Yea over on FCM (facebook magic page) we are discussing it and I guess one of the guys has tried getting a gig and the person said they would not even consider a magician because they needed something classier then that. Did not even give him a chance because magic and pranks are so close together now.
Well, there's been a stigma attached to magic for probably as long as there has been magic. I occasionally see it when I perform. For some, it's just that they have no interest whatsoever - something inside shuts down when magic is even mentioned. For others, they actually have religious objections to it. But there's also a category of person that's actively out to trip up the magician - some are simply hecklers but others will try to screw up a trick intentionally. I believe the issue for that type of person is that they like to be in control of their little world and/or like to be the star around which everything rotates. In extreme cases, it can even mess with their sense of reality and they can get nasty about it.
Fortunately, all those people tend to be in the minority. Most times, when I offer to show someone a trick and they're not otherwise busy, they appreciate it and are quite surprised. I do a three-trick set most of the time that lulls them into a false sense of security - it starts off looking like it might be corny, but the surprise at the end of the first trick blows them away. The second trick never fails to stun people - it's a variation of a trick Blaine did in his first TV special. The third trick takes them completely off-guard because it's not the usual trick - no one has to draw a card, the faces hardly even come into play, and they're doing oddball things like sitting on a stack of cards only to discover that I "added" cards to the pile while they sat on it, etc.
Assuming that the guy was in the former categories I mentioned, there's no convincing him so don't bother trying - it's his loss and that of his guests, not yours. But if the guy falls in the second category and just needs convincing that you're not simply some prankster run amok, perform an off-beat but totally "respectable" three-trick set like the one I use. It takes all of five to ten minutes and could be what puts you over the top if he was open to being convinced in the first place.
TL:DR - If they think magic is all pranks, show them they're wrong.
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