Dylan, Danny admits that you should use his lines and that they fit his personality.
While I don't like to be rude in any sense of the word, there have been times when I have resorted to a witty remarks, in jest, that may be heard as a putdown. If done right others will laugh and take the edge off the remark. Hoefully.

Dylan:I don't post much anymore here.Ninety per cent of the time I agree with Danny.However,on this one..I surely agree with you..that approach would not work for me either.

We all have to be true to our own styles.Danny and other's can get away with fairly 'gruff' retort's ...You and I probably have a different way of responding that is a more polite...that is what works for our style.Great!



I have been a FT Restaurant performer for almost 20 years.I don't have all the answers...but if I can be of help..don't hesitate to PM me.

Best.
Rich

Thank-you for that Richard, that is very kind of you. Most likely if I come across a problem I will PM you right away

-Dylan

Dylan:

I'm not making any assumptions at all about what you can or cannot do or what your performing style is. I'm just letting you know what will be the real test.

It's true in ANY type of magic.

Bill

Dylan, the line is not delivered rude.

You just don't get it and Bill has laid it out for you so easily.

Here we go. So pay attention. DO IT. Then you can see if it works or not. OR watch someone do it. NO OTHER WAY.

You are the one making "assumptions" in the way the line is delivered. YOU are the one who has no idea what will or won't work. See after 20 years you get a vague idea.

I can't use 90% of the lines Don Alan used. That is fine, they were for his personality not mine. The key is to find what works for YOU , and not try to judge others.

Don't use the lines, that is great. DON'T tell me they are right or wrong, only that they are NOT FOR YOU. Then you are 100% right.

Danny's right about Don Alan. Don had several bits that I could NEVER get away with. One was when a female spectator would pick up the chop cup ball without his permission, he would say, "I don't play with yours, don't play with mine."

Another thing he did that was BRUTAL was this. If he had an uncooperative spectator, he would get some cigarette ashes on his fingertip, then he would take her hand in his, and he would hold it firmly, palm down. He would say, "I need to find the soft spot in the back of your hand." Then he would take a silver dollar and he would rap the edge of it against the back of her hand. Naturally, she would flinch. He really put some power into the rapping bit. He would ask, "Do you like that?"

She would say "NO!"

Then he would turn the hand holding the dollar so that he was rapping the dollar against the back of her hand at a 90 degree angle to the first pounding. He would say, "Do you like that?"

"NO!"

"No matter which way I twist and turn, I can't make you happy!"

Then he would rub some ashes on the back of her hand and say, "I think I found the soft spot."

He would rub the ashes into the area he had beaten up, then have her make a fist. Next, he would rub the ashes away, and when she opened her hand, they would be on her palm. The ashes were a ruse to disguise the bruise she would have on the back of her hand.

I don't know ANYONE who could get away with that, these days.

For a long time I never did the bill switch or paper to money, and of course spectators ask you to do sometimes. When asked 'can you make £20 appear?' I would answer 'Yes, but the Bank isn't too happy!' or until right before I learnt the trick 'yes, but it's a condition of my parole that I stop doing it!' which did get a very good laugh. And sometimes, 'yes but I'll charge £40 to do it'. It's all in the smile and how you come across...

Similarly, when asked 'hey, can I shuffle those cards?' I really don't like to comply even though I could (usually), so I say - quick as a flash - 'no!' and smile broadly, pause, and carry on. It's all in the way its said... The smile and the PAUSE have a big role to play in not upsetting them. If I was to say no and quickly go into my routine it would be a dismissive put down. Instead, its a joke. They laugh and have fun. I've even (after I've done a couple of killers) replied 'I'm good - but not that good!' They laugh. It does NOT undermine me - they've seen me perform, I have established credibility (well, sometimes I do), they know I'm a comedy magician. They know I can do sleight of hand.
Just my way of going about things. And that's the point... there are few absolutes in this profession. So many variations work, for different people. Probably one of the few responses we can all agree on is not to say 'no, go f**k yourself!' I suspect, that this would generally go down badly with most members of the public. I imagine a few restaurant workers may have lost a gig trying that one.

Going back to the original question. What I do, or say is this: "Do you remember his name? (If they do or don't it doesn't matter). I then say something like, "That's his exclusive trick and no one else does it."

With apologies to the Bard...

To rhetort or not to rhetort, that is the question!
Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of an uninformed public
or to take arms and thus opposing, end them!

Fie upon this, I say, for there is no one right answer, I wager!

Verily, I say unto thee,
tis a matter of style and taste,
for betimes, the rhetorts fall trippingly off the tongue,
whilst, for others, they fall not and, anon,
they must needs keep silent and offer other amazement.

Yet the public, as varied as the flowers that cross the plains of Turkistan,
will know that neither Stan, nor Laurel shall always carry the day and,
betimes, a kind word turneth away Roth (or, at least a Roth coin trick will!)....

In other words, some folks can pull off the quick quips, some can't. Some can hit the audience with a rhetort and make them laugh and love it, while another performer, using the same words, will have the impact of an Ehrlenmeyer flask to the head - and engender the same anger from the crowd.

So play to your strengths, my friends and, above all, play to (and WITH) your audiences! (in an appropriate and non-invasive manner, of course! LOL!)

Shakespearian-Lee

Unto poetry the world has giveneth, the wonderous bard
but to magic the world has given us the wonderous Lee Darrow!

Scott Guinn makes much sense on this topic. I will certainly use his suggestion if the situation arises.

I usually just compliment the other magician first, tell them he must have been a fantastic magician if he can do that.
then gregiously tell them "I don't know, maybe? Come back next week and we will find out" then give them a wink of an eye and a nice smile.


Honestly I never had problem with people asking "Can you do this?"
it never irks me.
Caz I know for sure there's another trick in my repretoire that they have never seen and will be equally amazing.

Before reading this entire thread, I immediatelly thought to myself, even if I had a himber with me, or not, I would say, "of course I can, that's childsplay" in an overly pompous tone. Then lose the more expensive ring, via ringflight, and start the apologies.

And Lee, about the play, lest thy not forget thyself.....

I'd say, "I've seen the trick a number of times, but asking me to perform it would be like asking Tony Bennett to sing 'Freebird'."

If they ask about a trick they have seen o nTV and I'm not prepared for it, I just tell them...

"that's why he's on TV....and I'm here in ******."

Even with something simple like the bitten coin...sure we know how its done, but its good to get out of a tricky situation.

I always get the one "can you throw the cards through the glass and have my card on the other side?" and I say "last time I did that, I threw the cards at my mates brand new car, and the driver window smashed. wasn't best please..."

Sometimes it’s best to just let magic be.

If someone found a particular performance piece impressive enough to ask me about it, I would be doing the art a disservice by attempting to duplicate the same effect. How can I possibly compete with someone’s memory of an event or experience?

There is nothing wrong with acknowledging that a particular magician or routine is quite magical, and in fact, entertaining for me. I don’t consider questions about other tricks or magicians as a challenge or a threat. In many ways, it is a person’s way of trying to relate to you on some kind of common ground.

Our response to such questions really says a lot about ourselves, and our relationship to the craft.

If I performed a routine that left somewhat of a lasting impression on someone, I would hope that the next magician that came along would have the respect to let that magic moment be.

Steve

An excellent point, Steve, and one with which I agree. For example, I am not a big Chriss Angel fan. But last night I was at Barnes and Noble, where a member of the staff discovered I was a magician (another story of its own). He asked me what I thought about Chriss Angel, and it was clear by the way he asked that he was very impressed with Chriss. There was no way I was going to say anything remotely negative. That would make me look small and/or diminish this guy's experience of magic. So I simply said, "The guy does some amazing stuff. I wish I got his paychecks!"

This put a big smile on the guy's face, and he nodded vigorously, saying, "yeah, he sure does!" When he asked me if I could show him something, I did a quick impromptu one-coin routine, and he was suitably impressed. I didn't try to do anything from Angel's show, I didn't badmouth anyone, and everyone walked away happy.

When you think of it they are comparing you favorably to someone or something they LIKED. That is not a challenge or an insult really.

I still say things in jest to keep the mood light and keep control.

Great point!

Bjørn

I've actually had this question a number of times and I stick with what I said the first time it happened:

Spec: "You're incredible! Hey, I saw this guy once (insert whatever here)! Can you do that?!"

Me: "Of course! But it costs extra..."

This is said with the slightest raise of an eyebrow. It implies that it's not money, that they have no idea what "extra' might be, and that they don't have it. I laugh right away and continue with,

"So let me show you this one instead..."

and carry on. They instinctively laugh and it's ended up working for me every time. I think it leaves them with the impression that "He could have done it but he didn't want to." It's important to always let them know that you decide what magic they will experience. Just make sure you can follow it up with something killer and leave them smiling...

jamie