Okay, I can take a hint. I walked up to a table during a Strolling gig (the table was decorated with Magic-themed ornaments, there was a showcard in the lobby advising of my presence, and I'm pretty sure I bathed before work...) and introduced myself. Male spectator cuts me off. "Magic? God no." Then he walks off.

Yeah, yeah...before youse guys make wise, this was BEFORE I started performing

Leland

Life happens.

Uuuugghhhh!!!! I hate it when that happens.

Hang in there, I'm sure it will happen again!

Mark.

Guess if he wanted free beer, he had to risk running into the magician at the magic themed party.

Since he would probably hate anything you performed, you should have chased him down and done your corniest bit of magic like Nun. And then showed him something a little greater (little grater). At least if he leaves he might not waste all the free booze

And it will happen again and then we hate it again

Just have to face the fact that some people don't like magic. This was explained very very well by Steven Youell in his lecture notes. It is all to do with some people not liking the adrenaline rush they may get from being amazed by magic. Don't let it bother you, at least it wasn't your performance.

-Dylan

I would looked at one of the ornaments abd said "a magcian at this party, who would of thought"

Hey Leland!!!!

Great to have met you and your wife on Sunday night. I am really sorry that person was rude to you at your gig. I get that from time to time. In fact, I had a really long hot day on Sunday when you saw me. I did a 3 hour outdoor strolling gig in Irvine, my 30 minute outdoor stage show at the amusement park then I went to my restaurant. Needless to say I was pretty fried by the time you saw me. Just before you came in, there was a big table of mostly all adults. I started talking to the little girl at the table and I noticed the rather LARGE lady at the end whispering something like.."here...at Marie Callenders"? I was tired and feeling kinda cocky so I leaned in with a smile and said. "Yup, I've been the magician here for about 5 years now". She then stated that she had been coming there for several years and has never seen me. Maybe if she would keep her head outta the salad bar for 10 minutes at a time she would have noticed me in the past. Ok, that was crude and I apologize.

I degress..........

They turned out to be a good group but had the potential to be a big pain in the butt. If and when I get a rude person like that and depending on my current mood, I will either say a witty little comment or just thank them for their time and move. No harm, no foul.

Let me reiterate how cool it was to meet you and your wife on Sunday. My only regret is that you didn't inform me of who you were earlier. Had I known that was you, I would have stayed a little longer and showed you a few more things.

Didn't mean to hijack your thread, just wanted to give my 4 cents and do a shout out.

JIM

Lol SoCal

Leland - sucks right? It's the worst when that schmo is there with a bunch of folks that are excited for it.

Many folks love magic, just hate magicians. I like magicians, the ones I pick.
Sometimes you can pick your friends, pick your nose, but just can't pick your magician. I can sympathize, but can't spell.

I walked up to several tables throughout my years of performing. Some do not want to be entertained by magic. It is really in their religion. They do not look at magic as an art of entertainment. They think of sorcery and witchcraft only.

Yes magician have been know to worship Satin..... and sequins .....

I don't like opera - the ridiculous plots, the stupid lyrics, the super annoying singing style .... if the Three Tenors came up to my table while I was trying to eat I would tell them opera was against my religion if that's what it took to make them go away ....

Why do so many of you guys get upset with this type of person? At least he was honest.

How many of you think that just because people are nice and laugh and clap that they are not just being polite and under it all have the same feeling of "oh God not a magicican."

There is a lot of bad magic out there, that many have been exposed to. Not all magicians are as good as "I" am.

That does suck, but you could at least take heart from the fact that he would have reacted that way to ANY magician! Could have been worse, he could have decided to take out his hatred of all things magical by heckling instead.

Still, pretty darn rude. Manners really do make the man...and I do think that as close up workers we really get a chance to put that to the test sometimes!

Does anyone ever get this complete load of crap:

"WE'RE CHRISTIANS AND DON'T BELIEVE IN MAGIC!"

That line just hacks me off. For every 100 people, I'll get someone religious freak that throws that into the stew pot. And to think...I didn't even do my burning cross routine!!! Geesh!

My response to that (depending on if there polite or rude about) is to either bite my tongue and move on or to say "Well Jesus was a Magician. He turned water into wine and walked on water. Than man who could do miricles. I'm sure he would approve."

One of these days, that line's gonna get me in trouble or beat up! Haven't used it in a while...but it's my way of entertaining myself (and others around me) who hear them say that.

Some people....

Wow.

Very nice. Not much can be said.

Some people indeed.

It's all good to me...I don't really want to perform for people who don't want to watch me anyhow...that makes it very awkward.

What boils me is when there are kids at the table who are into the magic and want me to stay and show them stuff and the parents pull that crap. There just passing on the nonsense to their children. I'm not trying to turn this into a religion thing...but it hacks me off...WAY OFF!!!!

Another thing that blows my mind are the people who want to feel superior to the others at the table by trying to expose everything you do while you do it. I'm not talking about kids...but adults. Luckily it hasn't happened to me in quite some time...but when it does, I've got the perfect line:

>> "What could you possibly be thinking!? Help me out here, what reality do you operate in, where it might be appropriate for you to discuss your theories about how you think the trick is done WHILE I'M DOING IT. . . 3 FEET AWAY FROM YOU, I can hear you, I standing right here!" <<

I saw that bit elsewhere on the Café' and thought it was great! Doubtful if I'd ever get the balls to say something like that...but in the right moment....???? Hmmmm.....

Hiya, Jim:

Nice to have met you Sunday evening as well! My wife enjoyed watching your sets (funny, she rarely asks for Magic at home...) and she was particularly impressed with the way you neatly wove a promotion into your finale. [She's a business owner too, and appreciates professional marketing when she sees it.] As we were walking in, you were finishing a Sankey bit ["Paper Clipped?"] for a couple in the foyer; their comments after you left were very complimentary. Thanks for a very pleasant evening

Christopher: The attitude you encountered is exactly the reason my wife forbids me to say that I'm a Magician when we attend church. How Christians (whose beliefs are rooted in the supernatural) can be so offended by pretended displays of supernaturalism is just beyond understanding. I'm a veteran of this philosophical battle, and will pass along my advice FWIW: Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time, and annoys the pig.

Leland

Leland,

Are you calling me a pig? = )

Posted: Aug 22, 2007 4:12pm
I guess the fix for the problem is to NOT call it magic. I've been told I should just call it Illusion or Sleight of Hand and lose the "magic" phraseolgy.

I refuse to do that. I'm sick of having to be PC in a world full of political incorrectness.

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