One of THOSE fans

[William Draven]

Have you ever had one of those people that come up to you after a show to tell you how much they enjoyed your magic? Feels pretty damn good doesn't it? You walk out with a little skip in your step thinking like "Holy shyte! I'm a rock star!" Then at your next show you see that same person. You get that same complement, and when you're loading into your vehicle your smart phone "dings" and you've been alerted to an incoming friend request on your social media page. Yup. Same fan.

You add them thinking, dude just likes my magic. But then you start to see them every so often in your audiences, they give you their personal contact information, they ask to take you out to dinner next time you're in town, and your thoughts start to wonder: "Is this person just being friendly with me, or are they really a serial killer planning their next victim?"

You clear your mind and go about your business. The thoughts don't resurface until the next time you meet them in your audience after a show and it all comes rushing back as you fumble for a reason, ANY reason to get backstage without losing face.

Play the game long enough and you're going to find special people just like that. People that seem to walk the thin line between being overly gracious and borderline creepy. You get a double scooping of that if you just happen to be female. So what's your horror stories? How do you handle the super fan when they make themselves known?

 

[TylerScottIllusionist]

PPOs.

I think the issue is it's easy for people to get starstruck when they really look up to someone. I got a little starstruck the first time I met Dan Harlan, Scott Alexander and Puck, Bizzaro, and Dan Sperry. The funny thing is after I met them I was asked to do a closing act with Ayala so I was hanging backstage with them for the rest of a magic convention and they started to treat me as an equal (even though I'm lightyears out of their league).

I wouldn't worry too much about your situation until they start getting into your personal life. I think what you have is an overly starstruck fan and now is the time for you to start showing them your merchandise and capitalizing on the situation.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Two things come to mind, and I'll discuss both.

1) I use new-agey presentations all the time. I do this because I'm genuinely interested in the subjects, and I'm happy to discuss these subjects, at length, if someone else shows interest. It happens a lot. Buy me a drink at the bar and I'll chat about this stuff until my wife gives me the look that says I need to leave. Now.

When these people try to add me to social media, I direct them to my performer page and politely explain that my private page is for friends and family.

I can say that I have developed a particular skill which is the ability to casually and discretely exit a conversation when I need to. I've never had anyone get to the stalker stage in this regard, and I think that's because I'm very good at establishing boundaries. I am a performer, and I am happy to engage my fans. But I do not let them into my personal life.

2) I work for a very big magic company. I obviously use my real name while doing that. Sometimes customers think that because I'm helping them with orders, that means we're friends. Or they have an odd concept of what a customer support representative does. To that end, I have had someone call my personal cell phone number to discuss something regarding Ellusionist.

Again, I politely told them that I do not handle professional things with my personal cell phone and they can contact me through such and such means.

I have had a lot of people try to add me because they looked me up from Ellusionist. I don't add them. I regularly cull my friends list so it's people I actually know, and direct everyone else to my professional page.

I think it's perfectly reasonable to keep these boundaries and I have put specific effort into learning how to politely and casually establish these boundaries to avoid those folks who will get to the 'stalker' phase.

I've said this many times, and I know I will say it a lot more - very few things are more valuable to learn than good social skills for a magician.

 

[Elok]

I've said this many times, and I know I will say it a lot more - very few things are more valuable to learn than good social skills for a magician.

This is true. In fact one of the reasons I started magic was to help with social skills. And my dad supports it because he thinks there are things I will learn that will help me in life. I struggle with openers the most. PM me if you have any good suggestions for that.

 

[notsoltd]

I haven't had one of those yet. But I did have a little guy find me at a restaurant before they all left so he could high five me and tell me he wanted to be just like me when he grows up lol

My worst spectators have been violent. Two come to mind (the second one is a bit of a longer story, sorry!). One was a top executive of the company from the UK that was in the US for this party. He was outright threatening me that if I continued doing what I was doing (magic) he was going to beat the living shit out of me. He even did this while I was performing for a group near him, I had to watch that I avoided him the rest of the night. The guy near him at the time really wanted to see magic, but instead he had to calm this man and find me elsewhere later on.

The other one that came to mind was late at night on The Strand in Galveston, TX. I was street performing with a couple friends for the bar crowds. The three of us were dressed in bird costumes and it was hilarious (I had my chicken costume tailored with pockets so I could perform in it). We were killing it and made quite a bit of cash. The last group we entertained was great! I remember seeing this dude in the back though - he didn't look happy. On our way back to the car, I noticed 6 men following us. We got to the truck and as they passed, they called us faggots and other derogatory terms. I laughed it off. I was in a good mood that night! I suppose that angered them because I was surrounded so fast the only thing I remember was taking note of the hockey stick in the back of my truck in case I needed it. My two friends were on the passenger side of the truck. I was told I had 5 seconds to get in my truck before they killed me. He started counting...

I grabbed my keys, unlocked the car. My friends were both on the other side of the truck, unsure what to do I'm sure. I opened the door and got inside. My friends did the same. They closed their door. As I was closing mine, one of these guys grabbed the door and stopped me - it was the dude in the back of that last crowd. He punched me just over the left eye, and that was it. All 6 of them took off running down the street. I was completely in shock, I think that's why the punch didn't hurt much.

There's a happy ending to this story though!

I called the police and ended up getting chewed out for being out so late, which made no sense because I was 19 at the time and well past curfew-age. They made it clear that there wasn't much they could/would do and told me to go home. I seriously just got in trouble for getting assaulted. So I decided to find these guys and it didn't take long at all. A left turn. A right turn. One more left and there they were. I crept up next to the group and looked the guy that hit me dead in the eye.

"Hey! Next time, don't hit me with your purse! B****!"

I hit the gas and watched them all sprint down the middle of the street as fast as their little legs could carry them. I slept well that night.