Hello, I'm new to these forums and this is my first post

Anyway, I was wondering if any of you wonderfully talented magicians knew any methods to keep people from asking trick-ruining questions .

I have performed Kaos about five or six times and every single performance was ruined by a different question.

Even though you can give them a crappy answer it always ruins the trick and you can see this form the reactions.

I'm guessing random spectators(not family, who I have been performing on) will feel less welcome to ask intrusive questions, but I'm pretty sure some people will anyway, if only to ruin your trick.

So do you guys know any methods or secrets for avoiding unwanted questions?

Thanks, Magicpingu.

Hey!
May I be the first to say, welcome to the boards! If you listen to the right people you can learn alot of stuff here. I know I have.
Just to help us out a little, could you give us an example of a 'ruining' question?
Thanks

Thanks! I hope to get to know you guys well .

Well, some that I frequently encounter are "show me the top/bottom card", "show me your hands", and my least favourite, "can I see that from a different angle?".

I realise that I can give crappy answers to these questions, but this usually weakens the effect, if not completely destroying it.

I thought of a good tactic while I was eagerly waiting for answers, and that is to say before the trick, "I need absoloute silence to concentrate".
I feel this gives a good atmosphere as well as a non-suspicious way of avoiding questions, however I really look forward to what you guys have to say about it!

Look at how you are presenting yourself.

Remember, we love to take credit for great reactions, but hate to get blamed for the bad ones.


Set up a routine, get into the grove of it, and if at all possible, have some comdy right before you start, to lighten the mood and to get people less focused on how and more ready to be entertained!

One thing I do, is I tell them to pick any card in the deck. They do and then I have them place it anywhere in the deck. Then I shuffle and say "Now watch, Not only has your card come to the top, but I have changed it to the 9 of clubs (Or whatever card on the top is)." this will generally get a good laugh and keep people from trying to heckle you.

I have found that the questions come when there is a silence in the presentation. If there is a moment when everything is quiet then that allows someone else to say something. I have found that if I am doing my patter, very rarely will someone cut me off mid-speech. If they do, they we be seen by the rest of the spectators as 'annoying' and 'trying to steal attention'. Im not sure if that helps but that's what I came up with.
When it comes to you 'least favourite question'. I have encountered this also. One thing that I will do is say "How about I show you something even better from a different angle? Has anyone got a dollar bill?" and I go into a different routine.
I hope it helps, PinguMagic!

Good ideas guys, lol I love the comedy trick Terrk .

Revelation I just realised how silly the name Pingumagic sounds when you wrote it lol.

Tell them the first time's entertainment, the second time's a lesson; which costs $100.

If all comedy fails and they really want to see the first or bottom card, this is what I would do: To show the first card just do a DL or cut the cards, say "are you happy now?", then do a pass. To show the bottom - either do the glide, or cut the deck, show the card, and execute the pass.

Hope This Helps!

BTW - This is my 400th post! Woot!

there are a few ways around this. i am not familiar with the trick kaos, so i don't know which (if any) will work. you could do a simple DL or you can shuffle the pack and control the top card to the bottom, then show them the top if they still aren't satisfied. the shuffle it back. for the bottom card you could do a glide and show the bottom card and the place it in the middle of the deck. or again control it to the top then back to the bottom. i have used all of these, they all work great, and baffle the spectator(if done properly)

PS welcome!

Also, with Kaos, don't tell them what you are about to do, keep them clueless untill the very last minute.


That will keep them from heckling, if they don't know what to except, then they can't catch you as easy

Perform confidently like you're in charge

remember, you are the guy in charge here! IF you dont want to do something then dont do it. If someone is usually annoying me by asking questions i pretend not to hear and continue the trick (usually burying the top card anyway) that usually shuts them up

i agree with terrk, use some comedy to get the audience on ur side. but then again try not to delay the trick too long or people might get bored