Hello,

I was doing a table hopping gig at a Country Club a few days ago and at the end of the gig the GM brought me back to his office to pay me. Well, he wanted to see a few tricks and was familiar with magic and some magic concepts. After I performed a few tricks he wanted to know "HOW" I did them and was pretty pushy about it. Keep in mind this was my second appearance at this Country Club within the last year.

Would you oblige him and tell him? I will say that this is the first time this happened to me so I did tell him how one of the tricks I did for him worked.

Deflect and distract?

I might have said, "Ugh, not these. It took me weeks to get them right. Let me show you a couple you can do right away."

Then (depending on how savvy he seemed) show him something easy/simple, yet still puzzling.

Maybe the rolling straw that follows your finger? Maybe the penny in each palm, where you turn your hands face down and slap them on the table, then lift your hands to show one penny "jumped" over to join the other? Maybe a 2 card monte you can leave with him?

You get the idea. Something you always have with you in a pocket, just in case.

Good idea, Gerry. I always carried a simple 2-card monte to demonstrate and then give away for these types of situations.

Also if a volunteer was particularly helpful during a show and expressed interest in magic afterwards.

If this isn’t the first time it happened to you maybe there is something you’re putting out there that invites people to act in this way? Seriously in 35 years working every night nobody asks this of me.

To answer the question don’t show him how you do a single thing. It doesn’t matter how much he hires you. He will never respect you more for doing so. Don’t give him a two card Monte and don’t encourage the behavior. No is the answer. He will end up respecting you less by the time it is all said and done.

I can see both sides of this coin.

If you are a driven pro then just like a piano player not teaching a guy a song (unless his various talents include teaching piano for PAY) the answer is either “No” or “you should visit your local magic shop and give them some business.” (Almost) Nobody asks the electrician to teach them “a simple wiring trick”. I was going to say “no one asks an electrician how to tin his leads.” but that phrase right there shows interest and some basic knowledge of the trade, which might influence an electrician to dig deeper into one’s question.

If you are more driven by a love of the art, then a simple something might fill the spot perfectly. Personally, I’ve always had a specific simple trick ready for a very good reason. There was a couple years where I did a bunch of kid shows at a kids’ themed park. It was convenient and best of all the money was… lame. But the smiles and interaction with the kids were priceless. (Well yeah, cuz I don’t have kids.). Kids are very deft at asking to be taught, shown, given things. That is until a year or two into school when they learn you can just have everything handed to you.

Nice thing about working a park is that as soon as your show is over the kids are off racing to the next adventure, not waiting around to talk to the magician… UNLESS they have something important to share. And here is the thing about that opportunity. This park had summer camps in which kids could LEARN puppetry, or magic, or a host of other things over a course of a week. Sure there were kids who were stuck there for the week by their parents, but more of the kids were actually interested in exploring these pursuits to the degree which a kid can in a week. There were some amazing things I saw, but that’s a whole ‘nuther long story. This truly was a tiny window to find out if this was an ego ploy, or a sincere interest.

Which brings us full circle to Danny’s point. 99.99% of the time adults’ “teach me something ” pitch is just an ego play. When you cross paths with someone sincere it’s obvious from a mile away. The rest of the time all you may be spreading is, “see how easy this is.”

At some point of doing this a lot, you get a sense for who has a sincere interest and who is just indulging a passing fantasy.

On the one hand, you will get more respect saying “No” creatively. On the other hand, you may just once in your life inspire one person to pursue magic in a much more serious way. But honestly, there are respectful ways to maintain each perspective and maintain a dignity for the art. Different answers fit different personalities. The main point being, the more you engage this happening, the more you will learn about which answer is your answer. I’ve seen people in both camps do it exceptionally well. I’ve seen people in both camps do it not so well. I’ve been in both those scenarios.