I can’t even begin to enumerate how many times I’ve seen magicians shift the blame onto the audience when something goes wrong during a performance. It’s as if some performers believe they’re so skilled that any mistake must be the spectator’s fault. Maybe “they didn’t follow instructions,” or “they touched something they shouldn’t have.” Whatever the reason, it’s always their fault – never the magician’s.

I’ve even seen magicians avoid or criticize children, saying “they just don’t listen.” For me, that’s complete nonsense – and that’s putting it mildly.

My perspective is simple: if something goes wrong, it’s on me. As the performer, it’s my job to not just master the tricks, but to master the performance. If someone doesn’t follow my instructions, that means I wasn’t clear. If someone doesn’t understand what I’m asking, my communication wasn’t effective. If someone gets distracted, I wasn’t engaging enough. If kids behave like kids, that’s predictable – and it’s up to me to plan around that so they can still enjoy the magic

These are MY hurdles to overcome, not the audience’s.

When I first started performing professionally, I made a lot of mistakes – and that’s normal. Performing for real people is a world away from rehearsing in front of a mirror. But at first, I assumed the problem was the audience. When those same issues kept happening across different crowds, it hit me: the one constant was me. was the problem. So I made changes – big ones.

Unfortunately, a lot of magicians never reach that point. They cling to the belief that they’re flawless and that the audience is to blame. But if you never take responsibility, you never improve. Worse, that mindset starts to show. You can see it – the arrogance, the defensiveness, the negativity.

Through years of experience, I’ve developed two mental lists I take with me to every gig:

• List 1: All the magic I plan to perform.
• List 2: All the things I might say or do in response to different audience reactions, interruptions, or surprises.

That second list is crucial. It lets me respond spontaneously – or at least appear to – when a kid grabs a prop or a heckler speaks up. It helps me keep things controlled, light-hearted, and entertaining. For the audience, it’s all new. But for me, it’s something I’ve handled a hundred times before – and I’ve gotten better every time.

At the heart of it, accountability is probably the single most important trait a performer can develop. The audience follows your lead. It’s on you to guide them, connect with them, and adapt to them. Ever since I adopted that mindset, all those “audience issues” seemed to vanish…….

Like Magic!

Let’s connect to chat about how my act can make your next event fun, unique, and sure to get everyone talking!