Two Comedians: Part Two

Today I want to talk about a magic lesson from Bill Cosby.

“Ah, what is this, exactly? Some sort of roofie palming technique? A way to get quaaludes into someone’s sweet tea without them noticing? Excellent.”

No. Sorry. You’re going to have to manage that yourself.

This lesson can be found in Bill Cosby’s special, “Himself.”

It happens when he gets his first laugh of the show.

What does he do?

He reacts with surprise.

Like, “Oh… you’re laughing!”

It’s a reaction that tells the audience: “Your response has an effect on me.” And it’s especially effective when you acknowledge their first moment of reaction.

I think we sometimes forget this with magic.

We can encourage their reactions by letting their reactions affect us.

This is, of course, a life skill as well. People will be kinder to us if they see their kindness affects us. They’ll be more generous to us if they see their generosity affects us. They’ll laugh at our jokes if their laughter affects us.

Don’t take their reaction for granted. And don’t be in such a hurry to rush to the climax of your coin routine, that you don’t take time to acknowledge their response to the first coin vanish.

I’ve seen magicians actually stop people from reacting so that they can move on with their routine. I’ve also seen magicians completely ignore audience’s responses. Like, “Yes, of course you’re amazed by this.”

All this does is train people that their reactions are irrelevant.

Don’t do that.

Be like Cosby.

(In this one, very specific, way.)