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So I did a gig tonight and I have to say I dont really know what way I feel about it.

It was a gig for a party in a hotel with tables an loud music to be played later with a lounge outside in a quiete area.So I went into the table at the start of the night and it was fairly quiet with just a few people seated,seemingly board as i was probably only their first pint.I went arund the tables andthe people really liked what i was doing and I was conversing with them for quite a while too.In about a space of about an hour I got through most of those tables gettin brilliant reactions.The ''should be on tv'' ''How much you getting paid here'' Did the hotel hire you'' kinda questions.

A bit later I cam across some spectators who were just weird.I did the colour changing aces wit one guy but he already said I put the ace of so and so in his hands even though he clearly see n me put the one I claimed to have put in his hand.I asked him did I show him already and he said.No but I'm just guessing.This happens sometimes with this trick anyways but it was the arrogance of this guy that p***ed me off an ruined the trick for all watching.

There was another guy who knew the pen through bill effect and explained what I was doing as I was doing it.''Yeah we have those in the joke shop''

Don't get me wrong.95% of tonight was brilliant but It's just the strange annoying things that stand out.

There was some bald guy too who was bored and alone that I approached and asked him did he want to see magic.''No'' and looked away.The first of 100s of people thats ever happened.

I was entertaining a lot of rich people with big business's.One of the guys I was in th middle of a trick and he took the cards off me and showed me his stupid 3 jacks one which p***ed me off cause it was so silly and people were laughing at his lame jokes cause they held hm in such high regard.

Then there was the guy who saw my TT.I just put it away as quick as I could and moved on.

Then there was the strange guy who wasnt interested in my magic but instead telling me he knows the secret of winnin 1000s and that he can tell where the ball of a roullete wheel is going to land every time.That he earns 1000s a day and that he also has a career in acting and singing.Telling me how hes going to write a book someday and tell the world his secret.I had to say ''are you winding me up mate'' but he insisted.What a strange strange person.#

I did about 200 people tonight so apart from those the rest were brilliant but those few things really stand out an bug me.I'm used to the perect performance of never getting caught and staying i control 100%.

Dicuss please.I've nowhere else to vent

It is strange how we tend to only remember the less than perfect momments. I'm sure you have gone over in your mind at least 10 different things you wish you would have done instead. Just know it happens to every performer at some point. Odds are that someone in a crowd has to be a jerk. I try and avoid most commercially available items such as pen thru dollar and if I really love a method I will try and present it in a way that has not been seen on youtube a million times. I do a lot of high school and college shows and they have seen it all so it really pays to do only original material whenever possible. Sounds like the night was a success with a 95% approval rate! So just try and remember how many people you totally amazed and forget about the creeps. (easier said than done) The way you can always tell how good of job you do is if you are invited back or it leads to another gig. By the way, it would be nice to invent a trick that you could attach to an a-hole spectator that would later explode in some way or the other.

Turn it around, rather than get pi**ed off, take a look at the effects in question or rather your handling of them. Learn from the comments. Ignore the guy who simply didn't want to see you perform magic. I know there are times I don't want to see a magician, and I certainly don't want to see a magician after I've already made it clear I don't want to watch. You are there for them, not the other way around.

Even if it only happens once in a million performances I'd take a good hard look at the negative comments. Pen through anything is an example, 'so what' the guy said, "I can get that at my joke shop" what does that tell you? It doesn't tell me to stop showing the effect, it tells me I have to not only do it better, I have to eliminate the 'joke shop' angle.

a great way to do this is to use a duplicate and have them sign a business card with the pen, then go into the effect. Perfect if there is an 'i' in the name because you can say, you forgot to dot your 'I' and drive the pen in. Or use a note of some sort and put the effect into a routine, just don't use pen through anything as a stand alone. If you are not comfortable with the switch there is a pen on the market that you can hand out to the spectator.

There are all sorts of creative ways to look at your magic, step out of the box and learn from the negative comments as well as the postive.

Pick up the challange and enjoy.