My second night at my restaurant walk-around and I had a total bomb table. Three older ladies were at the table and they had finished up their dinner so I seized the opening and introduced myself and asked if they would like some magic and they said yes. So I did my standard sponge bunny opener and it fell flat as a lead balloon. They where not rude, they just had no response to the effect at all. It became quickly evident either they did not want see any magic or the sponge bunnies just don't do it for them. I felt like a fish out of water at that point. So I just finished up the conversation and bid them adieu.

Anyone have any tips or suggestion on how to recover? Or did I take the right action by finishing up the set?

Tricky. I find when strolling, you more often than not come across a group in the night who do not really react. Do not be discouraged - it happens (as long as it does not happen all that often - if that is the case, maybe the performance needs polihing).

when you do find a group like this, sometimes they need a bit of coaxing to get into it - generally I would do a couple more effects, but try something you feel would appeal more to them - perhaps sponge balls on a group of older ladies was not right (I cannot comment on them of course, but this needs to be thought about - flexibility is crucial).

However, if nothing happens, and they start to lose interest, politely wish them a good night and move on to another group, who I am sure will be more than delighted to watch you perform.

Next time check for a pulse,...they might have all been dead.

LOL. Now that was funny.

Actually they were asking me if I knew any single men for one of the gals at the table. They where quite nice but not into the effect. I am not discouraged, I will be back there july 10th.

Hmm.. I've had that happen a few times, and it's tough. Especially at a restaurant, unless it's something really incredible, some people just want their food and won't enjoy any entertainment.
I can only suggest to have several openers and make your routine flexible, as sjdavison said. Also, don't open with sponge bunnies (my opinion only). I'm sure many people swear by them, but unless you're doing Slydini's four ball routine, it's not captivating enough for the serious crowd. Try coins; everyone likes money. Good luck!

Then perhaps you should just talk with them, or maybe you need to practice the effect more.

Some tables that want to see magic, want really just to interact and talk to you, and don't care about the tricks... it sucks if you are doing magic to boost your ego, but it is relaxing if you are there to help the resturant, because you can talk to them, making them happy and giving you a rest from finger flicking.

Just some thoughts... other than talking to them, moving on is the best option... best not to subject them to magic they don't want to see(for whatever reason, perhaps they had just got done seeing Bill Malone earlier that day...)

Maybe they were hoping you'd provide magic of a different kind

A fantastic way to avoid this is to avoid cold calling tables. This can be done by a flyer, a little intro from the wait staff. Make them ask to see you in other words. This is the reason I stopped cold calling on tables in the first place. Sometimes they say yes to be polite, but then are not too polite when working. Nobody in their right mind will spacifically ask to see you only to be polite, so you know you have more receptive customers. Get the staff behind you and your golden. THey already have a relationship with the tables so if they follow their recomendation for food, why not entertainment?E-mail me if you want to see what I mean by a flyer

WOW,...you could have made money "turnin' tricks"

3 older ladies, and you opened by pulling little foamy shapes of rabbits out of your pockets? Perhaps that's the problem. If you have the same opener for each table, regardless of age, how well-educated they appear, how large the group is, etc, you my want to re-think that.

I thought that same thing Joshua ,thats why have Doc eason's Nuts and bolts opener also . Don't know why I did not pull that one out to start with.

I do quite a bit of chatting with people before starting the magic during and after the effects ( almost to much chatting). Also they had just gotten the check to go .

To the response of turning new tricks , well my wife would not appreciate that .. unless it was a lot of money then she would not care .. J/K

I like the flyer idea a lot and I have started to become friendly with the wait staff there.

All screwed-up is a classic example of flexibilty...
ie. the same trick could be done with...

Coins - gadabout to clean across (mixed group)
A fuller routine with shelled peanuts and an unshelled peanut kicker...
Classic all screwed-up with nuts/bolts to holey moley (hardware theme - guys)
Sweets with a final wrapped sweet to hand out (children)

Patter can be switched to fit the group... let's say you only have coins...

Gadabout - one coin is female other 2 male - male goes in the pocket - jumps back out to get back to the girl.... girl in pocket - all the males jump into the pocket... even coins across - each hand is a room - the girl escapes to the other room, one by one the males follow... simple is simple does

I think your opener never really bombed. I guess those old ladies were impressed albeit silently compared to other people who freak out when they see magic.

I always start off with a real quick opener that can't bomb, for example I use 'Your Name Here' where my name appears on my name tag and immediately reach for my fire wallet. When the wallet bursts into flames I have got everyones attention 100%. However, I don't know about the restrictions of fire in your environment?

Hey man, I do the rabbits at basically every single table as my opener regardless of age, race, creed, color, or nationality for 2 nights a week for a year (which isn't as long when compared to some workers in here). It's a trick that's easily understood and plays for any age for various reasons. It usually gets a HUGE reaction even if the crowd doesn't speak english. Sometimes people don't know how to react or maybe they just didn't care about really seeing the magic that night...they were on a mission, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. We usually get so caught up in the bad tables that we fail to recognize all of the good work we do. How did the rest of the tables react?

I would also suggest that you add different openers to your reportoire. Different spectators afford different magic effects.

Magixx

Every other table and the restaurant staff ( includig the cook who "knows" how all magic is done ) had wonderful reactions .. I do the bunnies as a love story theme. and every one so far enjoys that.
One thing I forgot to mention is that asked me if I was Psychic or fortune teller . I said no and maybe that let them down .. It got me thinking I am going to setup a "fortune telling" deck ala the oracle trick I found on Learned Pig . its got a hoot ending and helps break the mood of seriousness.

Not everyone in the universe wants to see magic tricks. This is something we should all keep in mind. It doesn't mean the magic is bad or that the performer was not engaging. It just means "wrong time, wrong place".

Personally, I like to use an opener that can guage the mood of the table. Just one trick that shows off some magic and, based on the groups reaction, can be used to lead into other routines or can allow you to leave gracefully if they aren't in the mood. I don't agree with the idea that if your opener bombs you should try a couple other tricks to turn things around.

You did say a couple interesting things. First, even though they gave no response to your magic they engaged you in conversation (asking if you knew any single men). That's an indication that their lack of reaction had more to do with their lack of interest rather than your skills or performance character. It's also a great opener for some light banter before you leave for another table. Second, they asked if you were a fortune teller. That's also another potential opener that can lead back into magic. Do a mentalist effect or some cold reading and you might be able to swing them back into magic.

Steve

You have just learned the First Truth about show business - EVERYONE bombs sometime and everyTHING bombs sometime.

Once upon a time, a magician came into Magic, Inc and said that he'd come from doing a show for the worst audience he'd ever worked for. They ignored him, talked over his presentation, didn't laugh at his jokes and several of them got up and went out to the bar to freshen up their drinks during his performance.

The magician was exasperated and asked the late Dean of the Society of American Magicians, Jay Marshall, what he would have done in the same situation. Jay looked at him and, without missing a beat, said: "About twenty minutes," and went into the back of the shop.

Some days you just won't go over big. That's showbiz. Don't let it get you down. It happens to everybody.

Lee Darrow, C.H.