Adage or epigram for something not working until someone else looks at it? [duplicate]

Solution 1:

The object being referred to can be personified as being stubborn - as if it doesn't want to 'play ball' with you (but will happily 'play ball' with someone else).

Solution 2:

I think what you are describing is a Reverse Froggy Evening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdq1qJkahDY

For reference :)

(Andrew's Suggestion) edit: In order to explain the Reverse Froggy Evening one must understand the phrase Froggy Evening which is derived from the animated short from 1955 of the title name "One Froggy Evening." This film which has been compared to Citizen Kane by Steven Spielberg tells the story of a construction worker who discovers a frog in a box in the foundation of a building being torn down.

The worker finds to his amazement that the frog sings and dances, the construction worker aspires to use the frogs talent to earn wealth and fame. However, in a surprise twist the frog refuses to perform for anyone else except the construction worker leading to terrible consequences for the worker when the people he interacts with and society at large refuse to believe his claim (look up Occam's Razor for possible motivations of disbelief by the other characters in the film).

From this we get the concept of a Froggy Evening, which is that something will only work for a single person and also when no one else is looking. Note that this is less restrictive than the phrase/concept of the Invisible Boy which is derived from the movie "Mystery Men" in which the hero is only able to utilizes his superpower of invisibility when no one else is looking (Froggy Evening) and when he himself is not looking (added restriction).

A Reverse Froggy Evening is when something doesn't work for a single person but will work for others. This is similar to the Indiana Religious Freedom Law that allows discrimination against the LGBT community, but differs in that a minority of people is unable to get something to work (the constitution + human rights), whereas in a Reverse Froggy Evening only one person is unable to get something to work.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Froggy_Evening

http://mysterymen.wikia.com/wiki/Invisible_Boy

https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2015/bills/senate/568

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor