How to Deal with Hecklers!

How many times have you had to stop a performance in its tracks because someone decided to call you out on your double lift? Or maybe they kept asking to examine your props every 30 seconds? This week, magician Michael O’Brien explains the different types of hecklers out there and the best solutions for dealing with them! Check it out!

How to Deal with Hecklers!

Dealing with hecklers can sometimes be the worst part of any entertainers performance whether you are a comedian, magician, musician, etc. Hecklers can steal a show and stop it in its tracks, unless you know how to control them! This week we are going to take a look at the different types of hecklers out there, and the best ways to prevent them from ruining your show!
What are the different types of hecklers?

Believe it or not, hecklers come in many different types. In this episode we are going to cover the three most common ones.

1. The Show Stealer: This type of heckler tends to want to completely ruin the magicians show in an attempt to make themselves look “cool.” We don’t like being fooled, however some of us would rather ruin it for everyone else so that we do not look stupid in front of our friends or family. These are usually the worst kinds of hecklers because their sole purpose for existing is to completely destroy your show.
2. The Skeptic: The skeptic tends to be one to stop you every couple of seconds. “Is that really my card? Can I see the deck? Can i shuffle it first?” The skeptic usually does not believe “magic is real” and will try to get you to perform an effect under impossible conditions. The skeptic is not as bad as the show stealer, because they usually will allow you to continue your set, however will call you out on anything they see (or think they see.) 
3. The Curious One: Sometimes heckling is not intentional. Many times you will ask a spectator to place a card into the deck and they will naturally look at it first. They did not mean to ruin your trick, but their curiosity caused them to accidentally expose an effect or prevent the climax. The curious ones are the easiest types of hecklers to deal with because they usually genuinely want you to succeed, they just happen to accidentally ruin the show by not following directions or being genuinely curious about something.

How to Deal with Hecklers!
The moment you have been waiting for HOW TO DEAL WITH THESE NUMB SKULLS! The honest truth is that every situation and heckler is different. Think of heckling as a spectrum rather than a hard line. Some things work better than others, but I will give you some tools to combat hecklers in different situations and environments!

1. Do NOT Create Hecklers: What? You mean magicians can actually create hecklers? Yes. I have seen this all too often where a magician is really rude or challenging to a spectator, then gets angry when the spectator ruins the effect. Rather than challenging them, bring them along on the journey with you. I tend to have a very kind/polite character when performing and have this very non-confrontational approach to my magic. I invite my audience to come a long on a magical journey with me rather than show off my skill or challenge them to a game of “I bet you cannot figure this out!”
2. Ignore Them: Sometimes hecklers will yell something out to try to get you to mess up. Do not allow them to take away the attention and just keep on keeping on! They may get the hint that you are not amused and no one cares about what they have to say and stop heckling. This usually works well with a nice “stern look.” If they are a “Skeptic” usually they will get the hint that they need to chill out and will stop. “Show Stealers” typically will not stop. So how would we deal with this issue?
3. Get the Heckler Directly Involved: 99.99% of the time a “Show Stealer” literally just wants attention. Get them on your team and give them the spotlight for an effect. Let them shuffle the cards or pick one out. Let THEM do the magic. Honestly this approach will usually work and they even end up loving your magic at the end (sometimes even more than the others.)
4. Politely Ask Them to Stop: Sometimes they will not get your subtle hints and need to be told like a 5 year old to stop. Be very polite and professional when you do this. “Sir, the people are trying to enjoy the show. Can I please ask you to stop. If you like I will be happy to show you some more after the set is over and you can ask all the questions you like!” This usually works out if they just don’t get the hint because they now look like a jerk for ruining the show.
5. Threaten to End the Show/Stop Performing: If you have asked them to stop a couple times already, explain that you will have to end you show. Apologize to the rest of the audience and tell them that once the heckler leaves you will be happy to continue on. This will create an “us vs. them” situation and the audience will quickly turn on the heckler. They will be so embarrassed that they will leave. If they are not embarrassed, they will leave anyway because the show is over. Continue the show once the heckler is gone.
6. Destroy Them at Their Own Game: I personally do not ever do this (especially at a paid gig) but if you are quick witted and clever you may be able to make them look really stupid by one upping them at every step. They make a stupid comment, you one up them with one. They try to ruin your trick, you do a better one! Two great sources for dealing with this that come to mind are; “Read Between the Lines” by Gazzo and “Heckler” by Brian Tudor. Gazzo has some really clever one liners that you can use in almost any situation! Brian Tudor has created an awesome card effect specifically designed to make people look and feel stupid for heckling you.

​There are tons more ways to deal with hecklers, however I hope this gives you an idea on how to handle the different types out there! Please feel free to leave a comment below and let us know how YOU deal with hecklers and maybe we can learn something new as well!
Thank you for checking out this article!

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