Footnote

One year I predicted the score of the Super Bowl for my friends at a Super Bowl party. I just used a variation of a headline prediction. It went well. They were generally impressed. But I've spoiled myself. Things "going well" and people being "generally impressed," is not really a win in my book. You see, it was a situation where some people were celebrating the outcome of the game and some people were bummed out about it. So to come in and be like, "Now let's see if my prediction was correct!" that didn't feel as natural as I like this sort of thing to be. When you think about it in your head you think, "Oh, this will be a cool climax for the night." But for the people who are really into the event/occasion, they're not really looking for you to "top" the evening for them.

That's why, as I wrote yesterday, you need to put thought into if injecting yourself into a special occasion is a good idea or not.

But there's something I didn't mention yesterday that you should also consider.

At a Super Bowl party the following year I performed a handful of tricks for people who were completely fascinated and really into it. I forget exactly what I did. I know I predicted the number of corn chips someone would take from a bowl (a la the Trick that Fooled Einstein). They were delighted by this nonsense.

Why did it go so well that year? Well, because I was performing for people at the event who didn't want to be there. I was showing stuff to significant others of the sports fans watching the game in the other room. They gave me their full attention and were totally happy for the distraction. 

This subset exists at almost every special occasion you can think of. Some people who got dragged to a party or some other function. Someone at a wedding who knows the bride and groom but literally no one else, and isn't particularly social. If you're really looking for more opportunities to perform, seek out these people. They're at the special event, but they actually fall into the first category mentioned yesterday. They're somewhere they don't necessarily want to be and they're looking for something to pass the time.

I try to have my eye out for these people in general. I recommend it. I've met a lot of great people (who are just maybe shy or not very social) by going up to someone standing alone at a party or a bar, stirring their drink and looking around. You are almost a hero to these people. You've saved them. And if you turn the conversation to magic they will prove to be a completely captive audience. And even if you don't, you've maybe made a new friend, or at least helped out a fellow human by reaching out to them when they were feeling alone or uncomfortable. That's no small thing.