I was performing a card trick to a colleague. I forced my carefully prepared card which had strange and wonderful things done to the back which it was important remained hidden. I tossed the card down casually and paid it no special mind whatsoever and asked the participant to sign the card. He (not knowing that I get through lots of cards) picked the card up and turned it over! His reasoning....he could not believe that I was going to damage my nice new cards!

AAAAARRGGGHH! You have to laugh but it was still frustrating. Oh well lesson learned.

Yes there are those times when you don't have to manage your audience BUT this time it would have been better to place your finger on the card to steady it for his signature. Lesson learned for sure. Don't worry it will happen again if Murphy's Law has anything to say about it.

Yep. Lesson learned. That sort of thing will happen. Just the other night I had a show and I did a mentalist piece that I've done successfully...oh, many times. But this time, my volunteer had had a little too much to drink and completely foiled it (I'd say how, but I'll keep it vague to avoid exposure--suffice to say, my effect was dependent upon the volunteer being able to do basic addition and subtraction). At that point, all you can do is laugh it off and then move on to something else. If you really hit 'em between the eyes with the next piece, they won't really care.

So I just turned it into a gag about not being able to read intoxicated minds, said "but there is something special I do for people who won't let me get to their thoughts" and went into my spike roulette.

And now I'm going back to the drawing board to figure out how to prevent that. Perhaps something as simple as adding in a calculator. The mark of the professional is one's ability to work through things that go wrong, adapt, and get back on stage for the next time.

Yeah, the finger is a good idea and Murphy will indeed strike again:0) the only way to not fall of the bike is never to get on in the first place!

So here's to Murphy the little so and so, may he always keep us entertained and on our toes!

Danny

Blimey. You are right about intoxicated minds. Unpredictable. It takes a bit of practice to deal with those situations and forward thinking of methods you can actually pull the trick together into some original form before anyone notices. Now that's the trick

It’s a little brazen, but I do an effect where I split a 3 w** f**** d*** into three piles and have cards selected. I’ve learned that if I spread the packets out on the table in front of my volunteers, they’re highly unlikely to pick them up (which would ruin the effect) and more likely to simply follow my directions and slide out one card.

Perhaps in your case you could initiate the action by drawing a circle on the card yourself, “Just sign your name right…here!” And then keep your finger on it, as David said.

Audience management is often just subtle little touches that can make big changes in behavior.

It IS a funny (and frustrating) story!