Have you ever had anyone react negatively to your magic, such as the person running and calling you the devil? Or saying you are evil? Or other big-shots that just won't be fooled? Please, share your stories.

I once did a simple Balducci Levitation, and the girl I performed it for started screaming, "you're not human!" From that day on, she never spoke to me again.

Let's hear your stories.

I was tossed from a gig once because of it. I wouldn't show how something was done. The wife was religious and said, nicely, that I couldn't be there, so I was paid and left. Not much of a story, I guess.

At least you got paid. If you're a professional, that is all that counts.

I never quite understood that mentality. Religious or not, it's hardly a secret that the things magicians do are tricks, even if we never actually show the method. Taking a form of entertainment so seriously is, to me, a very dangerous mentality.

Dangerous to your overall health! If your mind is affected, the rest of your body may be affected too!

I was once standing at the bar at a gig with a cigarette floating... This big lady comes walking up to the bar, stops dead in her tracks, watches the cigarette float all around my hands with her jaw dropped...and when it lands in my mouth, she threw her hands up in the air and runs off screaming. Never saw her again. No idea what her deal was. My guess is she thought it was voodoo or something.

-JoeJoe

I once had a guy in a restaurant complain to the manager that I was bothering him. I tried to show this man and his wife a trick, and they politely declined stating that their religious beliefs forbid them from touching cards or watching any kind of magic. At that point, I left them alone. Apparently, my merely doing magic within his sight line at the table around him was offensive.

That look of awe and fear will happen on occasion.
I don't see it as negative and kinda like it.

I'm sure being turned away happens on occasion to everybody. Either you're evil, the person is short on time, or the person just does not like magic. In the latter case, magic usually frustrates the person and they feel in some way inferior because they can't figure it out. Either that, or some other magician has made a fool of them in the past...

Be careful what you say about someone's religious beliefs, though. Posts have gotten deleted in the past because of name-calling, and the fact that discussing religion is prohibited. Everyone is entitled to their beliefs.

Jaz, I kinda like it too.

I was in no way attempting to belittle this individual's beliefs. That was the first time I had someone give that as a reason for not wanting to see magic. My apologies if it came across as anything negative to anyone.

The thing that was funny to me about the situation was that he complained I was working in his section, even though I left him and his wife alone after he told me how he felt.

I wasn't picking you out, Drew. It was just a general message to everyone who may post. The last thread like this, in another section of the Café, went from 5 or 6 posts on how people were turned away to almost 2 dozen in less than an hour on how ignorant (many other words were used) said people were. Not cool. Back on topic....

Has anyone ever had a negative reaction, but turned it into something good? I used to know a woman who, through some random conversation, I learned was adamantly against hypnosis; she thought the subject "gave up their mind" to the hypnotist. Because she knew me fairly well, I was able to educate her on what hypnosis really was. While she was still hesitant on being hypnotized herself, she no longer jumped out of her chair at the mention of the word.

I always tend to get the "you're not human", "Satan's spawn", etc...reactions from people. Recently as I was shooting for my company's DVD, a group of ladies declined because they said it was against Christ. I politely said I don't do black magic, and it's all entertainment. They still declined. I'm assuming their children and/or grandchildren aren't going to see the new Harry Potter movie either. Also, the restaurant I have a gig at on Saturdays typically gets these types of folks from time to time. I thank them anyway, and move on to another table. Other than these types of reactions, I have never really gotten a really negative reaction. I can't really imagine any good reasons that someone would have a negative reaction other than what's been mentioned already.

Bryan

See, that is what I don't understand.... Why are people against our art just because they think it is against God or something? I mean, what we are doing are basically puzzles, other times just slick hand sleights, and all of a sudden we are accused of hating Christianity just because we are good with our hands.

I don't like thinking of magic as puzzles, etc. I don't want the spec to think in that way. I would consider the reactions of screaming and people calling you the devil, etc., good reactions. I mean, you must be doing something right in order for someone to act in that way (well, unless you're performing for kids or table-hopping).
I wouldn't say they are against our art, just either they don't experience the things we do in their every-day life, believe that what we are doing really is real, or just don't appreciate this type of entertainment.

Because it's not just that. People bring to your magic the same kind of emotional baggage, or lack there of, in their own lives. This statement makes me realize that you don't know the true power of your own magic.

^^Agree^^

Magic can effect people in many ways, and they all will view it and react to it in there own way.

Also, it depends on your presentation and performance to how your effects come across. Unless you're going for the angle of being a god at sleight-of-hand, your routines may not, and shouldn't, come across as sleight-of-hand.

In '93 I was on a big, old freight boat headed out with a dredge to mine gold in an area called the Miskito Coast. The Captain had invited myself and my partner to dine with him that evening. After the meal, I demonstrated some strange powers that I was having. Upon floating a paper napkin, when it burst into flame, there was a ear-piercing scream through a porthole. A Garifuna woman then shouted "Bruho" (witch) at the top of her lungs, presumably to alert the handful of passengers who were tramping along.

The funny thing was for the next two days, when I would walk up the starboard side to the bow, she would walk astern on the port. She always made sure she was on the other side of the boat....

Ha-ha That would have been funny to have seen. It just goes to show how powerful the experience of magic can be.

It's just a matter of perspective. To us, that may be an extreme reaction. But to them, it is a normal response based on their own belief system. While I don't always understand it, I can still respect it.

Eugene Burger has a great effect in which the spectator's chosen card is lost in the deck, and then a lighter is introduced and a flame held near the deck momentarily. The deck is then spread to reveal a pentagram burned into the chosen card. For most folks, even those who don't hold "extreme" religious views, this would be a great source of tension and will make them feel uneasy. Even though it's just a trick to us, the impact on the spectator(s) is huge. All magic has the potential to impact folks that way based on what they believe.

There is a Quickie Mart near my parents house, and one day I stopped in and bought 5 decks of cards on my way to a restaurant gig. The owner was from India and was quite curious as to why I needed 5 decks. I explained that I was a magician and offered to show him a few tricks. He politely refused, stating that handling a deck of cards was against his religion (which I found odd seeing as the guy had to take them off the shelf behind the counter to ring them up for me) but that perhaps next time I was in the store I could show him something that didn't involve cards. For the next three months, every time I stopped in I showed him something new that involved no cards, and he loved it.