Our art of magic certainly faces its share of challenges these days. But if you're a restaurant magician, I think the biggest obstacle is getting and keeping the attention of patrons who are glued to their smart phones. It's a phenomenon that I'm encountering more and more in my restaurant work - entire tables of people who are texting, playing games and watching movies, and even when they're watching my magic, they can't help but look at their phones when they receive another message.
In a recent article, the Los Angeles Times addressed such digital distractions in restaurants. Of course, the focus is on how restaurants are handling the problems and there's no mention of magic. But boy have I encountered these same distractions first hand. And I think it's getting worse. I've worked up some solutions to address these distractions. (Perhaps the subject of an upcoming article?)
"...restaurants are now forced to incorporate how to deal with them [smartphones] into the sequence of service and table maintenance," says Eric Rosenfeld in the article. Rosenfield is the general manager of a posh trattoria in Los Angeles that has begun offering diners plates to hold their phones.
You can read the article here.
More Reading
Tales From the Table - A Miracle Card Trick
Tales From the Table - Restaurant Magic
Restaurant Magic Reader by Jim Sisti
Comments
I have experienced this when entertaining children in a pizza parlor. There, the distraction wasn’t smartphones, but the parlor’s video games. if the futurist’s predictions are correct, then the problem is going to get even worse in the near future: Electronics getting even smaller, and videogames, augmented reality and virtual reality projected into people’s eyeglasses. Then they’ll never even need to set the digital distractions down.
Magic in restaurants and other such venues is DEAD! Tough love – but true – get over it. Get out now while you still can and there is nowhere for you to go.
Magic should be performed as an art fom in entertainment establishments – not greasy cheesy parlours picking up pre-chewed tips. There are loads and loads of venues around where people go to be specifically entertained and not play with their technology.
And remember – birds of a feather flock together – if you can’ beat em – join em. If you are not at a standard to perform in the myriad of estalishments that are crying out for rare talent then download lots of phone app ‘magic’ tricks. These are more suited to your restaurant target audiences than all thngs alian such as playing cards, coins, and such like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSrAJsWvEIc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQmz6Rbpnu0&feature=related
A solution (but not the answer)? Get two pulls and some of the more decent magic apps for your Apple iPhone, then use a pull to switch your marks mobile (cell) phone for yours, have fun, pull yours and switch theirs back in, hand it back – and walk away.
And now read, mark, and inwardly digest this.
“When I graduated from High School all I cared about was magic. I still didn’t feel I had the talent to be a professional magician, I couldn’t make a living as a birthday clown, and I didn’t have the money to open a magic store, so rather than play to cheesy audiences who were more interested in doing something else, I played fairs.
Teller and I have worked together since August of 1975. We played fairs, festivals, and small theatres for ten years and did fine.
We didn’t go on TV, we didn’t play Broadway, we didn’t make a movie, but in our first decade we made living wages, and we’re proud of that.
We hit New York City in 1985. Our show was off Broadway and before ya know it we were on ‘Late Night with David Letterman’ and ‘Saturday Night Live’.
After a few Lettermans, people on the street would say “Hi Teller”. I would say “Close – I’m Penn!”
(Penn Gillette)