@Hart – true, but’s always a question of tact. That’s a tough thing to pull of politely. I’m certainly not opposed to being “monkey boy” as long as the audience isn’t treating me like monkey boy. Sometimes it’s fun to claim that you’re going to try something impossible that you’ve only been able to do once or twice. Then claim that you’re going to levitate. Then just stand there grunting and moaning and finally giving in because you just can’t quite get in tune with the earth . . . or whatever. You’ll get some who totally believe you and others who will get the tongue-in-cheek.

Hart keene

@David, I’m with you on this. As I mentioned, this is only a rare thing for the jerks . . . it’s a heckler stopper. Like I said, I always carry a handful of easy and powerful routines in my wallet. It’s usually B’Wave that gets used in situations like that.

Others are watching how you handle the braggard condescending twirp. If you can play them into considering you as a business proposition, they will be more conducive to receiving your message for them when you get around to talking to them.

@Geoffro, this conversation reminds me of the time Jim Henson and I shared a platter of bacon wrapped Cuisses De Grenouille. It also reminds me of an article I wrote called Imprompt-true.

@Emory, you bring up an interesting point. I’ve been in those cases where someone does the whole “Hey magic monkey do something.” If there’s some condescension in the tone, I’ll usually do the remove my thumb gag followed by the remove my middle finger and show both sides of my hand gag . . . It gets a double take. I leave it at that. If they get snooty, I may ask a question like, “what do you do for a living?” Let’s say they say they’re a mechanic. I’ll then say, great let’s do some trade work. I’ll do a free show if you give me a free tune up on my car. They may respond with “I just wanted to see something quick.” I’ll then say, “Me too, just a quick brake job then, instead of a tune up.”

I’ll play their game, in other words. However, I only do that a) on rare, rare, rare occasions and b) always with a smile on my face.

I think it’s perfectly acceptable to do something if asked nicely and repeatedly (the 3-times rule mentioned above by Emory is a good one). Certainly, when asked you probably shouldn’t pull out a plastic Tenyo item or look like you were eagerly waiting with your pockets filled withmagic toys. I think this would be a good time to do some solid impromptu magic, borrowing items from people or the immediate environment if possible. Remember, impromptu doesn’t mean “no thumb tips, gimmicks or advanced prep” but it should appear that way.

As for a condescending confrontation, I should wonder what happened to make it so? Was it your attitude that caused that? Avoid confrontations if at all possible. If someone barks at me to “do a trick,” I would remind them that they need to say “the ancient magic words.” If they ask what those are, say “Here, take my wallet.”

BTW, if you can actually get them to hand you their wallet, you should be able to find something of value in it to use to amaze them. If not, just start walking away… with their wallet.

THE FASTER THE TRICK, THE LOWER THE ODDS OF MAKING AN ASS OF YOURSELF. Maybe you just won gold at FISM with your nine-phase oil-and-water routine, and you’re a standing-room-only hit on Broadway with your full-evening cups-and-balls presentation. Outstanding!!! Yet not good choices if you’re a guest at a wedding reception.

What I’m usually prepared to do, and why I chose it:

Pen-through-bill – It looks impromptu, and I have a funny presentation for it. Used mostly when I encounter a group of mixed ages, so that I have a small _audience_ rather than just a person or two, thus making it not too odd and awkward to do a pattering routine with jokes.

Copper-Silver Transposition – Fairly quick, and it happens in the spectator’s hands with their active participation, making it more like a social interaction than “you shut up and watch me perform.” Also, it doesn’t look too pathetically like an over-prepared eager-magic-boy nerd to have just tossed a couple of old coins in your pocket. My first choice for adults.

Finger-Through-Spectators-Shirt-Sleeve – Extremely fast, and apparently done impromptu with NO PROPS AT ALL. First choice for when I encounter younger kids with parents.

Tougher question: What if they really truly want to see you do a trick, but the vibe is a bit condescending, even if maybe the person isn’t deliberately intending to be condescending or patronizing. You detect just a tiny whiff of “Hey, do your trick when I snap my fingers, little trained monkey.” Now how do you handle that?

@Mike/@Emory – I like this . . . conversations are happening and things are being questioned. I think I’m more in line with Emory’s thinking. I carry in my wallet several effects:

• Jay Sankey’s Sound Waves
• Richard Sanders’s Power Ball 60
• Max Maven’s B’Wave
• Paul Carnazzo’s Animania

and 5 ESP Cards

They are there in case I need them. I usually don’t, but man when I do, it’s powerful stuff. It ranges from organic stuff that doesn’t feel like a “presentation” at all (e.g. Sound Waves, Power Ball 60) to stuff that is clearly a “presentation” (e.g. B’Wave, ESP Cards).

But Emory is right . . . don’t force this on people. Wait for the right moment, and make sure you know it’s the right moment.

This can make you look like you’re socially crippled – unable to relate to other people without using the crutch of memorized jokes or tricks you have to carry. It also makes you look like you have a pathetic need to always be calling attention to yourself.

But there is another side of the coin, and it can be illustrated by reworking Mr. Lampkin’s doctor analogy. It would be bizarre for a dermatologist to go around at a cocktail party examining everyone’s skin, and it would be rude for a guest to ask for an examination there instead of scheduling an appointment. But what if, out of genuine curiosity, you had a quick medical science question for the doctor – Something any competent doctor would know, and something that naturally arose in the conversation. “You’re a dermatologist? This guy I work with is CONSTANTLY telling everybody in the office that they should take megadoses of vitamin C to prevent skin cancer. Is that quackery?”

Now suppose the doc says “Buh… gee, I dunno… Can’t answer – you got me stumped on that one.” He sounds like a very poorly educated doctor – Certainly not one I’d want to visit.

One well-known magician said that he performs in casual social settings only after he is asked THREE TIMES. Sage advice. Just being asked once probably means they’re just being polite. It can also mean that they’re expressing some interest in you as a person, so it’s really an invitation to continue a conversation instead of an actual invitation to perform. Only after multiple requests, preferably from multiple people, does it become clear that there really is a strong expectation and a strong desire for you to REALLY perform something rather than socially converse. That won’t happen very often – and if you think it does happen often to you, you’re fooling yourself and inflicting magic on people. But when it does occur, you should be prepared or you’ll look like the incompetent dermatologist.

Carry the tricks, but be extremely conservative and self-skeptical about when to bring them out. It’s likely carrying a pistol – mostly you want to keep it in the holster unless you’re REALLY sure you need to pull it out.