man, sober, seemed very normal and nice enough but then just spooked.

How do other people deal with this sort of situation? I didn't know what to do, chase him and explain it's not real, let him go. Very strange.

I had a woman run out of a pub before ( ). Her very embaressed friend explained that she was terrified of magic.

Well, I've had a few very strong reactions, but if they run off, you can't really do anything. If they stay I let them talk about what's bothering them. There's usually some weird jesus-based fear their priest/Sunday school instilled in them that was so powerful and twisted it still bothers them. I never reveal how I did what I did, but I explain that there's nothing to fear from me. If people take the rip out of them, I stick up for them, too.

And by the way Lady of Mystery - well done! That kind of reaction shows you're doing your job properly!

As Tomo mentionned many times it is a religious belief that magic is actually "witchcraft" or "sorcery" which is decreed as evil in many religious texts (most notably in Deut. 18:10-11). Some letter-of-the-law followers of the Word will definitely think like this and walk[run] out on you for fear of the presence of evil!

Of course you can't run after them and say "no wait... it's only a trick!"
So basically if you want to be perceived as good at what you do... you have to be ready for and accept those situations. There's basically a catch-22 situation: you want people to believe you have arkane powers...but you don't want to be burned at the stake!

azraelws6 wrote: it is a religious belief that magic is actually "witchcraft" or "sorcery" which is decreed as evil in many religious texts

Not necessarily correct. If it were then there wouldn't be a recognised patron saint - St.John Don Boso who's Saint's day, by a remarkable twist of fortune (!) is very soon - January 31st and there's a previous thread at http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic4237.p ... ight=bosco with more information.

Actually, I think you'll find a scared reaction to magic isn't limited to religious folks, those who have no faith at all can be equally worried at such apparently paranormal effects. As mentioned above, it's something which can happen and which the performer needs to be aware of and ready for - telling them it's all a trick won't help much so just go with the flow and do whatever you can to minimise any fallout over what is obviously a very stunning and realistic performance.

well, ultimately...good on you...

maybe next time he's there, offer him a quick tarot reading and make it "extra" nice...

that way he'll come round to the idea of you not being hellspawn in high-heels...that is if you do wear high-heels...

otherwise, scare him into buying you very expensive cocktails...

I find the best thing to do when someone runs out or freaks out is to roll my eyes back in their sockets and hum a low note for 2 seconds. Then, just look totally 'normal' and don't mention the 'episode' you just had.

(only joking—but I guess it could be fun?!?!?)

It was just such an odd situation, I've never known anything like it. He really seemed to enjoy my first two tricks but just went loopy after the book test.

I've never had anyone react like this before, most just have a laugh and have fun. The book test always gets quite unsure reactions but never anything like that. I'll have to try to keep an eye on the specs reactions during the reveal in future.

i have to pay people to give me that kind of reaction

Would it lessen the effect if you sort of smiled as you did the reveal - just to lessen the 'darker' side of things? Just a thought....

i suppose technically, you could alter it to lessen the freak factor...have the force word on a card, plus a few others, and ask two other people to ahem "cut-deeper"

that way it's more of a shared experiment, rather than you plucking the thought from someone's mind...but it could well weaken the whole thing(as i havent seen the way you perform it), so i dunno

I had something like this a couple of months ago actually i was doing bip book to some lady and when i got to the shape within a shape part i guessed the outside right but i guessed the inside one wrong ( i got confused with another of the shapes from the book) and to my amazement she ran away screaming and she sent her son back to say she was actually thinking of a different shape for the inside to put me off and i got the one she was thinking of. She wouldnt come back to the hotel after that in case i was reading her mind. (Maybe she had some deep dark secret she didnt want anyone to find out about).

Mandrake wrote:

azraelws6 wrote: it is a religious belief that magic is actually "witchcraft" or "sorcery" which is decreed as evil in many religious texts

Not necessarily correct. If it were then there wouldn't be a recognised patron saint - St.John Don Boso who's Saint's day, by a remarkable twist of fortune (!) is very soon - January 31st and there's a previous thread at http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic4237.p ... ight=bosco with more information.

Very true about Don Bosco... and very interesting read in the thread you posted above! Actually I wasn't referring to Catholics at all... (I being Catholic and of Italian origin). Without wanting to get into a religious debate, I'm talking about certain religious groups who also do not believe in Saints at all (because they are not mentionned in the Bible). These are the "letter-of-the-law" followers that I'm referring to (i.e. Jehova's Witnesses, Born-Again/Evangelicals). These people will basically quote the passage I posted earlier (from Deutoronomy) whenever you try to convince them that magic is not bad. In the minds of such individuals, magic=sorcery=bad. There's not much you can do about. I'm not saying they're right, I'm saying what they think. I have also had quite the experience with some of these people with regards to performing magic and their interpretations of such.

I think the way I perform this is what makes it strong.

I start off with 3 card tricks in my usual fun, bubbly style. The switch to quite a dark style with the book test. I think it's that sudden contrast from 'fun card tricks' to 'something darker and more serious' which hits hard.

I'll try to monitor the specs reactions while I'm doing it, if they're looking too freaked out I'll give them a smile or wink. There are some people out there with deep rooted superstitions, these people are always going to think there's some paranormal force in play that they can't understand.