talkmagic.co.uk

I wish America wasn't so uptight. I want liquor machines ...

Dearie me. Our young French Canadian is talking nonsense again. A casual conversation with someone trying to extract money from a French signage liquor machine is a far cry from what he does on a regular basis. Is he telling me he hangs around machines all day waiting for people to lose money in them? If so I am surprised he hasn't been arrested for loitering.

I have no problem with the scenario he has just outlined. However it is a rare situation and not what I am talking about and he knows it. I am referring to going up to a complete stranger and forcing French Drops on them.

As for "playing my game very well" I am afraid that is quite untrue. He is playing it as well as the French did on the Plains of Abraham so long ago. First he said he wasn't playing my game and then he said he was. I do wish he would make up his mind.

As for me being a troll that is purely a matter of opinion. If it is the case I am a superior kind of troll with great intellect and wisdom whereas Phas3r is merely a sort of Frenchman.

I am trying to deal with the topic at hand but it is rather difficult to do so when I am continually being sniped at by my intellectual inferiors. If they will deal with the topic at hand then so will I. However if they insist on continually making impertinent remarks I will reluctantly be forced to answer them in my usual brilliantly devastating manner.

Again it is an imposition on people to be accosting them on the street. The French example above of approaching people who are in a tourist area may have more validity but on the whole it is a faulty premise. You can't forever be in a tourist area. Once the ferocious French Canadian winter sets in you will be forced to go into malls to annoy people in your usual manner.

People should come to you not the other way around. You are in a position of weakness and demean your work when you force magic on people. Furthermore you don't earn any money that way either.

Learn to busk properly if you wish to perform magic in the street. You will earn some money and it will be a REAL test if you are any good. If you aren't then nobody will give you anything.

I am beginning to think David Blaine has a lot to answer for. The amusing thing is that I bet 100 to one he never actually did this "street magic" nonsense himself before he got on TV. And when he finally did it he carried a camera crew around with him. There is a world of difference between a daft young lone Canadian accosting people in the street and a whole entourage of people with cameras doing so.

Still it earns my old friend Brad Christian some money. I bet Brad is the only Canadian in history who has made any money out of this street magic twittery. And he doesn't hang around liquor machines either.

mark lewis wrote: If they will deal with the topic at hand then so will I.

An excellent sentiment! Let's make this even easier - if there are any more inappropriate comments about countries, nationalities or sniping at cultural differences then not only will they be edited/deleted, the whole thread may end up being locked, like so many others for the same reasons.

Whilst nationality, background, race, creed and colour are extremely important to the individual, on TM it doesn't matter a flying Fez - we're all magicians (or trying to be!) and that's our common bond. So how about we just get back to Talking Magic?

Busking and drawing a crowd to you is one thing - and it's completely acceptable- going up to strangers and asking if they want to see something isn't.
You just don't know who you're approaching. They could be some kind of lunatic with a gun, which these days is highly possible. You also don't know what is going through someone's mind. If you had received some bad news and a little tw*t waved a deck of cards in your face and kept insisting you see what they want to show you, you could really lose your temper.
I think David Blaine has a lot to answer for. His approach was good, but as with all things that are popular there will be mundane copyists.

Approaching strangers in the street is not different to cold callers ringing you up to sell double glazing and if I was approached I would assume that
(a) the magician was a rubbish one which is why he has to force people to watch him
(b) he was a cocky attention seeker.

Well if i had to approach you guys id probably never show you any magic because you are just not friendly and your scared of talking with others, therefore you would be uncomfortable talking with me.

I cannot lay down a hat in front of me and bragg that im a magician because i do not need to ask for charity... I see enuff poor performers doing this already and its not making big sensations.

Like i said you dont have to do magic for talking with others, if your not abble to talk with peoples then street magic is probably not for you. I never go to someone asking hey do you want to see something? Or im magician i will atonish you dont move plz... No i always find pretexts to approach laymen its easy you only have to keep your eyes open.

I have been used to train myself to talk with peoples before, i was a store seller and i wanted to find ways to approach peoples so they dont get scared of the seller. Thats something posible and can only be achieved with experiences, you may read all the books you want the only way to learn how to approach peoples is to just do it and ameliorate your technics each times. Of course books on merchendising and the other books stated in this topic will come handy while you build your confidence and can provide good starting points. Of course if your abble to do some cold reading it should be easy to find something that interest your "victim"

You may want to start with asking for directions if your not confident yet and as you ask more peoples you'll get confidence and start developing workable approachs. You may want to find diferent questions like this one wich you know the answer so everyone around dont think your a freak asking everyone your road! lol

How do you guys drag girls if your not abble to talk with them? Seriously England must be boring if you cant talk to your neigborough is everyone scared of others? Just so you know we are all humans on this planet, we are all made from the same raw materials. You should not be scared of others if you dont scare yourself... Im not trying to diss anyone, im really wondering how you guys make friends and girlfriends if you cant talk to anyone. Either mark is pushing hard or maybe im too pacific but is that true?

Im not saying it is a bad idea to just put up effects with visual potential to attract peoples to you a while ago i was reading a book about how to interact with peoples without saying a word and yes this do work, a simple example i can use is the torn and restored news paper. AN easy way to perform this to a layman by surprise is to just sit in a public area where there is enuff peoples just sitting and walking around. Then you just have to sit somewhere and simulate to read the news paper but hold it reversed side so everyone that look can see your news paper is in the wrong way.
IN a matter of minutes you should have someone come to you either to help you or to laugh at you just go with your pattern and torn that news paper anyway youve read it already from every angles...


We are all magicians here and we all know everything is possible, only some compromised may block us temporary but somehow we always finish by finding a path around to get to our objectives. We make impossible things happen but yet you think its not right to approach people at all. WHY?

@mark Plz explain why its wrong to interact with people i dont know, plz prove me its wrong to dicuss with you on this forum and with everyone else.

I have no problem with the scenario he has just outlined. However it is a rare situation and not what I am talking about and he knows it. I am referring to going up to a complete stranger and forcing French Drops on them.

Lie again you were directly dissing me and my approach...

What you are doing is something quite different and takes a lot less skill. Furthermore it is an irritation to the citizens of Quebec and distracts them from their English lessons.

I back up Mr Lewis sentiments on this one. It's only over-earnest kids who want to approach stangers as they have seen Blaine do it and just want to be the same.
If some annoying little twerp hassled me in the street, I would have little time for them. As you mentioned, you worked in sales and I have my own ways of dealing with irritating sales people that incessantly ring your home phone selling tawdry goods.

Anyone who is worldly wise and mature (and confident in their ability) would aim to get paying bookings INDOORS, only a teenager would be as naive to think that everyone wandering round a shopping centre is waiting for someone to perform magic for them. One day you could pick the wrong person and hearing these numerous stories about shootings and the like, if you hassle the wrong person you'll end up regretting it for the short remainder of your life.

Maybe Canada is a wonderful paradise of magic lovers who get up in the morning hoping that some teenager with a Criss Angel (I spelt it correctly!) t-shirt on is going to amaze them with his finger flinging dexterity but here in Britain we have chav's and the like who would probably have your beloved Raven off you at knife point.

Grow up, wake up and get some real gigs.

I am not sure what "dragging girls" and "making girl friends" has to do with street magic but let us go along that route for the moment. I am no expert in seducing women but I would imagine that accosting them in the street would make them give you a frosty look at best and shout "rape" at worst. At medium I suppose they would merely sprint away from you and look for a policeman.

England (and we must not forget Scotland, Wales and Ireland) is far from boring. It is a rather awful place and consists of the most obnoxious people in the world (apart from Australians of course) However boring is not an adjective that easily jumps to mind. However we British are a blunt people and will readily tell young twits who approach us with a deck of cards to go forth and multiply.

Quebecers and other sorts of Canadians won't. Politeness is part of the culture. However they think it just the same.

This street magic nonsense is just a few years old and will eventually pass away as mere juvenile silliness. I can understand 15 year olds running around doing it. Or those daft kids that go to mosquito ridden magic camps in Northern Ontario doing it. Or even 19 to 20 year olds doing it. However I think I read that this young man from Quebec is 29 years old. Isn't it about time he went on to more mature ways of showing magic to people?

Well 8 years ago i had never heard of blaine but i was doing street magic already...

The whole topic is about how to approach people in the street, you can keep comments on how you would not do that but you are tottaly out of topic then.

Anyway i see no one cares about my opinions and experiences. I have nothing else to share on this forum. Its an insult to my intelligence to talk with you. From now on ill use pm only and if someone spam my box ill just delete my account, so you know what to do if you want to get ride of me.

(Thats exeactly what i do when i meet someone who isnt in a state of mind to see magic, i pass my way)

You musn't be so sensitive my boy. Most of us here simply don't think that approaching people in a public street to inflict unwelcome card tricks is a good thing and we are only trying to wean you away from it for your own good and for the safety and mental health of the public at large.

As for spamming your mailbox I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing. Not my style old chap.

Another one going off the rails over personal attitudes. Locked. Try and learn from it please.