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Eric the Excellent Loyal user Montana 234 Posts |
Hello all. I just got through busking all three days at Evel Knievel days, a local daredevil/stunt festival, and, for the large part, it was awesome. I met a lot of wonderful people, and the reactions I got out of them were absolutely priceless. I entertained countless audiences and I made some good money too boot.
But, with that said, I still have a bad feeling. For every two audiences or so, there was one person who did... something. They'd scream out "fake" or call me rude things. Or worse, get up in my face and attempt to take/blow out my torches. Or, worse yet, they would just out of nowhere threaten violence. (I'm pretty sure that, in all of the above cases, they did it to impress the young ladies they were with... it did not seem to work.) You guys who go out there and do this every day: how on Earth do you keep in good spirits? I am pretty sure I was called every name under the sun the past few days and almost attacked twice. How do you /deal/ with it? Those of you who can do this day-to-day and not let it get to you: you rock! |
Ekuth Inner circle Floating above my 1538 Posts |
Best thing to do is to just ignore them. Any attention you pay them to simply feeds into their little ego trip... if they threaten you with violence; don't be afraid to stand up for yourself! But if it looks like it's going to get serious... discretion is always the better part of valor. Head for someplace public or look for a cop...
Or take out your cell and start filming. Intimidates the hell out of them and gives you proof if something happens. But with hecklers... treat them like forum trolls. They're after attention so just deny them the confrontation. This type will rapidly make ***es of themselves quick enough. don't let the comments get to you- their opinions aren't the ones that matter.
"All you need is in Fitzkee."
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MagiCol Special user Dargaville, New Zealand 929 Posts |
Sounds like a few crazies at that place. Other places/events are unlikely to have such misbehaviour.
The presentation makes the magic.
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danhughes Regular user Champaign, IL 115 Posts |
You're in Montana - aren't you allowed to shoot them?
---Dan, http://danhughes.net
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Octopus Sun Special user Wiggle Wiggle 586 Posts |
I've met several dozen people like you describe.
I straight up asked them what they didn't like... they all said "magicians try to make fools out of people and make us look stupid." it does make a few individuals extremely furious. One guy said he didn't like being made fun of. I told them I was sorry and that's not what magic is about. For a few others was the religious BS context they were raised within you never know till you ask... watch out for the brick in the head, or flying bottle in the face when you are in the drinking type festies. |
ed rhodes Inner circle Rhode Island 2885 Posts |
Sounds a little like a Steinfeld routine;
'Here's a quarter, now it's gone. You're a jerk.' I had an incident where I was doing stuff on a bus and a lady asked where I'd learned this; 'I have a store I go to in New York.' 'Oh, there's a place in New York where you can sell your soul/' [Well actually, probably several. But none of them are magic shops.]
"...and if you're too afraid of goin' astray, you won't go anywhere." - Granny Weatherwax
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JoeJoe Inner circle Myrtle Beach 1915 Posts |
For the most part, I ignore them and hope they'll go away. I do have a line I use for when someone tries to call me out on a trick ... it has worked nearly every time I've ever delivered it. When delivered correctly, it shuts up the hardest heckler. The line goes:
"hey - there's a trick to it ... they don't really cut the lady in half either, but it still looks good". That line flips the table on them, it makes them look out of place - "like, you didn't know it was a trick, everyone else here knew there was a trick to it duh". I often look at someone in their group and get a nod of approval for the "it still looks good" part. And lately this summer, I've been a little more aggressive with it ... "well there's a trick to it ... duh". Haven't done that enough to know if it works better or worse, but I really enjoy giving them the "duh" part. Usually someone doing this to you is not invested in your act ... they may have just got there, or may just be passing by ... what I find important is that if they are going to stay, you get them invested as quickly as possible. The best way to do this is remove all fluff from your act so everything you do is awesome material that they will enjoy if they are actually watching. -JoeJoe
Amazing JoeJoe on YouTube[url=https://www.youtube.com/user/AmazingJoeJoe]
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mota Inner circle 1658 Posts |
Punks and drunks, what a joy. I think as you were at a daredevil event there were a very high proportion of these. Other, more family oriented events, will probably give you a better experience.
Ignore the hecklers as much as possible. As mentioned, they want attention. Use the heckler lines at your own risk...most are magician's fantasies that will just make things worse. There are those who can pull these lines off, but for most you will just end up giving the person the attention they crave. Be aware that this forum, like all the forums on the café have many who talk about it but don't really do it. Be careful whose advice you take. The good news is after this event others may prove to be easier. You kept going...that is a very hard thing to do sometimes. You walked out with yourself, your pride, and your money intact. At that venue I think you can call that a big win. |
Zombie Magic Inner circle I went out for a beer and now have 8733 Posts |
I've never busked, but in college I sold show tickets on the street. I never "barked" like some of the high sellers. I just held up a sign with info. If they were interested, they engaged me and I did the sales pitch.You'd meet the kindest people.
And then you'd have ones that would approach me just to be rude or even threatening. Some of the other sellers would get in yelling matches with them. I just ignored them. I figured they were riddled low self esteem and this is how they compensated. I bet it's harder to do that when you're trying to perform because you can't stop the show and wait for them to leave because everyone will leave. And if they've been drinking, they think they're bullet proof. |
Devious Inner circle 2120 Posts |
¡ʇı ʇɐǝq ɹo ǝɔıu ǝq oS˙ʇuǝɯoɯ ʎuɐ ʇɐ sʇuɐdıɔıʇɹɐd ɹno ǝbɹnd oʇ ʇɥbıɹ ǝɥʇ ǝʌɹǝsǝɹ ǝʍ ǝsnɐɔǝq
'ɹǝɯɹoɟɹǝd ǝɥʇ oʇ ǝʇɐɹǝpısuoɔ ʎɹǝʌ ǝq pןnoɥs sdnoɹb ɹno ʇɐɥʇ ǝʌǝıןǝq ı |
Eric the Excellent Loyal user Montana 234 Posts |
Thanks everyone. I did just usually ignore them and it worked, most of the time. The times that it didn't were highly unpleasant, anyway, so if I had a big enough audience I'd just ask them "are you going to let this idiot ruin the show" and, more often than not they'd get peer-pressured into leaving. Good idea? I know that it could get ugly...
For those that threatened violence... well, I was surrounded by at least five people at any given moment, so I was not really worried about getting blindsided. (Also, the police presence there was very strong.) There were a couple of times when I stopped and said something along the lines of "ladies and gentlemen, I regret to announce that I am stopping my performance for safety reasons; you know what the problem is" and I'd just stop performing until the dangerous ones were dragged away by their spouses/friends. |
Levi Bennett Inner circle 1778 Posts |
Quote:
On 2012-07-29 09:49, danhughes wrote: haha! Your decision to stop performing using that line seems like a good one. And it is for safety- for you and your audience. Very professional and it puts the heat on the offender in a round about way. I think that was smart.
Performing magic unprofessionally since 2008!
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Dynamike Eternal Order FullTimer 24148 Posts |
Quote:
On 2012-07-30 13:23, Eric the Excellent wrote: I am in the field too. I do not talk directly to that person because I know he would want to challenge me. I usually say something like, "I have more magic to show all of you. But I can not show you until he will back up." People in the crowd yells at the person to back up. The pest does back up because he is embarrassed. |
TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
Quote:
On 2012-07-29 09:49, danhughes wrote: LOL for real.
www.theambitiouscard.com Hand Crafted Magic
Trophy Husband, Father of the Year Candidate, Chippendale's Dancer applicant, Unofficial World Record Holder. |
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