- What the hell's going on, Chris Ramsey here.
Welcome back.
Today, we're gonna be talking about something
very important, something a lot of you commented
about and asked me to do which is:
Chris, can you make a video on how to deal
with tough spectators?
So for those are you that are just tuning in right now,
when preforming magic, a lot of people like to give
magicians a hard time and not only because they're assholes,
but mainly just because they're skeptical.
Well, today I'm gonna give you five tips
and actual tricks that you can preform
to get rid of hecklers.
Let's get into it.
Alright, so tip number one and probably
one of my favorite tips.
Sorry, I gotta wrangle this beard every now and then.
I'm obviously due for another line up.
This thing is getting outta control.
Back on subject, so this is probably by far
one of my favorite of the five tips and tricks
because it's so direct, it's so funny.
You can do this to your friends,
you can do it to many different people,
but it's a very, very funny gag/actual trick
that works, that gets people on your side,
or if you're a heckler, it'll probably even
get them on your side or just make them
go away forever.
Gone, see ya later!
What you're going to do is you're going to force a card.
So using a classic force is the best way to do this.
If you're gonna use any other force.
As soon as the method is just a little bit fishy,
as a heckler, he's probably gonna call you out
on that and say, "Well can I shuffle the cards."
And that brings me to another point:
whenever the spectator says can I shuffle your cards,
say yes.
I mean, unless you're holding an invisible deck
or something really, really, like that they can't shuffle.
But if you're in like a special stack or order,
or you have a duplicate card on top, whatever,
yeah, let 'em shuffle it.
100% let him shuffle it, go into something else.
He's gonna remember that part and everybody else will
more than anything else.
He'll be like, "I shuffled the cards."
So change up the trick, do something else, alright?
Now for this card force, what you're gonna wanna do
is you're gonna wanna write the word asshole on the card.
Okay, mind you it doesn't have to be asshole,
it could just be jerk or it could be a message.
You could actually write something like,
"Hey man, could you let everyone else just enjoy
"the magic please?
"Thanks for understanding."
And leave that on a card, put that in your pocket,
in your breast pocket when you're out preforming
and when you get somebody like this,
just bring it into the deck, put it on top.
Boom, classic force.
And when he reads this, there's so many little things
you can do here.
So for instance, before I start the trick I say,
"You know every card represents people.
"So the card that you choose actually represents you.
"For instance, myself, If I were to choose a card,
"it might be something like the King of Hearts.
"'Cause I'm so damn charming.
"If you were to choose a card, it might be the Ace of Spades
"because reasons."
You see where I'm going with this, right?
You force the asshole card on this guy
and you say, okay can you please show everybody
what card that you got.
And then he shows everybody it says asshole.
Everybody laughs because they know that this guy's
been a nuisance the entire time, he wouldn't shut up.
They get the vibe that he's like not on your side
and no everybody's laughing at him.
He's either laughing at himself, which is probably
the case, or he's like, "I'm outta here."
Good riddance.
So that's tip number one, personally one of my favorites.
Go ahead and try it.
Get creative with it.
You can literally write anything you want.
If you want to deal with hecklers, forcing the card,
probably the best way to do it.
Number two, now this is something I actually
use all the time.
So if you're not in a position where you can write
something down on a card or you're just kinda caught
off-guard, you're not prepared, this is a great
way to really get a heckler and put him
back down in his place.
Sit down heckler, take some notes.
What you're gonna wanna do here is a double lift.
And before you start, you say, listen okay,
I see, and throw him a compliment,
I see that you've been very observant
and you caught me on two or three tricks.
You might make a good magician yourself,
but this one I really don't think you're gonna catch.
I really don't think you're gonna catch.
I want you to look very closely, and if you see
even the slightest thing, if you see like a little
discrepancy or anything fishy at all,
I want you to stop me, alright?
I want you to stop me and say, "Stop right there.
"You did something."
And I will stop because I am so confident
that you're not gonna get this trick.
At this point he's like, "Oh cool, this is a game now."
This is really what he wanted.
He wanted this to be a puzzle that he could figure out
anyways, he's not in it for the emotional ties
or the storyline.
He's in it figure out how the fuck you did the trick.
So let's give an opportunity to actually do that.
Now what you're gonna do is you're gonna wanna
do a double turnover.
Boom, and you show him the card.
Now this has to be a very clean double turnover.
This has to be the cleanest you've done all night.
You show him this card, you say, "Okay now watch the card
"carefully as I put it into the center of the deck."
Now you turn that card back over.
Now what you're gonna do is you're gonna do
the sloppiest second deal you've ever done.
You're literally got to push off the top card,
outta the way, grab the second card.
Now this has to be blatantly obvious
and you kinda do this in an action of,
okay I'm gonna grab the top card,
and as you say that, you grab the second one
and you put it in the middle.
Now as soon as you put it in the middle,
if he's the slightest bit attentive,
he's gonna be like, "whoa, you didn't take the top one,
"you took the second one."
At that point, I mean, this is like the greatest thing ever,
because all you have to do now is turn your hand over
and show him, oh no I didn't.
It's in the center, can we continue, can we go on?
Are you done now?
Are we good?
At that point, he's like.
(claps)
Slow clapping.
You got me, you got me.
Everybody else is like, "Aha, shut up Greg.
"You need to shut up.
"Fucking, Greg."
That was tip number two.
Tip number three: the hand to face gag
and this is actually pretty funny.
This can be done if you're on stage
or if you're a parlor or if you're in close up
and you have somebody who just won't shut up,
and normally when this person doesn't shut up,
the whole crowd, everybody around you feels that.
They're like, "Oh, fucking Greg.
"Just let him do the trick."
Greg's like acting out, he's like,
"Blah, blah, blah.
"Bleh, bleh, bleh."
Whatever hecklers do and you say,
"Oh wait, can I try something with you, Greg?"
"Can I try something?
"Could you hold your hand out, like this, flat.
"Perfect."
Gesture them to hold their hand out flat
and you say, "Could you lift it up here to the side of your,
"just like that, perfect.
"Okay, go like this and then push your face forward
"into your hand, just like that.
"Perfect.
"Now stay there, don't move.
"Moving on, let's go into the next trick."
And so this is just a really funny way
of making fun of this guy in front of everybody.
Now again, the type of magic that I preform
allows me to make fun of some people in a humorous way
and mostly the people involved, they usually
have a sense of humor.
They will be like, "Okay, you got me.
"Alright, funny guy, I'll shut up.
"I get it."
So the point isn't really to demean him
and mess him up mentally and emotionally.
The point is just to make him realize
how much of an asshole he is.
How much of an asshole he's being
in front of all of his friends when they're just
trying to enjoy some magic.
So that's tip number three: hand to mouth.
I thought that was pretty funny.
So the next one is a classic in magic.
This is like the classic bar bet trick
that you're going to preform.
Very, very simple, all you have to do is force
a card or peek a card.
I suggest forcing the card, just much easier.
Once the card is forced, you leave it back in the deck
and you ask them to shuffle up the deck.
Now they're gonna shuffle up the whole deck.
At this point they're like, "Whoa okay, hold on.
"I gotta choose a card and shuffle the deck?"
"That's incredible."
And you say, "Okay, I'm gonna do a bet with you.
"That I can find your card."
And at this point they're like, "Yeah, there's no way
"you're gonna find my card."
So what you're gonna wanna do is you're gonna wanna
start dealing face up, all of the cards.
You're gonna see their card eventually go by.
Boom, boom, boom.
Oh my God, their selection is there.
You know what?
Keep dealing cards face up, as if you missed it.
As if you messed up this trick.
And then you say to them, "You know what?
"I bet you the next card that I turn over
"is gonna be your card.
"In fact, if this is it.
"If the next card I turn over is your card,
"you need to walk away or just shut the fuck up.
"No, but seriously, the next card that I flip over,
"if that's your card, will that be impressive?
"Would you, Greg, be impressed?"
And Greg's like, "Heh, yeah it would be."
This is perfect.
And so you gesture flipping the next card,
but what you're actually gonna do
is you're gonna go through the pile of face up cards,
find Greg's card and flip it face down.
Now technically, you flipped over their card.
(clap)
Done, Greg.
You're out, peace.
Get the hell outta here.
Woo!
That was number four, tip number five.
Tip number five is actually a really good tip.
This is a great way to make them look
like they're crazy, it also makes them look
like they're purposely trying to sabotage your magic
in front of everybody, which is phenomenal
because at this point, everybody's gonna get that,
dude you're just literally being rude
to the magician for no reason.
You're doing it on purpose.
The magician is just trying to do his job
and you're doing it on purpose.
To get them feeling like that, this is what you do:
they choose a card, whatever it is,
you hold it up to them and then you say,
"Remember this card."
As I bring it back down, I'm gonna top change.
Boom.
And this has to be very seamless.
"Remember this card, the two of whatever, right?"
Boom, as I come over here, I'm gonna top change
and I'm gonna show the card to the other people.
"Can you guys remember to make sure he's not lying."
"Can you keep him honest, please, thank you.
"Put that back in the deck."
Alright, now at this point you're gonna read his mind
and you're gonna reveal the card that you showed
to the rest of the audience.
And you're gonna say, "You're thinking
"of the two of clubs, aren't you?"
And he's gonna go, "Uh no, it was a four of hearts."
"Really? Wasn't it two of clubs?"
Everybody's gonna be like, "Yeah, it was
"the two of clubs, Greg.
"What the hell's wrong with you?"
"He showed me the four of hearts."
I'm like, "Come on guys, can we just like get along?
"Can you just stop trying to sabotage my magic, please?"
That is a really good way as well.
So those are five really strong tips.
You guys better appreciate this because that's gold.
This is heckler magic heaven right now.
Use those five tips very wisely because they
can be absolutely powerful and help you out,
but they could also destroy you.
And what I mean by that is if you're dealing
with people in a certain way, use your own
personal judgment.
I have, through performance and through my character,
I have developed a way to do this and get away
with it and usually get the heckler on my side.
There are other people that I've seen,
this went horribly wrong and the just make
themselves look like an asshole in front of everybody.
That's not what you want as a preforming magician.
You want to be on everybody's side,
you want to be empathetic, you want to be humble
and as respectful as possible when doing this.
Somethings they get outta line,
this is how you deal with it, but use your own
personal judgment.
If you feel that at any point this isn't gonna work
or something else, sometimes just chalking it up
to a loss and sometimes just saying,
you know what, you win.
Good one.
Everybody laugh at me, fine.
It goes without saying, you should be able
to laugh at yourself before all.
So if someone says something clever about you,
if you don't have a response, sometimes the best
response is laughing as well and admitting,
yep, this is a funny guy, you're funny.
You done now, can we do magic?
There's no easy way about it.
There's no simple tricks.
These hacks, these sorta tricks should be able
to help you sometimes, but do preform them with caution,
as I mentioned.
Another just slight tip: hecklers are creative,
well sometimes they're just assholes,
but sometimes they're creative
because of the magic we preform.
If we preform it as a puzzle, nothing up my sleeve,
this, this, this.
Bam, look at that.
If that's presented in a way that has no context,
no story, no justification, no anything,
then it's gonna be a puzzle.
It's kinda like just a puzzle to them.
They're like, "Well how did he do that?
"Oh, I think he did it like this.
"Did you do it like this?"
And often we mistake those people
for hecklers or for the disruptful audience member,
but that's not the case.
They're just actual human beings trying
to figure something out that you presented to them.
Concentrate on your performance, concentrate,
make sure that what you're preforming
doesn't come off as a puzzle.
If it does, then it's there right to try and solve it.
Dropping knowledge on y'all today, like bam.
Alright guys, I think that about wraps it up
for this video, I hope you enjoyed this.
This is kinda, I like this video.
I like these kinds of videos because this is my element.
This is where I really thrive in performances
and I would love to get like a live performance
of me dealing with hecklers for you guys to see,
because it's not what you think.
It's not like, oh I'm destroying this guy
and they all like boo him.
They're like, "Boo, get the fuck outta here Greg.
"You suck."
You know, usually that guy ends up being my friend
at the end of this whole thing and he's usually
also genuinely interested in magic.
He'll be the one to come up to me afterwards
and be like, "Hey man, sorry I was a dick.
"You magic is really cool, I've always wanted
"to learn magic magic," etcetera.
So a lot of times, those people are just,
and sometimes it's because you're preforming
at like a function or a private party with all this staff.
The people already feel comfortably entitled that are there.
Well they're like, "Well this is my crew.
"This is my company, you know."
They're in charge.
So using your confidence and the way
that you preform, you need to turn that back around
on them and show them that, look I'm here to entertain
you, to have fun with you, I'm not here
to steal your job, or your girl.
Might steal your girl, though.
After you see these tricks.
Alright, so that's it.
Enough rambling, thank you so much
for watching once again.
Be sure to subscribe, if you're not subscribed already
for more of these tips, for more of these performance
things and let me know in the comments
what you thought about this and which trick
that you would actually go out and use
out of these five.
Share this video with your friends,
or don't or do it.
Do it.
And we'll see you next time on the next video.
Guys, I love you all.
Thank you so much for all the love
in the last video, by the way.
Appreciate it, we'll see you on the next one.
Peace.
(funky electronic music)