talkmagic.co.uk

i would like to hear from people as to how you deal with hecklers at your gigs.

i have my own personal ways to deal with thease offenders, which i will expande upon as this thread developes

please be frank if you havent tried it but think it would work say so, as some of your ideas may well be put to a practical use.

please be advised that swearing at them will not be considerd a valid post it dos'nt work i have found this out to my cost and still have the scars to prove it. over to you [/b]

After some careful tuition from Magicdiscoman, I have adopted a new strategy to deal with hecklers... which involves nothing more than a length of rope.

Pure genius.

Previously, I was a follower of the 'Can't Handle this so I'm Going' School of Cowards - but now I'm following the 'I am the AntiChrist, and I'm going to banish you to the pits of hell' school.

Can't wait to see how this one progressess!!!

simple answer.... if anyone exposes me at work or wherever 9 times out of 10 its someone i know just trying to me a smart a**e, and as such he knows (as a friend) that the sharp kick in the nuts he recieves is meant in a friendly fashion

Now I understand why Scott's wear Sporrens... with Mog around, they serve a purpose not unlike a cricket 'box'!!!

It's easy to stop friends heckling - like you say - but I'd not be trying the nut-cracker on a regular spectator. I'm sure there's a flaw in the plan...

only flaw is if the guy is bigger than you

Maybe it's my charisma or my huge talent but I rarely get heckled, and if ever it's usually a 13-16 year old boy who just can't stand to (in his eyes) be made to look silly for not figureing it out

Good point - it's normally people who are either jealous of your good looks, charm, charisma and skill (oh, and your ability to do magic, of course!) who seem to heckle.

The main problem is that it ruins the show for other people.
For sure, we're none of us stupid enough to really believe that a playing card can travel through mid-air and land in your pocket, or even that solid metal rings can penetrate each other. But it's the enjoyment of watching the performance that counts, and most people are there to be entertained.

We know that dinosaurs don't exist (well, except for my ex'es mother... ), but nobody stood up in the cinema during Jurassic Park and shouted 'it's not real - I can see the strings'.

Some people get a thrill out of debunking and humiliating. I'm waiting with baited breath for Magicdiscoman's posts on this thread - because if they're a patch on what he was saying last night, he'll show you how the tables can be turned quite easily.

And as for heckler's getting one over on us magi - the last laugh is usually on them - because they go home wishing they could be more like us

ooh a chalenge

please refer to thread childrens show / comedy magic thread for some good ideas.

invite heckler on stage and give him petrol can with some water in it then say I'm just going off stage tio light this torch (fire to cane), when i come back dump the can on you head and we are set

2) say to heckler if you want to do my job you will need to wear my hat (sink plunger hat)

the next trick i was going to do is the needle through my cheek but I'm sure the audience will let you take over for me

as i have said before hecklers feed on you fear and anger, bring them to you away from there position of security and let your audience try and convit him for you.
it important to be nice, polite an nauseatingly complient it reaky gets there goat and you come away clean.

A bad idea is to invite them onto the stage in an attempt to make them look like a fool to shut them up. Especially if they happen to be drunk because they will happily destroy your hard work just to get a few laughs. It is the laughs that they get that fuels these "hecklers" so if you can somehow prove to be more fun then the audience will back you. The same goes if you are in a position where the audience has paid to see your magic, just comment on how this heckler will be responsible for their money being wasted if he continues and the audience will soon stop laughing an will be telling him to shut up.

Andrew

my point was about young hecklers

as i do mostly childrens shows and teens this format has worked for me

as for adult shows i take your point and would not invite them on stage, instead i have just stopped the show and said when the expert at the back is finished i will continue till then you have the floor and i walk off stage and back on with a chair, sit down and wait for the trouble maker to be delt with.

hecklers and debunkers are a cross we dont have to bear, we are the ones being paid to be there so make sure your employer is aware before hand what you expect them to do about hecklers and other undesirables and your plans in the event you come across one.

remember your a performer not a bouncer thats the venues responsibility.

experience will teach you the best way to deal with them, the best advice i can give you is to put a brave face on it and make sure you know who your back up is.

Great advice magicdiscoman. I was not sure what type of audience you was talking about. I have no experience from childrens parties as i hate children

me to but they pay my rent

member of the dyslexic assosciation for tollerence or daft for short

There's another area of magi-mocking: know-it-alls.

In fact, I think my past 'hecklers' probably fall more into this bracket than actual hecklers.

I agree that to some extent it would be nice to somehow belittle or punish them, but the upshot is that no matter how you plan to do this, I imagine that it's playing right into their hands.

There's a school of thought which says ignore - but that seems to play into their hands too. Which is why I think I'll stick to my coward's routine, which goes along the lines of 'That's easy... I can see it in your other hand...' and my reply would typically be 'Blimey - I'm not doing it right then!'

At this point, I would usually pretend that it was part of the routine, switch to another handling and totally shock and awe them just to retaliate.

It works, but I'm sure that it IS the coward's way out - but leaves 0% animosity - which is great. I'll then make a point of doing an Audience Participation with the heckler, just to show there's no hard feelings.

I make this sound like a regular thing - it's not.

We all have great performances, and we all have turkeys. When things go well, they go REALLY well, but it's part of being a performer to pick yourself up when things go bad - and try to make the best of a bad situation.

I was at the park the other day and (whenever I'm there kids surround me and beg for magic tricks) I was doing the regular close-up tricks when some kids mom came running over and grabbed him by the arm and starts dragging him away kicking and screaming.

Later I told her there was no need for that kind of behavior. She started yelling at me that in this day and age people like me should not be at the park talking to kids.

The next day, I got a call from the local police telling me that I had to have permission from the parks and recreation department to "perform" magic tricks.

In 17 years of doing this I have never come across anyone who acted like that and now I am in the process of seeking "permission" to demo my services for the kids at the park.

Anybody else have this kind of thing happen?

Sadly, this attitude is very typical here in the UK. There have been a number of high profile child kidnappings/murders in recent years so any male over the age of about 16 talking to kids in a park/shopping center etc is going to be suspect.

Did you know that, for at least the last 7 years, store Santas have been strongly advised not to let children sit on laps in the Christmas Grotto - even if the kids want to - as somebody will assume there’s some kind of perverted thrill involved. Having been a local 'Santa' for almost 20 years, I've seen the attitudes change in the adults but the kids are still the same. It’s a very tricky situation. We also have to contend with the ‘vigilantes’ with only half a brain cell between them who seem to think that attacking suspects is OK. It culminated a couple of years ago in a guy’s house being broken into by a gang of angry thugs and the guy was beaten up. His crime? He had a sign on the door saying ‘ Pediatrician’. The thugs assumed this was the same as ‘Pedophile’. Don’t get me wrong, I hate child molesters as much as anyone but I’d prefer the Law to deal with them.

Bottom line - no matter how innocent you are and how well intentioned your magic is, somebody will kick up enough of a stink to get you into trouble and drag your name in the mud. It goes against the grain but, if you need a permit, go get one and it will silence some of the complainers. It’s a sick world and there’s not much sign of improvement.