Heckler Help

[Jack Webster]

Hey what is a great trick to do when you have a heckler that can figure out all of your tricks and checks every thing before, during and after? You know a trick that wil leave every one stunned and is avible to get online, and is examibal afterwards.

thanks,
Cringe

 

[illusionist14]

Stigmata is one.

 

[Daugava]

F!Uk Off by Chad Nelson.

 

[Squ!rrel]

If you have a heckler that is working out all your tricks what are you hoping to achieve by catching them out with one? What's the best thing that could happen? They'll probably just come up with some absurd explanation as to how you did it even if they don't really know.

When somebody is constantly working out all your tricks (and this is not due to a poor performance of sleights) just give up and get out of there.

This person is just trying to cause trouble, they don't care if you fool them or not.

If you can't entertain them with 'normal' effects then attempting to find some heckler proof trick isn't going to make any difference.

 

[wildcard68]

yea cringe or u could say something like this "excuse me but could u please" and just walk off lol. they will be like wtf? lol it will make them want to see more and u just gotta say "i dont entertain people who dont know wat they r talking aboiut) or something along those lines. irritates the h e duble hockey stix outa them(ussually)

 

[Dima]

"One last trick, the disappearing magician" - walk off.

(David Stone's Real Secrets)

 

[Mikeoo92]

I love david stones real secrets of magic!!
I have the series it has alot of good material!!!

 

[The Royal JRA]

Clutch by OZ Pearlman is easily the fairest card trick EVER! I really cant think of anything that can top this if you havent seen this check it out. 100% impromtu, and examinable, and its not a Triumph or ACR

 

[Steerpike]

There is no shame in a tactical retreat.

Think about this. Confounding a heckler generally doesn't work because he'll just invent a method. And if you do stump him, it will just make him hate you and try even harder to screw with you.

Just walk away. Your pride isn't worth it.

 

[D ICE R]

The other night I was at a bar just doing some strolling stuff and this guy started getting smart. He was not drunk but he was just trying make me look bad so he asked if he could show me a trick, (I was going to retire the deck anyway that night and I finished work in about 20 minutes) So he starts dealing out 21 cards on a pool table. Everyone laughed as most new it so he gathered the cards and asked me to pick one and he would use the a key card. So I crimped the card i showed everyone and when he asked me to cut the deck I did a card to pocket. The reaction I got from everyone was so worth it when he was certain my card was the 5 of spades and everyone said it was the jack of clubs. I had already had the card in my pocket under all the misdirection in the world, I showed my hand empty and pulled it out of my pocket.

Other things that work well is you ever get to handle the deck start copping off cards and see how many you can get down to before someone questions it. my personal record is eleven cards remaining.

 

[Dizzi]

D ICE R: I hate to say it but what you did is rather rude. you were just being a hecler. not smart, not cool. I mean, sure, he was being annoying, but copping off your card in the middle of a performance? whats the difference between that and a heckler not giving your card back?

 

[Zeedub81]

If you have a heckler that is working out all your tricks what are you hoping to achieve by catching them out with one? What's the best thing that could happen? They'll probably just come up with some absurd explanation as to how you did it even if they don't really know.

When somebody is constantly working out all your tricks (and this is not due to a poor performance of sleights) just give up and get out of there.

This person is just trying to cause trouble, they don't care if you fool them or not.

If you can't entertain them with 'normal' effects then attempting to find some heckler proof trick isn't going to make any difference.

The problem is most of the time everyone else is not a heckler and they want to see MORE! And sometimes you can't leave - if you just got to a party and there is a heckler you can't just leave. Your advice would work if your on the street. I do agree with you that nothing you can do will impress them, except maybe an invisible deck or angle zero...

 

[praetoritevong]

You alone always have to control when you perform. If the audience wants to see more enough at a party, they'll shut the heckler down themselves - or else they won't see any more.

 

[D ICE R]

I know it was probably not the best thing I could have done, but the circumstance was hard to explain the guy came over to see what was happening and instantly started causing problems. I was having fun with the audience as a whole and when he came over people the whole mood changed.

I have very little patience for people who heckle when I am working. I can handle it a lot better if I was going up to people on the street. I was asked by management to come and work, I am always very polite when I approach people, if I went up to him and asked if he would like to see something and he said no then I would have wished him a good night and moved on.

However he approached the group of people I was preforming for just to cause trouble. It is not like I would go up to him if he worked in a clothing store just to say that the selection is terrible or I could design a better tee-shirt.

Back the the topic at hand the people I was preforming for all enjoyed the card to pocket effect. And one of them thanked me for getting rid of him. Regardless of what happened he would still hate me not because of who I am but because of what I was doing. He wanted to be the point of focus he wanted to prove that what I do was 'easy' and he could do it. If I offended him I am not really going to loose a great deal of sleep over it because he came in showing me complete disrespect and trying to undermine what I do. If I was to do a regular card to pocket on him he would be annoyed and that would have been that and he would try to heckle the next piece, thus getting a lot of people off side and eventually leave. By doing what I did I offended one person but everyone who actually wanted to watch what I was doing found it entertaining and continued to enjoy the performance.

I know that it is not what I would normally do but there are sometimes in life you need to do the wrong thing for the right outcomes.

There are many other stories of heckles where I did the "walk away" approach. There are just certain people that just no matter what you do nothing is going to change their intentions and they will try to find a way to damage you in some way.

 

[FadedTemp]

Regardless of how someone heckles you, it's not in your interest to encourage them. The best way I've found to deal with a Heckler is to just quit. Walk away from the performance; even if you're at a party it doesn't matter. Put the cards away and announce that you're finished for the evening, people will know the heckler is the reason for this and he can deal with them.

 

[Mikeoo92]

Regardless of how someone heckles you, it's not in your interest to encourage them. The best way I've found to deal with a Heckler is to just quit. Walk away from the performance; even if you're at a party it doesn't matter. Put the cards away and announce that you're finished for the evening, people will know the heckler is the reason for this and he can deal with them.

what if your getting paid to do it?

 

[FadedTemp]

Obviously I'm talking for more of a casual situation and speaking from general experience. I don't do paid events or anything so that's not something I have to worry about, I assume that the majority of people that deal with hecklers do it in a casual sense. For your specific situation though I would recommend something hard hitting like the invisible deck, though there is the possibility that they would try to come up with some sort of bizarre explaination I'm sure it's something you could play along with in a humorous way which would please the crowd.

 

[Mikeoo92]

Yeah, I use alot of Gazzos lines from read between the lines book, and I learned alot about hecklers in his book the ark of krowd keeping ;D

 

[FadedTemp]

The dvd Heckler by Brian Tudor looked amusing to say the least haha

 

[Steerpike]

The probem here is that most magicians are not Gazzo. Insult comedy isn't advisable unless you have a natural knack for it, and even then you have to think quickly and know when to cut the jokes and get back to your act.

The problem with Brian Tudor's approach is that he's a drunken man-child more concerned with his pride than his job. What he does is right up there with wiping a booger on the heckler's shirt in terms of stupidity.