So, I'm doing some card work at a benefit today, when a most disagreeable fellow comes up. I go into Daley's Last Trick and he walks away...only to come back as I start to do a Card to Wallet with a kid spectator (my premise was that if he could find his card in three choices from the deck, I'd give him $10...which gave me the cover for bringing out the wallet). He says loudly, "the card's on top of the deck! the card's on top!"

With $10 already riding on it, I say, "sir, I'll bet you $5 it's not." He replies, "I don't have it, but the card's on top! I'll bet you $100!," and starts to walk away again.

I replied, "I'm glad you don't have it, 'cause I think you'd lose," and turn over the top card. He moves on...and the trick continued. The kid didn't get the money, but did get a signed deck to keep as a souvenir, which was my intention all along.

I laughed about it with several folks who saw the whole thing; on balance, I think I handled it pretty well. I played along with him, working him into the patter without dismissing him out of hand. We'll see how the next one goes.

Sounds like you handled this one real smooth!

Doug:
It does me no good to get into it with him...the crowd is with me, anyway, and I lose them if I try to assert my superiority over him. Besides, last time I checked....magic is supposed to be fun.

Skillfully done...did you find yourself responding spontaneously, or did you stop for a moment and consider your tactics?

B. Stephen Freedberg

I definitely thought it through for a moment; impromptu reactions invariably get you in trouble.

(Nice name, btw.)

Yeah, ditto.