well, my friends know i'm a magician.

there's another kid at school who does it too. (wouldn't that be interesting if he was a penguin?)...

well, he was doing a trick a couple weeks ago, and i just commented to a friend that i knew how he did it(didn't say how!), well i guess i said it too loud, 'cause he came up and said, "then do it!!! huh? can't do it? i knew it! there's one in every crowd."

well, I know i shouldn't have, but i couldn't help but say, "you're performing at a middle school, what do you expect?!?!"

I made sure not to say anything to him about magic, even though i didn't know him at all.

just today, a friend asked me if i could do this, not knowing he was talking about magic, nevermind about that kid. but the kid did a trick with a stripper deck. i hung near the back of the crowd, my friend came back and said, "so do you know?"

i said, "yeah" Having no intention on ruining his trick.

the guy must have super hearing, but he came over again and said, "so do it then."

i didn't want to take away his people, and i wasn't absolutely positive at the time that it was a stripper deck, so i said i wouldn't.

I told him i wasn't trying to heckle him, i was just answering my friends question. and i guess when he realized i wan't telling anyone how to do it, despite all there asking, but he came over and said he respected me for not telling. I didn't give a flying monkey that he respected me, i'm a far better magician, but I was glad he didn't think of me as a heckler who gave away secrets...

anyways, i'm glad you're still reading this, how do i respond to "do you know how to do that" and what should i have done in that case?

Well I would tell him you are also a magician and comment on his trick, give praise where praise due.

Then maybe if you want you could team up

What ever you do just try not to be bostful around another magician, a good tip is treat someone else's performance the way you would like them to treat yours.

thats just a tough situation...i guess you kinda did the right thing....maybe i probably would have just walked away..

or to really piss him off...do a better trick then do some sweet flourishes too lol

but again, i would just walk away if i was in that situation

I probably would have told him off, i would have done some things he could never do. Although that would make me a new enemy.

Although you didn't mean any harm, you were actually the heckler in this situation. That is of course what he meant when he said: "There's one in every crowd."

i know i was unintentionaly one the first time, but the second time i tried my best... almost...

Just lie and say you don't know. The end.

If I had been you, I would have just said "No thank you. It's your show."

I would tell him one thing later on though. He needs to learn more about heckler management. Anyways, depending on the heckler, it's not always the best to say, "oh you know how it's done? Do it then."

Craig

I agree with Craig, I think you should pull him aside and show him some stuff and then point out that saying, "You do it then!" is not a great way to manage hecklers. I'm actually very impressed you didn't try and steal his thunder, if it had been me and he had come up very aggressive I would have immediately whipped out my cards and shown him up. Anyway, if someone asks if you know how something is done, personally I would just give a "yes" or "no" answer, if they ask you to tell them how, just use a line you would normally use if someone asks you how you did one of your tricks.

LOL. I never give that advice to anyone...except myself

Craig

kick him in his balls and steal is cards....

Leckmich, look what you have done. You started up the whole "beat up the heckler" thing again. Geesh By the way, that's one awesome avatar you have there

Craig

My thoughts are why would you sit at the front of the crowd and tell someone "I know what he did?" It almost seems like you're looking for the same credibility that a real heckler looks for. Let him do his effects and at the end go and comment on it to him. By saying, "I know how he did that," you are doing exactly what so many magicians hate hearing. Imagine how you would feel if that same situation happened at one of your shows. We've had the discussion before that non-magicians learn how to do a few tricks, see you perform, tell people that they are a magician and know how the tricks are done. The people here have always said that they are not a magician, because they don't have respect for other magicians. The only difference is that you didn't have to say, I'm a magician, because your friend already knew.

When you are in the crowd, think like someone in the crowd. What would you do if you were in a the audience of a play and someone started whispering to you. If you thought there was a chance someone would hear, you would say, politely, "Shush, let's watch the show?

One of the hardest things to learn, as a new magician, is to bite our tongue when we watch another magician. We have an almost obsessive drive to say, "I know how he did that." Watch yourselves, and others, and see how hard this is. Sometimes we whisper it to ourselves--sometimes to others. But, do you think Michael Ammar would have said, "I know how he did that," during a close-up show? He would have smiled and applauded. Tha's class.

As always, another great pearl of wisdom from CRK.


Matlock the Magnificent