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The simple fix is try not to fool your audience, try to entertain them. I know the minute somebody challenges me my hackles go up. Once you are entertaining them they quickly become your allies. And truly I believe this is something that only comes with experience.

bmat wrote:The simple fix is try not to fool your audience, try to entertain them. I know the minute somebody challenges me my hackles go up. Once you are entertaining them they quickly become your allies. And truly I believe this is something that only comes with experience.

Wise words, this about sums it up for me!

I also agree with bmat.

You should be planning - or scripting what you intend to perform with all of this having been considered with practical solutions.

That's when your magic will start to become entertaining rather than just being a puzzle for people to try and work out.

IMHO I suggest that performers should keep in mind that you are imposing on your audience's time, whether it is in a theatre where they have paid, a restaurant where they are trying to eat or a street they are trying to walk along. It is for the performer to get them on your side, rather than hoping that they will just go along with it.

I think that this is another good point and one that most working magicians will or should know.

In a situation such as a restaurant you should always politely ask if the table would like to see some magic rather than assuming that they do. Butting in with a line of "here's a magic trick that I'm gonna show you" will rarely go down well.

However, in a street style or sometimes a venue perfromance, perhaps ina theatre where you have a pitch to work from, then the audience come along to see you and they spend their time accordingly. If they don't like what they see then they freely move away.

As I said earlier, this often comes back to planning and/or scripting what you are performing in my view. Either way, you always have to get an audience on your side.