Know Your Audience

Your audience can be catorized into several types.
Learn how to recognize them and how to deal with them.


There are people who enjoy magic for the entertainment value.
They would rather not know how the magic is done.
They know that learning the secret would spoil the effect.
For these I say - Don't disappoint them
- give them the entertainment they enjoy

There are people who want to believe that it's real magic.
For these I say - Don't disappoint them either.
- make everything you do look like real magic
There are also people who don't like to be fooled.
- they MUST know how it's done.
- they'll burn holes in your hands with their eyes.
- they'll try not to blink for fear of missing the "trick"
For these I say - Be careful.
- don't embarrass them.
- don't call attention to them.
- don't try to fool them.
- avoid them if you can.
- be prepared - they come in all ages.
- learn to recognize these people immediately- and guide your performance around them.
And you also have the non-believers - the "I'm not interested" type.
- they think that magic is for children
- it's beneath the dignity of an adult to watch.
For these I say - Entertain the rest of the audience.
- You just may win these non-believers over with the entertainment.
Finally - there is one more type that you have to learn to deal with.

The heckler.
- they're jealous of the attention others are paying to you.
- they want the attention aimed at them.
- they'll try to expose you as a fraud
- that want to show everying that you can't do "real" magic.
- in order for them to have the spotlight on themselves, they need to bring you down.
For these I say - Play to the better side of your audience.
- Don't let the heckler pull you down to their level
- Don't let the heckler break your character.
- Focus your attention on the rest of the audience
- Focut your attention on your performance


Know your audience.
Learn what they like.
Give them what makes them happy.

It's part of being a Professional entertainer
Mysterio