Has anyone ever encountered a situation where a friend of yours asks you, in front of other laymen, to show them a bit of magic, but you are reluctant to do so because you sense they are troublesome spectators who act like detectives (hecklers). How would you guys deal with this situation?

EuGeNiO

I just say, "I'd like to, but I don't have anything with me right now."

I don't generally make excuses, I just say no, maybe later. There are certain people I just don't perform for. They don't deserve my entertainment.

Some people ask to see something or ask you to perform when other friends are around simply to catch you, these are the kind of people who while you're performing an effect, stare at your hands even though you are speaking directly to them.

On the other hand, you shouldn't be afraid to perform just because some want to burn you. You can become paranoid and become one of these guys who never perform for groups.

Look for a couple of effects that are hard for laymen to figure out, or catch you, and fairly easy to perform and use those under the gun. I could make suggestions, but what's effective for me, may not be for you.

David: I know what you mean. Sometimes I feel paranoid when performing (especially for FRIENDS who constantly burn your hands)eventhough I've never ever had a spectator discover my methods. I don't have hundreds of routines but the ones I perform I have practised until it's second nature. But I still get this paranoid feeling from time to time and it affects my performace slightly (I tend to lose a bit of the patter and the effect gets less personal).

Do you think the more I perform the more this paranoia goes away? And should I be more selective to whom I show effects to?

Always perform. But don;t be a nuisance.

Only be as selective as you want to be.


I apologize for soundinng like a fortune cookie.

If I sense someone is going to try to ruin the fun, I try to get them to join in by asking for something of theirs with which I can perform - a bill, coin, wedding ring, etc. Then I use their buddy as the second volunteer. I.e., I deliberately play into their wanting to catch me but I try to get them to join the fun instead.

Of course this only works if you can defuse the "hostile" environment by making them a part of the fun.

It's a bit of a challenge to me because it means that I always have to keep something "new" around so my friend doesn't get to see the same thing over and over. But hey, that's part of the fun.

I've thought of learning the 3 shell game for situations like this - that stuff never gets old, and they can never beat you if you're good. But that kind of expertise is beyond me yet.

Sruli: I use the 3 card monte instead of the 3 shell game.

If you scroll down to about a week ago and read one of my posts titled "performing for friends" you'll see what I have to say. I have the same problem.

When I am in a "hostile" enviroment I will either do something that I am very very good at, that way if they catch something it still looks good, or a I do something very easy, but the best thing of all is when you can do something that has "no method" and play it up big. A stunt if you will. I can memorize long lists of things and I have a presentation for this that makes it exciting and not boring. When I am done with this, the crowd is usually put in a more receptive mode and is more ready for magic.

Another thing to remember is that flash paper or smoke or d'lites can add a lot of magic to an effect. Used properly they add an air of "real" magic and can misdirect from sleight of hand. Sometimes all it takes is earning some respect and then people will chill out and stop burning your hands.

I do have friends that I pretty much only do mentalism for because of they way they burn my hands. Some of the mentalism relies heavily on sleight of hand but because of my attitude towards the props they don't look for that. You might want to rethink your attitude towards your props. Are you overhandling them? Too much pre-trick prop handling can make the specs suspicious.

It is really really really hard to diffuse a situation where they are overtly burning you so prevention is your best friend.