just give him a straight look in the face. "please".

i've been doing magic for a wopping week now. One of the tricks is the 5 in 1 transpo. I did this for my mother to show her what I was going to do for my 3 sisters later. She snatched the the bill I had from my hand.

While I'm 31 yes.. thats 3 and 1... and my crowd control is good and was good with everyone else I've performed that trick and others... it was my mother... and I was... stunned... and well... busted. It's the only time so far I've been busted.

I've had people think they know how to do a trick... they are just about always wrong... but its amusing.

What can anyone say? You were too close to her. Your grip on your gimmick was not strong enough. If I was in that situation, that bill would have torn before leaving my hand. However, I don't find nor will I put myself in those situations in the real world of spectators. Also, your family and friends make the worst spectators. They feel that their boundaries are different or non-existent with you. Don't peform for close family until they respect you as a magician. Otherwise, only perform tricks that cannot be fowled up. I guess this respect usually will natually come with age. Some must be demanded. For now, just remember that family and friends make the worst spectators.

yeah I guess you are right there.

I performed the trick mentioned and others for my three younger sisters. They were my main reason for learning some magic... and I've come to really enjoy it and get into it more now... but my three sisters. 13, 16 and 22 and some of there friends... were all very cool. I was standing WAY too close to my mother when I did that trick... way to close. I've performed the same trick from behind the bar (i'm a bartender) and it works very well.

Intoxicated patrons, low light, both work well.

Creecy posted that "family and friends make the worst spectators".

I totally disagree. I don't do "street magic" or corporate gigs, or routine shows: family and friends are usually my ONLY spectators.

If you mean "worse" by more challenging, then I agree.
You were right when you said you have to set boundaries. That is the key with any group. There have been many times where a spec would try to snatch cards or swat a coin out of my hand. Family and Friends think that their familiarity with you allows them certain rights. It Doesn't.
Creecy says that it comes down to control and showmanship. I believe these are the keys. It appears that Creecy has a good amount of experience with these situations, and has learned how to avoid and recover from them. It sucks sometimes, but in the end, it all makes for a better magician. Also, have a large repetoire (know lots of tricks).

The best line I can come up with BEFORE I start a session is "I have a trick I want YOU (the potential card snatcher) to help me with, I'm goona do it in a few minutes after I do some other stuff, you want to help"?

Almost always they will say "Yeah Sure", and will behave during the show because now they feel like it's "THEIR" show, and they're not going to mess up their own performance. Then when the time is right, have them do a little something (Hold this for me, pick a card, etc). Make them feel important.

In My experience, my wise-[edited] grandfather is THEEE WORSSST spectator.

Me: Pick a card
Him: OK, I'll take these 5 {Snatch}
Me: Just take one please
Him: OK { puts 4 cards back, quickly rips up his chosen card}
Me: HA Freakin' HA
Determined, I say, "lets try again, pick ONE card and return it to the deck"
Him: Ok (takes one, returns it)
Me: Now I'll try to find your card, is it The queen of Diamonds?
Him: NOPE
Me: Yes it was.
Him: No it wasn't, it was the 3 of spades.
Me: No it wasn't
Him: Yes it was, and here it is... (brings out the torn up card.)
Me: You Suck.
Him: No I don't
*****Later that day, On my way out the door...
Me: Good bye gramps, Oh and I did one more magic trick that I didn't think you noticed.....I made your bifocals disappear off the table!!
Him: You Suck
Me: No I don't....(Slam door and leave)

Just thought I'd share a little bad magic humor.

You're pretty funny. You are right though. It is family and friends that make the most challenging spectators. At my level of experience, I am completely comfortable with performing for friends or family. However, a lot of the posters in this forum appear to be quite young. You have to admit that it is hard, as a young person, to perform for family and friends. But you make a decent point. Thanks for pointing that out.

Thanks for your comments Creecy. Much Appreciated.
I'd forgotten about what it's like being young and trying to put on a performance, even a trick or two. Some family and friends used to think that it's their job to burn you or disrupt the trick in order to figure out the effect. Yeah, sometimes you need to lay down some strict ground rules before you show your stuff. Seems like Creecy and I agree that these skills come with time and practice, even persistance.

The good thing about showing strangers, is that you can always walk away and never see them again. If you get burned, you only have to deal with the embarassment a little while.

My advice for a good OUT: always have a "killer-fool-proof" trick and save that for the end. That way you always go out with a bang, and people are more likely to remember that WOW from the last trick rather than those cards you dropped a few minutes ago. Someone once said "Always leave'em wanting more..."

My Little sister actually said "Can you make my teeth disappear?"
and I said "Yeah, but it'll be pretty painful"

If it's a trick that uses IT, try and keep moving around...when i do my self folding dollar, i keep moving my body away from people grabbing...most of the time it sends the messege across. if you're doing a card trick like invisi deck or soemthing like that, try and like "sneeze" or do something that'll make them back off...

A lot of buskers I watched on holidays were very good at crowd control. Many of them make a chalk line for the specs to stand outside of. Some of the other entertainers (not magicians) would just stop and 'freeze' untill someone put in some change and then they would start again. Many of them were funny which adds to the enntertainment and laughter. There are many ways to keep people watching. Make sure you have a good routine so that people aren't bored and just leave.

i just say its a 1 time show and when they say"no, i want to see the cards"just say you already saw them 1 time and its a 1 time show then walk

i always chose red trick bike decks.

because when im done a trick like the brainwave deck i immidiatley put it in my pocket and if someone wants to look at it i pull out a normal red deck

yup deck switches work great.

An old strategy by cups and balls workers is to have a HEAVY wand that you occasionally smack onto the table top for emphasis and to hold attention. Doing this frequently enough sends the message that a 'grabber' risks fractured knuckles, by accident or design.

most of the times before or in the beginning when i perform to a group of people, i steal a watch or wallet. then if they grab, i would say, "Look, I wouldn't touch you stuff, well actually I would." I would hand someone their wallet and continue the effect. Also, I agree with the second or third post in this topic, DON'T PERFORM IF YOU CAN'T CONTROL THE AUDIENCE. The way that I learned to control my audience was by doing a close-up show on stage. There I could understand where the audience would want to look.

Please dont do that. I doubt that i really need to explain why thats a bad idea.

I have often found that the audience members who grab at props are control freaks. The only way to deal with them is to be controling. when you perform make it clear that people do not come towards you unless you tell them to. leave at the very least 3 ft of space between the bulk of the crowd and yourself.

If they are persistantly bad, there are only a few options.
1) give them what they want. before performing any gimmicked trick, do something that can happen in their hands. (the two card monte works well) this sometimes gets it out of their system and calms them down for a minute or so.

2)Talk back to them. Being slightly rude back is sometimes all it takes. They're attention freaks, give them attention.

3)stop performing for the crowd. just abruptly stop and walk off. The part of the crowd who was enjoying it will quickly put the heckler back into their place.