Performing Magic in School
Prologue
Hey guys, this essay all started from a tiny little idea I had one day, and it developed into what you see here. It's basically an essay for all you teenagers out there that need help with performing magic in school. I hope you enjoy!
Hecklers
A problem many people encounter in school is the heckler. The “bully” of magicians, if you will. A heckler is basically someone who disrupts your performance. Whether it is screaming out the method, not shutting up, or just being rude to you and your spectators… they’re a pain in the butt. Hopefully some of these tips will help you out with hecklers.
There are numerous methods of getting rid of a heckler, but these 5 steps I picked up from Tyas Frantz tend to work really, really well.
Step 1: Acknowledge the heckler.
This means when the heckler spots a method and points it out, just say something along the lines of, "Good eye." But do it in a nonchalant kind of way, and just keep moving along. Odds are they will keep their mouth shut for the rest or your performances.
Step 2: Ignore the heckler.
This step is, I feel, very self-explanatory. Just ignore them, and either the crowd will hush them up, or they will decide that it's not worth it and either be quiet or leave.
Step 3: Out-heckle.
If there was one step here that I would recommend skipping for a school-age magician, this would be it. Trust me, I've tried it, odds are it won't end pretty.
Step 4: Educate the audience.
If at this point Mr. Heckler is still bothering you, just stop wherever you're at and tell the audience that you cannot perform with Mr. Heckler in the audience. Like Step 2, either the audience will shoo the heckler away, or the heckler will leave on his own.
Step 5: Have heckler removed.
If it really comes to the point where you have to have the spectator leave, you're in trouble. Because in school, people don't pay to "get in" to your show, they just stop and watch... therefore, without the audience's help, odds are you will never get the heckler to leave.
Now, for some magicians these 5 steps may work very well, for others, they may not work so well. For those of you who don't like these steps, simply don't use them. There is another method for dealing with a heckler that I have yet to use, because I haven't yet encountered a heckler since reading about this method.
If and when you encounter a heckler, simply say, "Sir/ma'am, it is apparent that you do not want me to perform for you, so I will leave you alone and perform elsewhere... thanks for your time." I bet 9/10 if you do this, the heckler's friends will have you come back, and you won't hear another peep out of that heckler.
Like mentioned earlier, one thing you probably shouldn’t do is try to out-heckle a heckler. Most of the time, you’ll just end up getting in a big fight, and your audience will leave. So, I suggest skipping that step, and moving right along to Educating the Audience.
Presentation
This, in our opinion, is the single most important aspect of performing magic... especially in school. The simplest of tricks can really hit hard in school if you present them right. One of my most used effects is the Invisible Deck. It is a very simple effect to learn, but without a proper presentation, you will not get the reactions you deserve.
If you are having trouble with your presentation, there are some things you can do to help improve.
First and foremost… perform for other magicians. Most magicians that are willing to watch want to see you become better and progress in magic, not see you fail. They will not only critique you on you performance, but your technical skill, as well. Heck, they might even teach you a thing or two.
The next thing I recommend is a video camera. Try and tape all your performances, that way you can go back and watch them, see what you did wrong, and correct that part of your performance. You can also post videos on Forums, such as Penguin Magic, and have other magicians/members help you along there.
And last but certainly not least, get some good books, such as Strong Magic by Darwin Ortiz, Maximum Entertainment by Weber, or even Beyond Secrets by Jay Sankey.
Random Tips:
-Try to be enthusiastic about performing.
-Be yourself and have fun.
-Practice until you don’t have to think about doing the moves, so you can focus solely on the presentation.
-Stick to material you’re comfortable with.
Crowd Control
One thing that we hear over and over again is, “Some stupid kid took my gimmicked prop!” And then a flood of responses saying, “So don’t use gimmicks, only do sleight of hand from now on.” While it’s great to only use sleight of hand, we think very magician should have a healthy balance of sleights and gimmicks.
The advantage of using only sleights is that your props can be handed out anytime during your show… the disadvantage of using gimmicks obviously being you cannot hand out your props at any time during your show. However, with the proper crowd control, you could ask them if they wanted to see a gimmicked object, and have them say no… yes, it’s happened before.
Random Tips:
-Remember, you are always in control… “They did not choose for you to do magic, you chose to let them see magic!”
“People Think I’m Gay Because of Magic!”
To be brutally honest with you… I have no idea what I would do in this situation. I have never experienced it, and I hope I never will have to go through it.
If they keep picking on you, I would suggest tell a teacher… I know you will be looked upon as the “tattle tale” or whatever, but it’s better than being called gay because you do magic, isn’t it?
A couple reasons they might be picking on you are: they are jealous of the attention you are getting because of your magic, they want to know how it’s done, or they could just be looking for someone to pick on, and you’re the closest person to them.
Some ways to get rid of these people are: telling a teacher/counselor, not performing around these people, or just not performing in school at all.
If you don’t ever encounter this problem… great! If you do, I’m sorry, and I hope you work your way through it!
Approaching Upper Classmen
I think this can be a very touchy subject, but I’ll cover it to the best of my abilities.
Some people are nervous about approaching students older than themselves, and I totally see why. Older students often get the idea that they are “better” than the other students in the school, and therefore can pick on the younger students. Please, if you are one of these people, grow up. Because of this, younger students prefer to stay away from other students, and are therefore apprehensive about approaching them with magic. My suggestions are to first perform for a couple upper classmen that you know, and wait until word spreads about your magic. Then, you won’t have to worry about being turned down or made fun of, because you will actually have older students calling you over to show them some magic.
If, at this point, you are still nervous about approaching older students… just don’t perform for them until word gets out of your awesome skills, and they’re calling you over.
Random Tips:
-Do not approach older students that are busy… as Akirafist once said: “Learn to know the difference between bored and busy!”
-Don’t be nervous… everything will be fine.
-No offensive jokes… they are not only older than you, but they also don’t know you very well. Plus, you’re in school, you need to keep your mouth clean.
-Only perform material that you are very comfortable with, that way there is an almost zero percent chance of messing up.
-Build up your reputation first, that way the older students won’t think you’re just some loser who knows some cute tricks… don’t be a loser who just knows some cute tricks.
-Be yourself… more than likely, they will like you for who you are, so be yourself.
