I'm sure it's a hormonal thing.

LuNaTiK, from your attitude towards others I wouldn't like to be a spectator at one of your shows. Maybe you can do magic but to be a real magician you really need to work on your people skills!

That is all.

I've read this post several times and I still laugh. You're funny, Lunatik.

You're going to get your a** whooped, and I hope to God I get to see it. It's not because I don't like you, it's because it's comical.

You're hilarious!

did i say i get those kinda people all the time? nope, next time read. Oh, I'm supposed to be sceeered of a semen? bahahaha!! ok...and FOL, looks like you don't have to try too hard to look like an idiot, hence

a classy magician would never resort to a hecklers level. there may be alot of fun things you could say, or your typical comedic heckler responses etc. however if you put a heckler down, and become repulsive, or derogatory, what kind of example are you setting as a performer? everyone in the room will question your actual ability as an entertainer.

unless your working in a bar or something, or as chris stated, a "middle school" i really dont see this issue happening often. i been in the martial arts, and magic for over 23 years. magic on and off, but always stuck with the martial arts, and i can say i never really had any hecklers during my shows, and if i ever did, i would never even think about it being an opportunity for me to whoop some A**. the martial arts instills positive character traits, and teaches non conflict over conflict. the more you train, the more self confidence you obtain, and confrontation is never needed to prove ones own self worth, or clear up and psychological insecurities.

your their to entertain an audience, not to lure some low life into a confrontation. unless however you wanna take up "jail magic" and maybe make new tv special out of it. there are clever ways to to turn the rest of the audience on the heckler, and sometimes you dont even have to try. if you do free shows alot, most ppl will assume that is all your magic is worth. if you have scheduled shows in the right environments, you will not be heckled, ever. at least that has been the case for me two decades. if this is happening to you alot, i suggest you change your venue, and the audiences you perform for.

your attitude here seems to be getting you heckled by other magicians even, so it may be time to take a recoursive action, or new approach on your mindset about all of this. if the hecklers know it bothers you, they may get even more hecklers to stalk you at all your shows. they will want to be everywhere you go just to make you more angry. however if you would have ignored them in the first place, or handled it politely, not only would the audience respect you more, but i am sure they would eventually grow bored of heckling a non responsive performer. if you want to truly excel at this art, you will make changes, whether it be your environment, your attitude, or whatever is necessary. make them play your game, dont play theirs.

a clever magician uses his mind to overcome adversity, not his fists.

MOst magicians who practise enough don't get hecklers because the hecklers cant find any thing rong with the trick case closed

OH man, you are soo smart and you have such a quick and great one liners for us... We adore you man, really we love you.

Sir Brad and Chris are the only two in this thread that has posted a understandable and comprehensive responce to my original post. Like i have previously stated before, i prefer their handling of hecklers for 99.9999% of all hecklers, but to the other percent, i like mine. no one has to like it or even try it for that matter. this post is just one way a person can handle a heckler, but there are many many more ways to do so also. what might work for one, might not work for another. adjust to your personality and venue. Thank your chris and sirbrad for your thought out responses, as i usually practice what u preach. All the other posts have been just straight [edited]. To the [edited] ones...my hats off to ya!

You started so nice lunatik...saying that everyone should do it his own way... great, I agree. I disagree with your method, but hey if you do it that way, go ahead.

Why do you end, trying to dis other opinions. Just accept other people have different opionions, different working methods. And those opinions could say your method is one which they highly dislike. No harm done, but you, you just use swearing words and call others [edited], for just having a different opinion. That is ridiculous.

Good luck with your performance and have fun.

what u say is good fol, but its not what was said to me. go back to page #1, and read all the way to here. only those 2 peeps i mentioned responded good. all others werent just merely giving an opinion nicely. hence, my responses. thanks

thoes 2 where going at it its a fight

thoes 2 where going at it its a fight

my advice was given based on facts from my many years of experience in this art. it is unfortunate that some ppl would stoop so low as to make an entertainer feel bad, or uncomfortable in anyway. if one is just going to perform anywhere for free however, one has to expect some type of conflict eventually. unpaying audiences did not ask you come to any given area and perform. they may be in a bad mood, jealous of your abilities, drunk, or are just looking for trouble. i am glad that you do handle it in a professional way 99.9999% of the time.

now if you can just get it up to 100% you will have gone up to the next level as an entertainer. as i said earlier, i am sure you can find better places to perform, and for ppl who will appreciate your talent. the heckler has nothing to lose, but the entertainer has everythig to lose if he gets into a confrontation. maybe bad publicity, or serious injury. i am sure you did not get into magic for any of this, and this is not what this art is about.
hopefully you will not encounter this type of ignorance again, and you will not if you make the necesssary changes. it is tough to make any judgement here, as none of us are there to see what is actually going on. try to handle them though with the utmost professional attitude possible, and i can assure you that you will be happier at the end of the day

This simply isn't true, it really depends what kind of act you do and what kind of venue you work. I have 2 different cabaret acts, both comedy, however one is for functions the other for clubs. When performing at functions like Masonic ladies nights, rotary club dinners, weddings etc it is fairly unusual to get a heckler (well weddings depend on how late you go on and who's getting married ). But for the club act hecklers are pretty much expected and in working mens clubs in the North of England or the East end of London you need to be pretty ruthless. Heckler stoppers don't need to be clever they just need to be quick. On the very rare occasions that I get heckled at a function (anywhere alcahol is served hecklers are a possibility) my response will be fairly tame, but in a working mens club failure to humiliate a heckler will cost you the audience.

Funny enough I've never met a heckler in a working mens club that didn't respect a good come back. I often buy them a drink after the show and thank them for their contribution. You'd be surprised how many hecklers genuinely believe they are helping you by heckling (and in a club act they often are, you can get 10 solid minutes of entertainment out of a good heckler).

That said in general I tend to agree with much of the comments about the initial post, most of those lines are fairly crass, crass can work but needs finess, a line needs to be short and quick or needs to be clever, both is better, and even the harshest line needs to be delivered with a twinkle in your eye.

One thing to remember when dealing with hecklers though is ultimately the man with the mic always wins


I was real tempted to do a lengthy response to this, but I think one of my most effective heckler stoppers for use in the Mile End road is probably apt but the rules prevent me from posting all but the word off

Mark

well, i'm still at school, and all i can say that i get those kind of hecklers A LOT!!! i use some stuff that LuNaTiK, and lots of more stuff on my own.
on the other hand, when i do REAL shows, i don't talk like that to the hecklers, coz i don't know them, and my mission as a magician is to entertain, but entartain EVERYONE!

oh, and for the people who said that the other magicians practice so they won't get hecklers, that's simply stupid! a heckler is a heckler, nothing u will do would change it, he would usally scream he knows how u did it, but would say something totally wrong, like ur using mirrors or something...
u need to know how to handle hecklers, and how do handle them in a way that u will still be doing magic, entertaining, and having fun at the same time.

just my opinion,

Tomer

okay, I have to disaree with you. I practice my material around what hecklers would say, and I have never had a heckler in about a year and I perform all the time in public. The way you introduce yourself is important. Look at how the pros introduce themselves, like sankey and lennart green. They stop the hecklers by saying that they are not there to fool them, they are not singling them out in the crowd, they are just there to have fun. Make it a point to say that you do not want them to look at your skill, but rather the fact that it is amazing that these things are possible to do with the props given.

Then you need to go through you script and eliminate all question marks. The hecklers think that they are improving your show by giving their rude comments. You invite these rude comments by setting them up. Never ask "Do you know where your card went?" Because they will say "It is on your lap." Not to be rude, but to answer your question.

All of these tips were given to me by lennart green, sankey, and drew carey. They held up for them and they hold up for me. Enjoy.