What do i Say?

[Piotr Radziwonowicz]

Being rather new to magic i often have people say after a trick is over "can you do the ______ trick?" or like "Can u do a trick with the cards where u find mine?" or they just name a random trick u've never heard of. What do you say? I have been caught quite a few times by a person who just names a trick and i haven o idea what they are talkng about.

[Steve Vaughn]

Piotr, just say 'no, I don't know that one'. No one really expects you to know everything. Just get yourself a nice routine together and build a solid base in magic and you'll do fine. If you are in school dont try to become 'Mr. Magic', that is a tough roll to fill. It is far better to do a trick for some people then let your rep grow and make the times you perform your choice and a special occasion. You don't want people seeing you and saying "oh here comes Blaine Junior!", that isn't a compliment. Good luck

Laugh it off by replying "Yeah, I know that one but I save it for my paid shows

[Ron Lumsden]

Originally Posted by bear

Laugh it off by replying "Yeah, I know that one but I save it for my paid shows

That's a little harsh, I prefer to just say I don't know it. Even if I do and don't have the set up ready or whatever.

[Kipp Sherry]

Personally I hate those kind of questions. I feel like a trained animal who is expected to perform a specific trick upon command. I would not tell the audience that, it's just how I personally feel. Therefore, I want to look professional for the audience, put on my "show" face and carry on with entertaining the audience.

To avoid those types of questions, I practice better crowd control and routines that don't really give them the opportunity to jump into the middle of the show and ask those type of questions. This also puts me in command of the audience instead of the audience commanding me like some trained animal. However, no matter how hard you try to prepare, these type of questions still do come up once in a while.

So when that happens, here is my typical response:

"That is a great magic effect, but I think what I'm about to show you is even more amazing." Then I just go on with my routine.

1) This gives you an acceptable out.
2) You do not belittle the audience member.
3) You take command of the audience.
4) It sets the expectation that your magic is better than what they are asking for.

Until we appear again,
Kipp Sherry