spectator kefuffle

Struggling with an effect? Any tips (without giving too much away!) you'd like to share?

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spectator kefuffle

Postby shrimp » Apr 8th, '05, 10:36



Hi I'm new here :D
Anyway, I seek your help because whilst performing a welll practiced routine there is always one person who say's " I know how thats done, it's easy." They then proceed to make a complete fool out of themselves by announcing the completely wrong answer but it sounds logical and the rest of the audience say "Oh yea thats easy."
Now lately this has really been getting me down :cry: and i would like some tips please .

Also could anyone Pm me with a trick or two with IT as i just started using it andand was looking for some pointers please

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Postby AndyRegs » Apr 8th, '05, 11:29

First of all, listen to what they say. You never know, they might come up with a piece of magic themselves.
You could offer them the deck, coins, whatever your prop is...to the spec and let them continue making a fool of themselves as they try to repeat your effect. Though this may not always be possible for abvious reasons.
You could also rework your presentation, or maybe even stop doing the effect. If people are saying that instead of "wow" or whatever, then the trick may be missing something. Even though they are totally wrong. You will always get someone saying 'I know this one' half way through a trick, but its always pleasing to see their face drop when you make the final reveal. It's a long road, but making your magic totally unexplainable, giving the spec a glimpse beyond what they know and believe can be extremely rewarding. DOn't worry, I and many others on this forum are still working our way to that point. And few will readily admit that they are there yet.
If you tell us what effect it is, then people can also give you more specific advise.

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Postby katrielalex » Apr 8th, '05, 13:15

I just wanted to emphasize one thing that Andy said, which is that if people are saying, "I know how that's done" instead of "WOW!!!!", then you should probably look over your routine. Especially, try to make sure that you have lots of kicker endings...like, for example, Ambitious Card with a colour change at the end (just an idea)...

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Postby Roland » Apr 8th, '05, 13:31

My two penniworth on this is perhaps you can make something of this. If people always think it is done the same way why not say:

'You might think I did this'

and then prove to them that it is not done that way as part of your routine.

Obviously this depends on the trick but this might be a way to get round this.

In some of my stuff I actively encourage my audience to think about how its done. Often they end up confusing themselves even more which helps make what I did even more impossible to understand.

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Postby dat8962 » Apr 8th, '05, 16:31

Looking at what Andy Regs has advised, I would try to go along with his advice on handing over your cards, coins etc. if the oppportunity exists, and then getting the heckler into a 'follow me' type of routine. You can also hand over a spare set of normal cards if you're using a gimmicked deck. This is often the suggestion put forward by many performers and indeed, it does work more often than not but you do have to make sure that the opportunity is right for the trick.

Some will prefer to use the quick one liner or put down but again, you perhaps have to be more conscious of this, particularly if the guy is bigger than you and has had a few drinks before hand.

I think that experience will eventually lead you to find what works best for you. I would suggest that you don't let the rest of your audience get the impression that you're bothered by the heckler.

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Postby magicdiscoman » Apr 8th, '05, 17:23

i always keep to pieces of rope in my pocket for this type of occassion and it usualy goes something like this.
"thats an interesting theory man, your a much better magician than me perhapse you can help me inprove my skills, take this piece of rope".

okay gather it up into loops, thats it, now i'd use a hennings move here what about you they usualy nodd, ok drop the loops.
i have three knots you have none, now thats were i always get the move wrong.
i then go on to do a cut and restored rope, follow me fashion.
you see my knot came off were your ready to disolve your knot daryl fashion, oh well if you don't mind i'll carry on and if you can make notes and see me after the show i'd be glad of any advice you have.

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Postby Najis » Apr 11th, '05, 12:45

Hi there, Some really good ideas here. Im very new here too and the tricks I have performed so far seem to have worked well. Only really performed to friends and family and there has been a lot of 'all you did was this' etc and I agree they are normally so far off its funny. I have found myself just agreeing with them every time 'yes thats right! how did you guess?' , giving a cheeky smile and moving swiftly on to another trick. Like I said I am very new to the magic scene and all this advse is great! Thanks guys.

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Postby jbmagic » Apr 22nd, '05, 20:34

Roland wrote:why not say:

'You might think I did this' and then prove to them that it is not done that way as part of your routine.


On the odd occasion this has happened to me, it is usually been the guy and once it was a woman, who seems to think magicians are challenge to find out how it's done. While I try make all my perfomances as entertainment there will always be people who will see it as a challenge.

In my humble opinion there are two types of people who don't like magic:

The first are those that remember their Uncle boring the @ss off them when they were younger and are not prepared to be converted.

The second type are the sceptics.

The first type will usually either say they are not interested or just walk away from the group you are performing to, the second type is the ones who will try to mess you up or come up with lots of different methods that they think is the soulution either right or wrong.

My solution to this is to agree partly with Roland, but it depends on the situation, I sometimes say to the specy if they are in a group, you know a lot of people don't wish to know how the trick is done and your spoiling it for everyone else, anyway you are only guessing!

Other times I will take them aside if I have the opportuinity and explain this concept to them and say that he is only guessing and even if he did guess right it will be our secret so that everyone else can enjoy the show.

If he has had a few drinks and is being difficult, there are a few tricks you can do that is a bit of fun but the trick is on him and you sort of force him to see the funny side in a light hearted way!

Silk to Knickers is ideal for this! :)

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Postby ouch-kabibble » Apr 22nd, '05, 22:10

The way these sceptic spectators think as is follows:

If I can work out 10% of a trick, I have worked out the whole trick.
This meaning, 'Well I know that there are only two 10p coins in your hand, so thats how the other one changed into a £2 coin'. These crazy ideas often occur, but in their mind they think that theyre better than you.

why not say:

'You might think I did this'
and then prove to them that it is not done that way as part of your routine


If you accept this method, once in a while there will be a situation where you cant turn over the top card, or you cant show all the coins in your hand. When such happens, they will expect you to prove them wrong, and when you dont, they'll think they've sussed it all out.

I tend just to ignore them, as they are mainly pointing out these reasons just for attention. Completely tune them out, carry on with the trick as if nothings happened. If the trick really is good, they will be more interested in you than that one loony.

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