Handling Interruptions

I nodded patiently as I waited for the woman to finish her point.

She had interrupted my opening patter about a nonfiction subject in my teen library show, “Horror in the Library.”

“Yes,” I said, “that’s exactly right,” nodding again to her as I continued.

Over the last few months, I have noticed an inordinate number of people speaking up during my shows.

While I’m used to kids interrupting me during magic shows, teens and adults doing it is something different.

I chalk it up to my teen/adult shows being more intimate. Most of the time, there are only 15-20 people in the audience.

Maybe they feel like it’s a more informal situation>? I’m not sure.

But the lady at the aforementioned show wasn’t the only interruption I had to deal with.

One teen would loudly shout out whatever was on his mind during the show.

If something scary happened, he’d shout things like, “Wow! That scared me! Did you see how I jumped?”

I’m not sure if the kid was on the spectrum or not. Because most of his comments showed how much he was enjoying the show, I just let them go.

At another recent show, a teen kept telling me what I ‘should’ do after each effect.

He’d say things like, “You know what would be better? If you colored that [prop] red!”

Most of his comments were fairly nonsensical ramblings by a kid who thought he was funnier than he really was.

Then there are the kid shows.

A couple of days ago, I was doing a mind-reading effect for older kids at a Halloween show.

Before I got too far into the effect, one kid shouted that there were “cameras” which let me see what my volunteer was writing.

Interruptions from audience members are distracting. And hard to deal with during a live show.

But you can’t lose your cool.

The best way to handle these interruptions is with grace.

Here are a few techniques I’ve come up with over the years to deal with these interruptions…

• Agree with the person.

This is what I did with the person at the beginning of this newsletter.

I was setting up an effect by talking about premature burial.

I was just about to start talking about safety coffins when the person interrupting me said, “Oh! This is like those bells people would use in case someone woke up in their coffin!”

That’s when I agreed with her.

I thanked her for bringing it up, told her she was right, and continued with the routine.

Interruptions like this can be dicey.

On one hand, they throw off the dramatic build of your script.

But at the same time, it’s covering material you were getting to anyway, so no true harm was done.

By agreeing with the person, you give them their little moment, pivot, and continue with your script.

• Ignore the person

This is what I usually do with large audiences.

If a kid is being particularly obnoxious, I can usually keep right on going because I have the microphone and most of the power.

• Tell them you’ll be happy to answer any questions after the show.

I use this technique most often when dealing with kids incessantly raising their hands throughout the show.

Every once in a while, I will acknowledge them and ask what they want to say.

This is usually a bad move.

Most of the time the kid wants to tell a rambling story that goes nowhere.

“So I saw this musician one time who took out a carrot, but I don’t like carrots, and then he…

You get the idea. I look at the child and politely explain I’ll take questions after the show.

Then I avoid eye contact until, out of my peripheral vision, I can see the kid lower their hand.

• Politely listen for an opening to jump in.

This is mostly for small intimate shows. An adult will usually say something kinda sorta related to what I’m talking about.

I’ll let them say whatever they want to say, and at a natural breaking point, jump in, offer my own comments supporting whatever they said, and continue.

• Accept the interruption gracefully.

Sometimes nothing works. Sometimes you just have to let the person speak. Otherwise, you look like a jerk shutting the person out.

This happened to me at a recent Halloween show at a library.

I was about 15 minutes into the show. One 10-year-old girl, after helping out with the previous routine, sat down and suddenly started waving her hand in the air.

It was urgent, almost like she had to go potty or something.

I tried to ignore her, tried telling her we’d take questions after the show, but she kept her hand in the air.

“But I have to tell you this NOW!” she insisted.

Finally, with a sigh, I said, “What is it?”

She smiled and said, “I just HAVE to tell you, you are the BEST magician I have ever SEEN!”

I was truly touched. The audience, to their credit, responded with a heartfelt, “Awwwww!” and applauded.

I’m so glad I didn’t just harshly shut her down.

There you have it, a few simple ways to deal with audience members who interrupt you.


Have a great week!

--Cris

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