I worked a corporate banquet gig in December – it was a lot of fun, but it brought to my attention the fact that sometimes, even in the best, most professional environment, your working magician runs into issues from the least expected sources.
A DJ was hired for the banquet – playing music during the meal and dance music afterward, and so forth. I came out to do my show, and everything was moving along nicely until..
There’s a point where I have two volunteers on stage with me to examine the rope I use for the Mongolian Pop Knot – when I shoo’ed them away, the DJ brought up the theme from “The Price is Right”. Ok, that was amusing. I was suprised, but played off it and gave the DJ the universal “Ok bring it down now” hand gesture (hand up, palm facing DJ, fingers spread – bring hand down and close fingers). Thankfully, he got the cue.
So I’m ticking along with my show, and he brings up another sound clip. “Baby Got Back”.
?!?
Ok, I React In An Amusing Manner, stopping dead in my speil, and give the “Ok bring it down now” gesture. The audience laughs.
The DJ apparently took this as permission to just start throwing random sound clips at me. I fielded them, played off them, and completed my set. No harm, no foul.
(My wife had an observation: “Did you notice he didn’t start throwing sound clips at you until you had the audience’s full attention? I think he wasn’t happy that you had their focus…”)
Amusingly, people thought we had scripted all that out. The audience thought I had planned every sound interruption, every take, every gesture…. I’ve been doing this show for ten years, out at fairs and festivals where there are interruptions from every direction at random intervals. I knew I could handle this without turning around and bawling the DJ out in front of everyone. I’m a professional. And the audience never knew that the guy was being antagonistic or “helping” in the manner of an Obnoxious Volunteer.
… I’d say I won that round.
