Dai Vernon the Professor once said, "People do not want to see how good you are, they just want to be entertained."

What do you think about this statement?

For me, I think that when we try to "show off" how good we are, the tendency is that people will be on the mode to catch you out more. They'll be more particular about the moves and the technical part of your performance and try to "solve the magic trick".

Scenario...

Me: "Hey! I show you trick can????"
Spec: "Erm, ok."
Me: "Here take a card and sign your name on it..."
**ACR continues**
**Dirty work in progress**
Spec: "Hey I saw that..." *Grabs deck* "Weren't you trying to.." *Mimicks the move you did*
Me: "Erm. No... In fact,the card REALLY goes into the centre..."*Attempts to do a different method*
Spec: "Nah, your tricks use and fool kids la. Haha"


Whereas if we are asked to perform, won't the situation change for the better? People are then willing to embrace "suspension of disbelief" just for the sake of them being entertained. When people do want to be entertained, they will not be bothered at the "moves" and try to "solve" your trick, instead, more likely they are going to enjoy you perform and be entertained/amazed/whatever.

2 cents from me.

Seriously layman doesn't want to see how good you are, but it's Magician who want to see how good you are in your presentation, sleights and creativity. In the Art of Magic, other Magicians do like to be entertained too.

It's the Layman whom want to be entertained, some paid the $$$ to watch you perform, some will think whether is it worth paying you the money for your short busking performance.

Why Does LayMan wanna Catch Us ?

(1) He feels that he's smarter than you.
(2) You are performing Magic to his Girlfriend (He will feel Small as he doesn't have a cool hobby/profession like Magic ?) - In the audience view, isn't it cool to learn and do magic ?

(3) You are performing to friends, and friends will do their best to catch you.
(So normally i get them to approach me for Magic instead of i approach them for magic)

Normally, whatever you do, just be humble and everything will go smoothly.
You don't wanna go like this after an Effect.

Bad Magician: Hahahahaha Gotcha, Fool you badly this time round, didn't i ?

Or ?

Good Magician: Thanks for giving me this chance to perform to you.

You be the Judge
:rolleyes:

Good Day

P.S Pardon my BAD English :unsure:

Hm... I think the quote is quiet true.

Usually, I will try to condition the enviroment to be fun and entertaining. I'll usually start with some jokes or perfomr some funny kind of effect.

This is to create a more relax enviroment between both the spectator and you.

And also, try to blend into the group when performing. Speak their languange, be like them. It'll really help.

In my opinion, people just want to be entertained.

I tell stupid jokes very often during performances. I flirt with girls. I shower people with sarcastic comments that make them laugh.

The more relaxed the audience is the more they'll enjoy your performance. They won't try to catch you if they're relaxed.

Its all part of being entertained.

I find what Winder said to be very true. When performing to others who have the "know-how", what the audience will be looking for will be very different. Laymen look at a trick and will probably never have seen it before. Other magicians, however, would probably have seen it or a variation of it. In my opinion, most of the time, the audience would want to be amazed, but they would probably get a greater sense of satisfaction if they found out they were "better than you".

When performing to laymen, the general first impression is that you can't do tricks properly. Its not their fault, as there are so many inept "magicians" out there, attempting double lifts and such, often revealing the move in the process. Therefore, when showing them the first trick, I feel that it is important to gain the respect of the audience, and letting them know that you aren't just a wannabe. Then they will open up, and let themselves be amazed by you. Of course, if the audience isn't interested, what you would have to do to amaze them would be much more impressive (although I'm not sure why you would want to perform to someone who isn't interested).

When performing to another magician, what the audience is looking out for is probably different. Since they probably know the technique, what they are looking for is how well you execute the move and how good your presention is. They are sort of "judging" your abilities as a magician.

These are just some observations I have made from watching people perform, when I knew how the tricks were done, and when I didn't. I don't really perform, as I'm probably one of those inept magicians that will probably expose the trick. However, from watching others, and the reactions of the crowd, these are just some general observations that I find are very true.

Magicians also look for whether you have the discipline to work and improve yourself or just resign to fate. :P

Nah just kidding. I suck myself, and am still at the very early stage of having my hands shiver when I perform.

The rest of what you say is rather pertinent, and I also wish to add that I think whether it's the layperson or the magician, they are both really looking for the same thing: To be entertained.

Technical brilliance without presentation is unlikely to win over your layperson either. Look at the demo video for Brian Tudor's "Generation Extreme". That is technical brilliance at its highest level, but unless you're some XCM nut, his name's going to fade from your mind in a week. :ph43r:

Heh.. I just started learning about magic and stuff. I will perform soon..
Talking about Brian Tudor, I am interested in flourishing and XCM. In fact, I usually spend my free time practicising flourishing as opposed to magic tricks.