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nattefrost Special user 703 Posts |
My Fiance and my best friend are always "touching" every trick I do. I put cards down on the table, they want to touch them. They watch my hands and won't look in my eye. Everything has to be examined to a ridiculous point. So we go to the Fantasma Magic Store in NYC TWICE last weekend. The guy runs off a string of card tricks and it was like their hands were handcuffed!!!! After I left I asked them, "how come you guys didn't touch everything he put on the table"? They told me "we don't know him, he works there" and of course all the magic he did they were floored by. So I buy a few of the tricks, performed them for her and him and guess what happened? I know I've asked this before, but I just did a trick for a guy I work with this morning who I rarely do antything for. He watched, did not touch, and just walked away shaking his head in amazement. How do I overcome this "performing for friends" dilema? My Fiance I don't mind as much as I test everything on her. I was actually a little mad when we left the store as no one would even question the magician or go near his props. Only some of my friends this happens to, and no one else. I have to conquer this somehow. I'm going to do Tagged by Rich Sanders today and this will be great because they will only want to dissect the necklace, but that's just one trick.
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slyhand Inner circle Good ole Virginia 1908 Posts |
Ask them to give you the same respect they would give a stranger.
You could also either just not perform for them anymore or only do sucker effects for them. After awhile they my stop their grabby style.
I am getting so tired of slitting the throats of people who say that I am a violent psychopath.
Alec |
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Enzo Loyal user CA 243 Posts |
Simple solution: don't do it. (that was my solution at least). In my experience, once they've crossed the "magical" boundary of respect for the mystery surrounding the tricks, you won't be able to impress them with your tricks anymore. Especially if they knew you before you did magic.
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critter Inner circle Spokane, WA 2653 Posts |
It's hard not to have our old ladies see us if we live with them.
Just try to do most of your practicing when they ain't home.
"The fool is one who doesn't know what you have just found out."
~Will Rogers |
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The Burnaby Kid Inner circle St. John's, Canada 3158 Posts |
Prestige. When you're performing for people who know you in real life, it's not uncommon to have less prestige than another performer who's established himself first and foremost as a magician. This is one reason to perform for strangers as much as possible, and for friends and family infrequently.
Also, them wanting to grab the props says something about where their suspicions lie (they want to see your tricky prop). Another problem would be if they're staring at your hands and won't look away (they're waiting for the move). The answer isn't getting more tricks. It's getting fewer and polishing the heck out of each of them so you can perform them for any audience.
JACK, the Jolly Almanac of Card Knavery, a free card magic resource for beginners.
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JamesTong Eternal Order Malaysia 11213 Posts |
Give them a touch-my-things-and-I-will-kill-you stare and see what happens. Perhaps you are giving them the you-are-welcome-to-do-anything look to them.
None of my friends, family, wife, children, etc touches any of my things unless I want them inspected. If we cannot have the respect from those that are close, what more if we are performing to strangers. And I don't always believe strangers are more respectful because they don't know you. Try performing in the Asia Pacific countries ... and you'll see what can happen. Just be firm with everyone. Just my 2 1/2 cents. |
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Maxinho New user 7 Posts |
I have this problem too, but I'm trying to solve it. I'm using the lines with my friends, "don't try to screw me, just appreciate magic or don't ask for more tricks".
I just want to say one thing and they all try to respect my work, even when another person comes in and start touch my things my own friends help me keep the toucher away from my things. |
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JamesTong Eternal Order Malaysia 11213 Posts |
Agree with you, Maxinho. When the audience is on your side they somehow do protect you from other audience members too.
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The Amazing Noobini Inner circle Oslo, Norway 1658 Posts |
Maybe you could start your performances by bringing out one of these:
Click here to view attached image.
"Talk about melodrama... and being born in the wrong part of the world." (Raf Robert)
"You, my friend, have a lot to learn." (S. Youell) "Nonsensical Raving of a lunatic mind..." (Larry) |
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nattefrost Special user 703 Posts |
Don't get me wrong here, I sometimes DO tell my friends to just let me do this and stand back, and they do. Thanks for the advice, Noobini, I was thinking a baseball bat might do the trick.
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nattefrost Special user 703 Posts |
I've got WOW from Masuda. It's almost worthless to try it. You know what will happen to the card holder. I heard they sell a inspectible holder.
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Ethan Orr Regular user Minneapolis 163 Posts |
I would tell them before hand that you're practicing on them and you would like it if they would give you a break and behave like a normal audience. That doesn't mean that when you're doing close-up the average Joe won't be burning you, but by and large most people are going to respect you're space.
If they refuse, tell them to go to hell. Explain to them that it doesn't help you to become better to have them behave worse than children. It almost seems like their only interest is to trip you up and make you look foolish. If they really wanted to be wowed they would leave you in charge. |
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sruli New user 70 Posts |
I'm in agreement with James. Your body language and presentation should attempt to make it unthinkable for someone to interrupt, much less touch your stuff. A well rehearsed presentation helps too, because there's a flow that is difficult to interrupt. For these people minimize interactions and keep the flow going.
(I also find that my Ammar wand makes a great club.) |
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M Sini Inner circle 1359 Posts |
I would only perform for them in a setting that I can control or not perform for them at all. If you're having trouble performing for people you know, what do you think is going to happen when you have a "wise-a$$" stranger giving you trouble?
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bigchuck Veteran user Nothing clever has ever been said in my 400 Posts |
One thing I have found is that if you perform for someone outside your circle of friends/ family while your 'troublemaker' wife, friend or significant other is looking on, they will be much more likely to 'come along for the ride' and not want to call you out on everything... if they still do I'd suggest finding a new wife, friend or significant other.
Presentation is also key -- make it seem like you aren't going into a trick; you are just talking about something you just learned or heard about and then nail them before they can tell the trick has started. I often try to use the climax as misdirection to keep them off balance enough to nail them with some other trick again.
"The computer can't tell you the emotional story. It can give you the exact
mathematical design, but what's missing is the eyebrows. - Frank Zappa" |
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Lion Dope New user York PA 88 Posts |
With friends and family members, once they have crossed that line, it's hard to ever cross back. With new spectators, I have found a lot of problems can be avoided with prop management and routining. I rarely leave anything withi grabbing range that can't be examined.
As stated above, I think respect/ attitude also figures into the equation. Years ago, I recall Michael Close making some comment to the effect of the pros rarely get hassled/ heckled because of their demeanor/ attitude. Having stated all of that, we all know that out there in the trenches there will occasionally be those lizards in human suits who will demand to examine every prop, dictate conditions, and contradict every statement you make. At that point, I'll usually say something to the effect of, "I'm not here today to play 'gotcha' with you- Have a nice day". Then of course, there's the old chestnut- "Let me see your cards!" "Hey, do I come to where you work and ask to see your mop?" Cheers; Mike |
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ALEXANDRE Inner circle 3024 Posts |
I used to have that same problem with my brother while growing up. He always watched my magic with a smirk, then grabbed everything, demanded all kinds of conditions, and in the end said what I was doing was stupid. It forced me to think of magic and performing on a whole different level. He would usually give me impossible conditions to meet ... so what did I do? I met them. I produced dry cereal after being in the middle of a swimming pool for 30 minutes, I let him bring me a brand new deck of cards and under the fairest conditions I would perform a routine for him. You wouldn't believe how much confidence this gave me when he suddenly didn't know what I was doing after having met his conditions.
Look for those types of routines to perform for these people. Tagged is a good one. I won't mention any more of them here in case these same people are reading, so PM me and I'll give you some ideas, including a routine I created years ago because of my brother, that leaves magicians and mentalists wondering what...? Just to jog my own memory when you PM me, mention: Brian EN Stolen Shrunken Heads Rapport Sal links There are more, just can't remember them now. I'll direct you to a couple of these and maybe hook you up with one or two ideas as well. Just give me some time to answer, I've been busy. You can also try Cards of The Covenant with them. It may change your life forever....
HERE'S A SECRET ...
http://www.lybrary.com/mystic-alexandre-m-354.html |
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spatlind Special user still moving 863 Posts |
Routining, crowd management, all good. How about using stuff that is examinable?
Actions lie louder than words - Carolyn Wells
I believe in God, only I spell it Nature - Frank Lloyd Wright. |
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JamestheMagician New user Everett/Seattle 27 Posts |
Yeah I dealt with the same thing in high chool there was one kid who had to examine EVERY SINGLE angle and corner of a trick and then the rudest thing he shouted how to do it at the top of his lungs..
How I overcame it was I took a deck of cards and said " you do it then, if your so smart" and he failed to do a trick he dropped the deck of cards in the middle of a shufle everyone laughed and he stopped but for you, since they are your friends, ask them to stop if they repsect you they will "' hopefully"" I couldn't ask those guys who revealed every thing I did to stop because they were not my friends, they were just an audiance that tried to show me up, but failed so just ask your friends to stop and if they respect you they will stop good luck |
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Enzo Loyal user CA 243 Posts |
Quote:
When the audience is on your side they somehow do protect you from other audience members too. This makes a lot of sense. I have the same experience that if you perform for multiple people, each of them will be less eager to start to touch stuff for fear of having it wrong and looking bad. In a one-on-one situation this threshold is much lower. |
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