Interesting show yesterday -- I was doing David Roth's Four for Four (or maybe it's Four On Four?) yesterday for a table of about five people, and the guy on my left actually grabbed my left hand and tried to open it up. I pulled away, and it happened so fast I didn't even have time to get angry, I just carried on with the routine. The other four people seemed to enjoy it....

And all of my other tables were fine.

(People said flattering things. "You're like that magician on America's Got Talent!"

Me: "Oh, do you mean Eric Jones?"

Spectator: "Yeah, that's the one! He should have advanced... You should go on it!"

I know I am not in Mr. Jones' league, but how often does this happen to you other coin guys?)

Anyway, later on while I was lost in thought mowing my lawn, I thought of a few things I could have said to this grabby gentlemen:

"Whoa! Sir, you don't know me that well yet!"
"You know what they call the last guy who grabbed my hand like that? They call him Lefty! Know why?"
"Excuse me, but if I were a violinist going from table to table, would you grab my violin like that?"

Has this kind of thing ever happened to any of you? And if so, how did you handle it? How do you WISH you had handled it?

That would **** me right off.

The dynamic for women is a little different, but on the rare occasions I've had something like that, I just say, "I don't touch you without permission, you please don't touch me, okay?" And I get their agreement before moving on. I am direct and not joking around, and every time the person has apologized and I didn't have a problem after that. Plus, it deters them from thinking about whatever move they were suspicious of.

(Edited to add: Funny, I previewed the post to see if the asterisk word would go through because I wasn't sure it was okay -- another word for urinate -- and it did. But then when it posted it was replaced with the asterisks. Huh.)

Yes, I can imagine this would be even worse for a woman. It was weird, because my spider-sense told me ahead of time I was going to have trouble with this guy. If you are familiar with Four for Four, the coin repeatedly travels to the left hand, and I think he just figured it was his job to verify for the group that it wasn't there already! I was pretty angry later on when I looked back on it, but at the time I was more surprised than angry. Annoying!

You know, nobody heckles a juggler... People heckle stand-up comedians, mimes, and even musicians sometimes, but no one ever heckles a juggler.

It has happened to me, both "You should go on AGT" and having to deal with a grabber.

I have always taken it as a compliment for people to say I should go on these shows, it really makes you feel like somebody or at least that you're doing something right.

I don't get grabbed much, but it has happened before. I usually have snatched away and continued on with the trick and stay wary of such people. I've often had to ask these people to please not mess up the wonderment for everyone else. They are usually somewhat embarrassed by their behavior, as they should be. But there are just people in the world that need to let everyone else know that they are smarter and can't be fooled. They usually can't do it unto themselves, so they tend to broadcast it so that others know how superior they are (NOT!).

I remember once I worked in a store, a big chain and used to show magic all the time to employees and customers. So, over a while I typically might've shown the same trick over and over again to some. One day, a friend there said he knew how to do it, though I had fooled him many times with the same trick. I said to him, "If it had taken you this long to pass a test in school, you would've failed many times by now." We were friends, so he acknowledged that and I just left with a wink.

I'm not sure why we have such people in the world (usually strangers and anything but friends), that would not bat-an-eye to mess things up for others, sorta like the older kid that likes to tell his little brother that there's no such thing as Santa Claus. Guess I could say that for a lot of folks in this life, just can't figure out why we need them amidst such crazy behavior and lack of concern for others.

Oh well, I think you have a good plan on dealing with this Joe, and really it does keep you on your toes, and vigilant as to proper moments and people to do magic for. After a while, you can just tell who the real morons are. Carry on!

*As to "jugglers," I guess there's a big difference as to being mesmerized and or being amazed (or tricked). 🤔 There's something in a juggler's continuous movement and indirect interactions, that keeps hecklers at bey.

Thanks for the post, Marion. And, you know, you really SHOULD go on AGT!

This was just a strange gig, because some of the responses were just over the top (believe it or not, I got tremendous attention doing the unlinking safety pins!), and then there was this guy....

I have been heckled juggling. Granted it was by a friend goofing off, not in a professional setting, but still.

Love this. "Whoa! Sir, you don't know me that well yet!" Sounds Malone-ish. Have a great weekend everybody! Be safe! db

Jugglers carry clubs. Some even carry chainsaws.

*jeep! and God Bless!
---Grandpa Chet

In a typical strolling set I have tricks that seek out this type of spectator right at the outset, so I can know how to deal with them by:
- moving myself elsewhere.
- eliminating tricks.
- switching tricks.
- making the grabby person make themselves look foolish to prevent repeat offenses (notice I don't make them look foolish. they do it to themselves).

Obviously it can come out of nowhere, but I think we all learn little techniques over the years, to suss out who we're dealing with.

Joe, it sounds like you have more positive experiences than negative.

One time a guy went to grab a hand during a coins across and I turned toward him and said loudly, "wow, you made the coin disappear!"

That calmed him down a bit. All these types want is some attention.

Suzanne was doing a show at Magic Chicago and a guy kept talking and she asked him to help her on stage with something. He did so and it chilled everything out.