Harsh Truth

I saw this post on Facebook a few weeks ago.

I have bad news for you. Little kids aren’t “rough.” They’re just honest.

Adults also want to look in all the pockets and touch all the things as well, but they don’t do it. They’re too “kind.” So they just think, “Well, I’m sure if I looked in that pocket or touched that thing, I’d know what was going on.”

You vanish a coin, and the kid thinks, Did he put it in his pocket? And the kid says, “I think you put it in your pocket. Let me see in your pocket!”

You vanish a coin, and the adult thinks, Did he put it in his pocket? He probably did. Yes, of course he must have. And they never actually say anything.

Magicians, because they’re delusional. think the kid is being difficult, but that they fooled the adult. They didn’t. The adult is just being nice or doesn’t give enough of a shit to bother asking. They think they know the answer anyway. They don’t want to embarrass you.

When I took nominations for the The Worst All Time magic trick, I heard back from the creator of one of the tricks that got nominated. He told me that the issue that the person had with his trick wasn’t a real issue. He told me that he had performed the trick over 200 times and no one had ever mentioned it.

This is like the people I complained about in the No Questions post. When you ask these people, “Don’t people assume it’s a gimmicked deck?” Or, “Don’t people want to examine the book?” They say, “No one ever questions the deck.” “No one ever questions the book.”

This logic: “If no one openly questions something… they must not have any issue with it!”

Is the same as this logic: “I encountered 150 people today. None of them called me ugly. Therefore… I must be really attractive!”

The most productive way to deal with an audience’s doubts or questions is not to wait until they bring them up. Instead, consider the Easy Answers and think about which ones affect the tricks you’re showing them. Then do whatever you can to address those. These are the “Easy Answers” because all audiences have them at their disposal. If you don’t address the ones that apply to your trick, your trick is incomplete.

Don’t delude yourself.

Think of the facebook post that started off this post. The kids are “rough” because they want to check things out.

Kids are just really dumb adults… you don’t think adults want to check things out too?

A little kid waits outside an elevator door. The doors open and he sees this…

“Wow, you’re a fat one!” the kid says.

Why? Because the kid is a dolt who says whatever comes to his mind.

Not one in 1000 adults would say that when the elevator doors open. But a good percentage of them are thinking it.

To perform the strongest magic, you’re going to need to do some actual mindreading and not just wait for some uncouth imbecile to call you out on something.