So thanks to Dale Carnegie's "How to win friends and influence people" and "The art of speed reading people", I am very capable of conversing with anyone at any moment and win them over. However, whenever I begin performing, I feel like I'm not getting the best reactions possible. I know it's not them, it's something that I'm doing. It might be my transition from conversation to performing, my performance persona, or something else. I'm not pushy, I make it about them, and I do my best to connect with everyone. Any advice, I'm in a real stump.
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Performance Advice
- Thread starter Luke B.(6)
- Start date
Also, how do you experienced performers approach people in a food joint or coffee shop type enviorment to perform. Is this an appropiate place to perform, for it seems like they would rather focus on their food than be disturbed by a random stranger wanting to do magic?
If you're not getting the reactions you want, you need to examine your performances. Something you are doing is not what you should be doing to get the reactions you want. Could be material, could be style, could be character, could be environment. Without seeing you perform, there's no way for us to know. There's no magic solution here - It comes down to every single performer to figure out how to get the reactions they want. It took me years to figure out what I should be doing.
I don't approach people at random. Ever. I dislike this whole guerrilla magic trend and if someone came up to me to try to perform I would tell them to go away (politely). If someone's eating, don't bother them.
You'll probably need to judge the mood. I mean, if you're at a busy restaurant and there is a wait for a table, that may be the best time to approach people, as they are bored and anything will help kill the time until their name is called. Another thing you could do is perform a few quick effects for your waiter/waitress. They're forced to be there, but still lol Just keep in mind that they have a job to do, so if it is really busy, then just do something quick and if it's really slow like on an off hour, then I'm sure they'd love to see a few more things. It'll also make them eager to come back to your table and get you better service. Just make sure you tip them well or else you'll be known as the cheapskate magician who ordered the cheap steak...see what I did there?
You do realize that you've contradicted yourself in this post, right? First you're "capable of conversing with anyone at any moment and win them over" and then you're saying that you can't do it. . . hmmm?
Book knowledge is not the same as applicable knowledge in most instances in that you are missing the subtleties that experience will teach you. Remember what you've read but slowly work in the techniques so that you are consciously learning by focusing on each tactic individually; you cannot read the book and then jump out and do it all, it takes time.
As to your second question. . . learning to judge people and their receptivity is an art in and of itself and when it comes to working tables I've found that the best way to do this is for the facility you are working in to have a notice at or near the entrance that says you are the House Magician so that people are expecting you. Many times this means people will actually request you to come over. I usually work out a deal with the wait staff to plug me . . . to inform patrons that I'm there to entertain them for a few moments while they are waiting on their food preparation and again, this means the wait staff prompts me as to what table to go to next.
Hitting a table cold requires some degree of tact and downright silliness in some cases. . . but I'll leave that to your imagination for now.
No. If it's busy, don't try to perform for the wait staff. They are trying to do their job which includes taking care of your table and all the other ones, remembering orders and requests, doing side work, etc. They're required to be polite to you but trying to do something distracting while it's busy is a pretty good way to get poorer service because they'll think of your table as a time sink to be avoided.
Trust me when I say this: People who are busy do not care about your magic. You are not giving them some kind of gift; you are stressing them out more in all likelihood, because now not only do they have a ton of stuff to do, they are behind because some Schmoe decided his color change was more important than your job.
When it's slow, though, that can be a good time to perform for the wait staff and other folks. As stressful as a busy restaurant can be - when it's dead it's almost just as stressful due to how boring it is.
Alright thanks everyone. As for my performance, I usually ask a quick question about them (like how long have you served, if they are military), I say "well you look like a fun guy, I wanna show you something", then I usually open with some quick ring magic. After that depending on the reactions, I typically jump into the invisible deck or prophet. My problem is, that I get them engaged and interested when I have a conversation with them, but It goes usually goes downhill when I throw magic into the mix
Where exactly are you performing for people? Unless you are busking, I would say that it's going to be incredibly difficult to get people to pay attention to you when they are out shopping.
If you really want to perform for people, then get your feet wet by starting with Hospitals and Senior Centers. You'll have better luck and get much better experience.
As for performing at Restaurants. Dan Garret had a great way to break the ice. You walk up to the table and simply ask them how they are doing tonight and if they've seen the manager. When they ask if you are the manager. You tell them "No, I'm not the manager. But we go have an excellent Magician here tonight. He's one of the tops in his field and there is no charge for his free entertainment. I can call him over if you would like." then you just go from there.
Also it's kind of laughable to say that you've mastered the art of conversation just by reading two books.
If you really want to perform for people, then get your feet wet by starting with Hospitals and Senior Centers. You'll have better luck and get much better experience.
As for performing at Restaurants. Dan Garret had a great way to break the ice. You walk up to the table and simply ask them how they are doing tonight and if they've seen the manager. When they ask if you are the manager. You tell them "No, I'm not the manager. But we go have an excellent Magician here tonight. He's one of the tops in his field and there is no charge for his free entertainment. I can call him over if you would like." then you just go from there.
Also it's kind of laughable to say that you've mastered the art of conversation just by reading two books.
You have a good point, I wrote my post at 3am, so I didn't think everything out. When I said quick, I meant like super quick, like a vanish or bill change or something that would take like 10 seconds at most, but you're right. It is better just to stick with when it is super slow or when people are waiting for a table to perform an effect.
If you're losing people once you bring magic into the mix, maybe you need to work out your presentation or just do some stuff with every day objects and present it more as a 'you wanna see something cool?' type of thing, rather than putting on a completely different persona to perform your effects. I haven't seen you perform, so it's really hard to tell what is going wrong or what you can improve upon.
Also, if they're not impressed by your 'you wanna see something cool?' effect, then just keep talking to them like normal like you were doing before. If they seem interested or astonished then ask if they wanna see something else. Just learn how to read the people's reactions and the mood. Some people will act 'polite' but you can usually tell by body language and facial expressions if they're really into it. Good Luck!
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Some time ago I published an idea that was actually a reality for me...a way to never be told NO when performing.
The method I used involved business cards I had designed where one side was white, and the other was black...
As the wait staff seats their guests, they have them a business card, (My business card). They then explain to the patrons that there is hired entertainment in the building, blah blah...If they would like to be entertained and see some magic, they would place the business card on the table, with the WHITE side facing up! If they wished not to be bothered, they leave the business card with the BLACK side face up. This way, I could look around the house and SEE who wanted to be entertained. Even if there were only a few white cards that I could see, the other patrons eventually would give in and would want to be entertained too...
This worked for me, and it might work for others too. It's just what I did...
If I were ever to do restaurant magic again, this is one of two ways I would handle the situation, and probably the one I would go for. It's a great idea for everyone involved.
The other way comes from Eugene Burger I believe - He would have the wait staff ask if the patrons wished to be entertained while they waited for their food, and if so they would place an extra chair at the table, then go get him. This does, of course, rely on having good rapport with the wait staff.
Eugene Burgers idea is good, but it also depends on the restaurant you are performing in. If it's a more fancy upscale restaurant the staff may be up for it. But if it's a small Burger/diner type place then they probably won't do it.
Both ideas are actually really good because like Eugene Burger has mentioned, sometimes even for pro's it's hard to read people in a restaurant. So having that big obvious "neon" sign makes your job a bit easier.
Not only does it make it a bit easier, it also makes to where MORE people want to be entertained. You approach a couple and introduce yourself as hired entertainment and they say they are not interested. Chances are you going back to that same table to perform lessen.
With my method, you get the 100% surefire response of "YES, I want to be entertained". This causes others to look on, see the fun being had and say to themselves, "HEY, I want to be entertained too!!!" It's just a win/win.
I actually shared this idea with both Jeff McBride and Eugene Burger before publishing it. They both loved it too.
With my method, you get the 100% surefire response of "YES, I want to be entertained". This causes others to look on, see the fun being had and say to themselves, "HEY, I want to be entertained too!!!" It's just a win/win.
I actually shared this idea with both Jeff McBride and Eugene Burger before publishing it. They both loved it too.