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Ok im a novice, only been doing 'magic' for maybe a few months or so, and i have come across people, mainly 1 of my friends in particular, who seems to get real annoyed almost whenever i do a trick, and shows no interest at all. I guess thats ok but quite annoying for me when i just want to 'practise' and get better, and used to performing infront of people without stuffing up. I put it down to him maybe being jelous, because he probably couldnt do it. I guess a simple solution would be for me to just not perform when he comes over, or maybe he just isnt a very good friend. Funny thing is he performed a pretty lame 'mathamatical' type of card trick on me and thought it was just wondeful. Anyway just was wondering what your thoughts were and maybe how to deal with him, i like to practise infront of people, and with him whenever i do for some reason i get more nervous through his lack of non interest and how he almost gets pi**ed off about it when i start a trick. Puts a bad vibe in the air i guess. Maybe next time he trys to show me somthing that 'he' thinks is cool, i should show no interest and be an ass about it, i dont know. Thoughts anyone? And is there a name for these sort of people, or am i making too much of all this?

Thanks.

ONE of my friends in particular, who seems to get real annoyed almost whenever i do a trick,

So don't do any tricks for him. It's as easy as that.

Some people don't like it and just don't want to see it. It could well be that he is jealous of you - but really the reason is not important. If he doesn't want to see it don't subject him to it. Apart from anything else it sounds like it would put a strain on your friendship.

I appreciate that it's useful to find a buddy to practice these things on, but your friend is obviously not the one.

Although I agree with the advice above. Have you thought about asking him? You may have a good reason why not, but just in case you hadn't thought about it, I thought I would mention it.

or am i making too much of all this?

Yes. Not only that but the problem more lies with you than him. When I first started doing magic I felt insulted that some people didn't want to see what I had spent ages practising after awhile though I simply learnt to take it on the chin and move on.

A varied assortment of advice for you to work on there! I'd also add that giving this guy the cold shoulder won't help as it will just bring you down to the same level as him and might lead to further problems. If he's doing something then be politely interested, don’t go over the top with praise if he does it well or criticise heavily if he fouls up. He might eventually get the message that his attitude could do with a bit of fine tuning and you're not such a bad guy after all.

Johndoe wrote:

or am i making too much of all this?

Yes. Not only that but the problem more lies with you than him. When I first started doing magic I felt insulted that some people didn't want to see what I had spent ages practising after awhile though I simply learnt to take it on the chin and move on.

Agreed. Development of a thick skin is a prerequisite for magic performance. This isn't a problem, its a learning opportunity. Now I sound like like a self help book. Oh dear.

Take the recent competition. Goldfish didn't want to provide commentary because he felt he would insult me. The reality is that I need this form of critisism in order to improve. I can take the comments made or ignore them. Advice and help is afterall one of the reasons I participate in this forum. Its a shame hes the only one who has commented so far.

Ok thanks for the tips guys, its all a learning experience for me and i will just try 'take it on the chin' whenever i come across people like this.

If he's doing something then be politely interested

It seems strange i should offer him the same courtesy that he doesnt show me thoe. Anyway ive had my rant

Thanks.

I seem to find as with all artforms or methods of entertainment you will find some people just dont' enjoy it.
A really good friend of mine is a perfect example of this a used to get frustrated when I showed him something new that I'd worked on as he couldnt work out how it was done. He truly didnt see the entertainment value in it thus I dont perform anything on him anymore.
Dont take it personally as everyone else has said. I mean I personally cant stand mime and if a friend of mine wanted to show me the "caught in an invisible box" routine he'd be working on I'd probably set fire to him.

arkos wrote:

If he's doing something then be politely interested

It seems strange i should offer him the same courtesy that he doesnt show me

Like I said, it puts you in a much better light than him and, with any luck, it'll drive him insane trying to figure out why you aren't reacting negatively! It doesn't mean you have to take a load of rubbish from him or anyone else so be prepared to just decide to not do stuff for awkward people and walk away from it - it's their loss, not yours.

Yeah good points guys, greedoniz..were you offended 'at 1st' of his lack of interest and how he got annoyed or whatever? I guess its a normal reaction but i will just keep practising on my mother lol.

And LOL at the mime comment.

At first I must say I didn't entirely understand why I got sucha reaction and I'm glad to say it's pretty rare. I've only come across two such people and they were both pretty anal human beings so maybe it's the reminder that we live in a chaotic universe that sends these people into a spin.

I should have finshed that off before I posted really.

In answer to the question I wasnt offended as more confused due to the fact I love magic so much but I suppose it takes all sorts to fill this crowded planet of ours.

This is the reason why I am suggesting that we find a large island and place all magic haters, mimes, clowns and ventriloquists on it. Sorry if you are one of those its just magic haters spoil my fun and the others give me the willies

Some people simply HATE it when they realise the general perception might not be that they are the cleverest person in the room, or even having someone have more attention than themselves..

It's really silly, but unfortunately it happens. Best to totally ignore them, I reckon.

It seems strange i should offer him the same courtesy that he doesnt show me

What seems strange to me is that it seems strange to you.

We should always try to act as we would like others to act towards us. That's a general rule of life isn't it? It costs nothing to be nice, and who knows, if you act interested in what he does - maybe he will in turn end up being more interested in what you do...

You know what your exactly right Thanks champ!