Rude Magician
 

We hired Brian LaPalme to put on a magic show for our neighborhood social. About 40 people attended. He demanded that everyone leave their tables and move their chairs and gather around the very front of the room in front of him. Most everybody did as he asked, but because he felt that about 4 people didn't move close enough, he stated that if everybody did not move close to him, he would pack up and leave and not perform for us. We thought he was kidding. Well, he wasn't. We thought we did the best we could to meet his demand, but he didn't, so he packed up his stuff and left without performing his magic act. We were all left sitting in shock. He is the rudest, most offensive, disrespectful entertainer we had ever witnessed. Somebody as insolent as that should not be welcome anywhere in The Villages, and we highly recommend that nobody ever hire him. :mad:

Hard to do sleight of hand when people can view from different angles. He perhaps could have been a bit more polite but I can certainly see his issue. Hopefully, he learned something from this -- explain to whomever hires him that ALL members of the audience must be facing him.

Well, he did make good on the disappearing act. [emoji6]

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Our neighborhood group hired him last month also. We had 80 very impressed and happy people in the audience. His act was fantastic and we found him to be very polite and professional. Would suggest any group wanting one of the best magic acts anywhere, hire him. We have seen similar acts in Las Vegas and they were no more impressive than Brian. Remember, there are always at least two sides to every story. I would suspect the OP's group included some uncooperative people making it impossible to perform. You always can find the types that try to be smarter than the performer in any audience. We will hire him again!

Our group did what he asked; gathered around him. We only had 40 people, and nobody sat more than about 10 yards from him. Everybody cooperated. There is no way 80 people could have sat as close as our group did. And yet, his complaint was that we did not sit close enough for his act, so like a cry baby, he packed up and left without even starting his show. If you ask me, he is a sensitive, arrogant, and extremely rude spoil sport.

Our group did exactly as he asked. We crowed as close as the chairs would allow, so he should have had no issue. We are dumbfounded by his behavior. Obviously a few people had to be stuck a little farther back, but that wasn't good enough for him. What did he expect them to do? Sit on the shoulders of other people?