It may not be a problem for most but recently I have had kids reach over my table to get the deck of cards I demo. I don’t have a problem making the kids get close to my table—just the opposite..they are soooo close they are leaning on my table and some want to see the cards.

I had one girl, maybe 10, who kept on grabbing after I told her not to AND pulled her hand away. And her dad was standing there, watching this. I finally had to put the deck into my pants pocket. In spite of that, believe it or not, she pulled out a 10 spot and bought.

This hasn’t happened much in the past but recently it seems kids are getting more aggressive. Is there a solution for this?

Jon

Jon --- Well, you could start pitching paring knives instead of Svengali decks!

Seriously, I have always told kids not to lean on the pitch table. Although it's fairly heavy and pretty durable, it's not anchored down and can certainly be moved or upset by the combined weight of a few kids. The younger ones lean on the table so they can stand on tiptoe and see. I solved that problem by getting a small stepstool and putting it on one end of the pitch table. The older ones lean because -- who knows? When I stopped the pitch until they stopped leaning, that usually solved the problem.

Ironically, for closeup magic to be effective, you do need to work close-up, and actually right under the spec's noses. But you can do that and still leave a zone of safety between you and them. I found that I could lean forward over the pitch table for more intimacy, emphasis and effect, but still pull back when necessary. That also helped to prevent the specs from leaning in too often. (My pitch table was four feet long and two feet wide -- that was plenty of room to display stock and do demos, while still giving me a good safety zone and without appearing to be too distant.)

As you know, most kids (and some adults) regard magic tricks as a challenge and a puzzle to be solved, rather than a mystifying entertainment. They also think there's nothing wrong with grabbing the deck or doing whatever is necessary to "solve" the puzzle. To them, it's simply a game; to you, it's a pitch and a business. You just have to be faster than they are, if possible. I also kept the cards in my hands and under my control as much as possible; that helped prevent people (or the wind) from picking up the cards.

If all else failed, I just stopped the pitch completely, said I was taking a lunch break and would be back in ten minutes. There's no law that says you HAVE to pitch to everybody or to jerks! After the perps left, I'd just start another pitch to another crowd. Fortunately, I had to resort to this very infrequently.

I'm sure that Don, with many more pitching years, has been through this problem much more often, and he probably has even better ideas for dealing with it. SETH

You have to be firm with everybody not just the kids.Make sure they ALL know you are the boss.

that's my two cents....

Don

It just seems a recent thing. Maybe kids are just getting more aggressive these days.

I like to think I am pretty firm. When the girl grabbed the cards, I grabbed her hand--3 times!! She just wouldn't stop and her dad just stood there and said nothing. As I said, I finally put the cards in my pocket, did the TCM and she bought. I'm sure the dad knew I was upset but it didn't seem to matter. She was the one who actually came up with the money.

Seth, as far as keeping the cards in my hands as much as possible, doing the TCM requires that I put the deck SOMEwhere. I always put it behind the Loftus box I'm using but she reached around that, attemping to grab the cards. A while back, was doing a stripper demo and a lady just walzed up up and grabbed the cards. I had to stop the stripper demo and take the cards away from her. I said, "I'll be happy to show these to you. Just lemme finish this demo." Of course, she never came back.

Maybe I'm just being to sensitive. No one has ever tried to grab the worm, tho I have it either in a shirt pocket or behind my name badge.

Oh, well...I guess it's Don't fault for making me such a wonderful pitch man...

John

Jon-O, I wholeheartedly agree with you. Young people nowadays have this feeling of entitlement. They're used to having instant access to information. Fool them, and most feel they have a RIGHT to find out how it's done. The poor kids are getting no help from their parents, as far as any sort of discipline.

Sorry if I make the sweeping generalization above. Of course, the children of all TMC members are well-behaved. And I mean that sincerely. (I know my own are.)

Now as for protecting your table from aggressive kiddos, I believe that a slight modification to your setup is in order:
http://www.premier1supplies.com/fencing.......e_id=132

Glad I could help!


Brett

The father probably did nothing because HIS generation was raised with a sense of entitlement, too!

I pitch from a 2'x4' fold up plastic table. To give me a little height, I use a storage shelf I bought from Lowe's that goes on top of a closet shelf to give a little more storage. I had a small sign made that I velcro over the "hole" (where the back of the closet wall would be). This gives me a small shelf where I can ditch the Sven deck while demoing the TCM and away from itchy hands.

LeoH

I agree with Don YOU MUST SHOW YOUR AUTHORITY this is your space and if you let some kid butt in and ask a question it can lose the whole audience it happens all the time solution is simple...

they go to grab the cards you pick them up and carry on with the pitch IF they interupt again and ask if they can see them you can say

NO BUT FOR £10 YOU CAN SEE THEM AND ILL TEACH YOU HOW TO DO IT...or NO BUT FOR £10 YOU CAN SEE THEM AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE AND YOU GET TO KEEP THEM.... WOULD YOU LIKE A PACK? then carry on where you left off or close them right there.

It happens at least two times a day. The short kid pulls on the top of the joint. Mostly they are too young to listen and follow direction so I ask their sibling or parent to pick them up so they can watch. "Pick up you're little sister so she can see". Then keep pitching. If they put them down and they do it again, I just repeat the instruction. They then become the bad guy if they don't want to keep holding up the kid.