talkmagic.co.uk

Lomster... I think you'll find that most people were being protective more than anything else...

I just thought that there seemed to be a lack of encouragement there. I it's great that these lads have got out there and are doing what they love. It's got to be better than standing outside the Co-Op with a bottle of White Lightning.

I think they're brilliant for just having a go. I know poeple have concerns, to be honest I do too but this could be a brilliant oppotunity for them. I just thought that some of what was written was very negative, it'd be alot nicer if people were more positive towards them. You can tell them to be careful in a positive way.

Lady of Mystery wrote:I've only just come across this thread and I think that people have been quite horrible to these lads.
....

Don't forget this a UK based forum! What do you expect? Children are a nuisance
in this culture. A culture that is notorious for it treatment of kids. If you do not live here read the latest issue of the Time magazine. Or see how gifted kids with initiative and real guts are being treated here on TM.

I agree with Lady of Mystery: For all we know they could be brilliant,
and they've got real guts for getting out there and doing it. Seige suggests you got the booking because they wanted some kids entertainment. Please disregard his comments. You got the booking because you are good and impressed people. Well done,

Also the best of luck from me.

I am still trying to figure out if our budding superstars rented a stand at the wedding exhibition or if they just went down there on a fishing expedition.

In both cases they deserve credit for "get up and go". If the former even more so. This can be quite an expensive proposition.

Actually, you'll find that my comments were based on the fact that Tom specialises in children's entertainment.

But thanks for the unkind words.

oh come on, lets not all get bees in our bonnets. Lets just encourage a pair of up and comming, young magicians.

Seige i do not specialise in kids entertainment i just also do that. And we were not booked to entertain kids we are mainly dedicated to our close up stuff.

tomprocter92 wrote:Seige i do not specialise in kids entertainment i just also do that. And we were not booked to entertain kids we are mainly dedicated to our close up stuff.

Sorry, Tom, but that's the assumption I got from the fact that Children's entertainment had a dedicated link on your site...

http://www.tmmagic.co.uk/page4.htm

Yeah but so does close-up and Stage and Wedding's so you shouldnt make asumptions when you could and in this occassion are wrong.

Thank you Lady of Mystery for your support in this matter. At least someone has something positive to say.

I know I shouldn't but...

My only concern was for 14 & 15 year old lads working in a very grown up environment, on licensed premises, with what could be drunken adults. If they were my lads, I'd be encouraged by their get up & go but concerned about where they would be getting up & going to.

But as I said, none of my business.

Best of luck boys.

Don't worry Paul... I had the same thought.

I admire the boys for trying and fair play to them.

My initial thought—however—was that they were going to entertain the kids 0-16 year olds, as they were the bane of our own wedding, and they do get bored easily bless em.

Good luck Tom, and just don't get taken advantage of. I do hope you have good managers, your parents perhaps?

tomprocter92 wrote:Thank you Lady of Mystery for your support in this matter. At least someone has something positive to say.

Just a detail: If there are more than one kid do you given all the sweets to only one of them?
Adults like kids expects fairness, so in the future please remember to give credits in a fair and unbiased manner.

80-100 quid each for a days work though? i've read all the posts and i think getting prickly over genuine concern from two experienced pro's is maybe just overenthusiasm of youth...

they were only saying to you to be careful, and as is possible during weddings, for a scuffle to break out, or some huge drunk lump to find it funny to pick up your stuff and throw it...or even try the same to chairs at you...

it wasnt done in a "grown ups telling the kiddies off way"...if you re-read it and depersonalise it all, you'll see it was just people asking you to be careful, and not to get ripped off...

80 quid aint that much to entertain for a few hours really...get angry if you wish, but a hotel using you for that much, whilst playing up on your "brand" to gain interest...well...

make sure you charge more...and invest in shin guards and insure your props...

tomprocter92 wrote:At least someone has something positive to say.

Well to be honest, at the beginning of this thread everyone wished you the best of luck. Just because they weren't saying "Wow amazing, I'm sure you'll be exceptional and will get millions of bookings" doesn't mean that everyone was being horrible. I think that the fact that everyone kept their aprehensions to themselves showed that they were trying to be positive. Also, the first person to actually "properly" criticise you was Mr Wand who, as he said, earns the majority of his cash from doing weddings, so perhaps a little more attention could have been paid to his comments.
Now I understand that having your booking undermined because of your age (among other things) is a sensitive issue (I'm only 16 myself so I understand), but I do believe that these comments are well founded, and I'll tell a quick story to illustrate my point:
Up until late 2006, my parents owned a pub. It was BIG on food so it was always busy. Now we had that pub for 20 years, so I spent a hell of a lot of time there ( I lived there till i was 4). Now, as a consequence, I knew the all of the locals very well. I was always talking to people in the bar, and showing them effects, and table hopping. My father was always very supportive of my performing for groups of these people. However, there would come a time, Usually about 6 o clock ish where he would take me to one side and explain that I should stop as it was getting to a stage where people were starting to sit down for meals and begin to drink more. Because, at the end of the day, do you really want to be accosted by a 15 year old with cards/coins/spongeballs or whatever if you're having a night out?

My point is that if it wasn't wise for me to perform to people that I knew very well at that age,in my fathers own pub, it was out of the question for me to perform to strangers at that time of the evening. If I had been 18/19/20, and was table hopping then that wouldn't have been as much of a problem, as I would have been viewed as a man who you can't just brush off like you can a 14/15 year old. Also, people do go out to relax, and perhaps drink a bit more, and they don't want kids coming up to them (no matter how good you are) and performing, because many will see you as a nuisnace. I mean, many people will not want an adult magician performing to them, so to have a minor come up to them could provoke some unpleasant reactions (dependant on the amount of alcohol consumed usually!!).
Now I'm aware that a wedding is different to a pub. However, some basic facts are still present ie:
People are drinking
People are relaxing
People are behaving differently than they usually around their kids.

So briefly, no matter how much you don't like it, or no matter how wrong it is, age CAN be a barrier when it comes to this sort of th ing.

Now I hope that it went really well for you, and I really admire the drive that you possess. However, please try to understand the criticisms leveled at you as opposed to taking the " you're all nasty, at least someone has something positive to say" attitude. At the end of the day this is a large forum with many many members, some who have less experience than you and some who have umpteen times more experience than you, so you will have a variety of responses. Trust me, the way to go is to take the criticism and try to understand where people are coming from before posting back. After all many people are far more authorotative on this type of working than you or I. A typed response can sound very different than if it were said out loud due to the fact that type can't express emotion very well. That way, you will learn far more and benefit more from your time on the forum.