FRankly I don't know what Quentin meant by "crowd control" since I assumed he wss talking about me doing impromptu close up magic where a crowd appears on only rare occasions. Usually I may have around 3 or four people watching me. Perhaps if I am lucky about six. Hardly much of a crowd. If he was talking about the crowds I gather as a pitchman I am afraid there is no way I could explain how to control a crowd in that context. It takes a lifetime of experience and I cannot explain that in one post.

As for "gaining attention,keeping it and controlling it" is much easier to explain. The answer is simple common sense. BE A SHOWMAN!. It is perfectly obvious that if you are an interesting showman you are automatically going to gain attention, keep it and control it.

As for getting people to relax that is vitally important. And by that I mean relaxing their defensive resentment towards the magician. I have explained elsewhere that an audience does not like to be fooled. It is the job of a magician to lower that resentment. And I think that is what Quentin meant when he stated that I relax them.