The Different Types Of Spectators That Watch Close Up Magic
Slightly Unusual perform at over 3000 events a year. 70% of these bookings are for close up magic. It’s safe to say we perform for a lot of people and know more about the entertainment industry than most people do.
If you don’t know what close up magic is allow us to explain. Basically it’s magic that is performed close up, right in front of people’s eyes and in their hands. Close up magic is perfect for corporate events, weddings and private parties. It really gives people the WOW Factor and is a great conversation starter and ice breaker. A lot of clients book close up magic at the start of the event during the drinks reception. Other clients book close up magic throughout dinner. In this case the magician would go from group to group entertaining the whole table at once.
Anyway, over the last few years we have performed for hundreds of thousands of people. We have discovered there are certain types of people that will be in every audience no matter where in the world we are performing. In this blog we go through these different types of spectators. If you have watched close up magic before ask yourself if you can relate to any of these types of spectators!
There is always an alpha male in every group. This is the leader of the group and does not take well to the attention being on someone else. Typically the Alpha Male will do whatever they can to make sure the attention is on them. This includes trying to make the magician look silly, heckling, telling jokes. Basically anything that will pull the attention away from the performer and onto themselves. This key thing to understand about this type of person is that they are generally insecure and they act the way they do out of jealousy.
This type of person is normally in an analytical job such as engineers and researchers. They look at the performance of magic as a challenge, a puzzle that they need to work out. While everyone else is laughing and enjoying themselves they will remain completely stone faced. They will be deep in concentration desperately trying to work out how the magic is done. The only thing that will make them happy is being told how the trick they have just seen is done.
Everyone knows someone like this. It’s the person who thinks they are a stand up comedian and will tell jokes every second whether people want to hear the jokes or not. When they come face to face with a magician they look at it as their opportunity to show a professional entertainer how funny they are. Examples of these jokes would be “can you make my wife disappear”, “can you make yourself vanish” and “can you tell me the lottery numbers for this weekend”. Now these are jokes that every magician has heard a million times. However, they normally think that they are the first person to ever tell a joke like this. It can be hard to perform for a person like this as you have to stop every few seconds while they tell another joke!
This person loves watching magic so much that they absolutely lose their mind whenever anything magical takes place! If you thought the reactions to David Blaine were over the top this person takes things to a whole other level. They will typically swear A LOT, stand up and walk off unable to cope with what they are seeing. This type of person loves magic but needs to be careful when being a spectator as it can lead to a heart attack!
These types of spectators normally work in pairs! They will stand towards the back of a crowd whispering to each other constantly. They are discussing how they think the trick works and rather than waiting they will openly have a conversation mid performance. The key thing about the colour commentators is that they are rarely correct about method and generally annoy the other spectators that are trying to enjoy the show.
These people absolutely hate magic and everything about magic (including magicians). As soon as the magician approaches they will proudly announce that they hate magic. They will then do everything in their power to not watch the performance. In the past we have met people that will literally look in the opposite direction rather than watch the performance. Although this is extreme they will make it clear they have no interest in taking part and will normally sit playing with their phone until the performance is over. The key thing about these people is they are very rude! The others in their group will be having a great time while they try their hardest to not join in at all.
This person has been drinking excessively since the event started and is now completely and totally wasted! They can go in one of two directions. They can either turn into a hater or an over reactor depending on how they handle their drink. We have even had drunks decide that they love us and all they want to do is cuddle! It is almost impossible to perform magic to a drunk person because they don’t really have a clue about what's going on anyway!
This type of person has normally had a few drinks (although not as many as the drunk spectators). They have decided that they are absolutely head over heels in love with the magician and will do anything to get into their pants. This isn’t normally too bad with close up magic however, with stage magic this can be a massive issue. Our Managing Director Craig Petty was once left with his hands handcuffed between his legs on stage in front of a hundred women at a Hen Party. He was attempting an escape from the handcuffs when ten drunk women decided to climb on stage and take advantage of him while he was vulnerable. It’s an experience he will never forget!
This type of person has been learning magic as a hobby but thinks he is the greatest magician of all time. He will typically sit in the audience loudly explaining that he knows how the trick is done and that he does something similar. He will even go so far as to call out the names of moves that the performer is doing. Normally the other people in the group will know this person is an amateur magician. He typically acts like this to show his friends that he knows as much as the performer does and is just as good (if not better). People who understand about magic and do this to other performers are basically idiots. I know that comes across as harsh however, there is really no other way of describing a person like this other than a total idiot. Once again it comes across as being jealous that they weren’t booked for the event and someone else was.
So there you have it. A complete list of every type of spectator a close up magician could meet. The key thing to remember is that (other than the hater) every type of spectators loves watching magic. They may enjoy it in different ways (for example an analyst enjoys the performance because they enjoy the challenge of working the tricks out) however, they all enjoy the experience.
Do you recognise yourself on this list? What type of spectator are you? Have you seen us live? Have you met any of the spectators on this list? More importantly would you like the best magicians in the UK at your next event? Call us on 0333 301 3001 or click below and fill in the form. We will get back to you ASAP with a no obligation consultation.
