talkmagic.co.uk

So I've been learning magic for about three years.

Up until now, my audience has been friends and family, and just recently I've been doing little bits and pieces for people at work to generally great reactions.

Now the friends and family HAVE to be nice to me , but the folks at work don't owe me anything. If anything, it's the kind of atmosphere where we go out of our way to wind each other up, so if they though they could expose me and make me look a fool, they would.

But they haven't, and it's given me a bit of confidence.

So now I'm now thinking about taking it to the public a little bit. I don't have any big ambitions for fortune and glory, I'd just like to be able to maybe entertain a few people and not have all the time I've spent learning go to waste.

But how do I go about doing this? I'm not ready to jump in at the deep end, but I won't ever will be unless I get some experience.

I can practice all I want in my bedroom, but I don't think I can truly find out what works and what doesn't until I get out there and do it. (you can have that one for innuendo bingo )

So I'd like to ask those of you who perform for real people on a regular basis, how did you go about gaining that experience? What's the step between the bedroom and a real deal gig?

I need a place to make my mistakes before I ask people to pay me for it.

I'm thinking mainly about doing walkaround by the way.

Cheers.

The only advice I can give you is to just go out and do it. I learnt more from the months I spent at my first regular table-hopping restaurant booking than I could have hoped to have learned sat at home. And the biggest thing you can hope to learn is how to deal with people and get them to like you. That's the real magic!

Of course I very casually say "my first regular table hopping booking". It took around 6 months of cold calling on restaurants and pubs before I landed the big fish, so the first test of how ready you are is to see how much dedication you have in getting that first regualr gig. There seems to be some kind of magical urban myth that goes along the lines of "when I'm ready to perform in public I'll go out and get myself a regular booking at a restaurant." Oh no you won't. Restaurants in the UK are not used to booking magicians. They will think you are an idiot. You have to convince them otherwise and show them how it makes business sense to book you.

A good market that is open to you here in the UK is the wedding market. However, again, you really, really have to be a good "people person", be very confident in your abilities, and not freak out at the thought of walking up to the top table and saying to the bride and groom (on the most important day of their lives thus far) "let me show you some magic."

I do a lot of work in the spook market which took me around 3 years of knocking on doors and talking to people before I got anywhere with it. In the meantime I did kids' shows (another market open to you, but by George, rather you than me!), had that regualr restaurant booking, and also did weddings every week. I still do the weddings and miss them when I'm not doing them. Saturday afternoon in the summer, driving down the M1 to a wedding somewhere - happy days!

So my biggest advice to you, and sorry for waffling on so long, is to go out and do it. But be aware that you will need to knock on many doors, email hundreds of people, and telephone just as many before anyone will say "okay then, see you Friday." And once you've got that first booking remember that you will have to walk up to that first table full of strangers, all of them chatting happily together, none of them expecting a magician, and you have to figure out how to turn that "a what? A magician??" grimace off their faces and turn in to a "wow, I actually like this guy" in 10 seconds flat.

Hope I haven't put you off!

EDIT: Just noticed in your post that you mention getting experience before asking to be paid. The only place I think that you'll get that is by working at old folks homes or something. Restaurants etc will probably expect you to be good enough to get paid before unleashing you on their customers - and quite rightly too. OAP homes however will book any old rubbish as long as it's cheap! My experience is that the old people will probably be asleep before, during, and after the show. But at least you'll be able to learn how to deal with the nerves and also it'll get you out the house and have you performing "in the wild". Believe it or not I used to charge OAP homes £10 a show. And even at that price one home ripped me off and never paid me. Sheesh.

I agree with Paul - get out there and do it but DON'T start with weddings unless it's a friend getting married who asks you.

The first wedding that I did as a paid gig was pretty daunting but I had loads of expereince under my belt, some good and some not so good which you still learn from.

Work some bars when you;re out with friends and you'll get noticed and get some general expereince at the same time to then build upon.

Though I can agree with what's been said, I will take the Devil's Advocate position here for a moment (does that surprise anyone?)

I honestly loathe the fact that so many hobbyists run out and take close-up dates at an eatery, hit up the wedding & event market, etc. and in most instances, under-cut the fees offered by the working pro and/or those striving to move in said direction. I know that most don't see themselves as trespassing into any kind of sacred space, but if you take a minute to ponder it, I believe you can see what said actions prove both, frustrating and a bit of a dichotomy; after all, we all need space to learn and the only way we can do that is be getting into the mix.

If you are a "kid" (15 and under) then the course is fairly simple; VOLUNTEER and do shows for scouting troops, senior homes, the children's ward at the local hospital, etc. Sure, birthday gigs are cool and everyone seems to love the idea of a kid doing kid shows... provided that kid knows how to manage the crowd... few do. That is why I stress the idea of doing volunteer service in the various areas noted as well as getting involved in regional talent shows [NOTE: You don't have to win, just get seen and get the stage time in.]

For those 16-25 there are a couple of routes to weigh starting with school sporting events, dances, etc. to working regional street fairs and festivals.

I can assure you, people aren't going to turn you away if you volunteer to do this sort of "busking" as it were and IF you have your hat it, the acquired funds are going to a local charity such as the Humane Society or School for the Deaf, etc.

I know these step courses sound a bit masturbatory but don't see it in the short sighted mode; rather, recognize the long term advantages these steps will bring to you. In both cases you find yourself building both, regional rapport as well as credibility, what some would call "Networking". But in giving so much of yourself "selflessly" you are endearing yourself to the community and I can assure you, it will pay off in the long run.

How can I claim that?

Sigfried & Roy are but one of the more recent demonstrations as to how this sort of selflessness pays. They did free public shows constantly when they first came into the U.S. and more so when they hit Vegas. They invested ten years of hard footwork and going hungry (quite literally at times) in order to become a part of the Las Vegas community. It is nearly the same exact formula that was used by Liberace, Elvis and even Wayne Newton when it came to making themselves icons of that city.

If you take an honest look at show biz history, you'll see this is a common "seed" no matter which field you wish to consider. More importantly, when times are down and life is filled with more and more sacrifice, the performers that contribute without asking are the ones that win the most. Just look at the career of Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Bing Crosby and all of the other heavy weights that gave their all to USO tours and fighting for this or that cause.

I do understand how offering your time and services for FREE can "hurt" any aspiring pros in your community but it actually hurts them less than it does going out doing a $50.00 birthday part or table magic for a local constabulary where your inexperience coupled with taking a fee, establishes a very fowl taste in the proprietors mind (the majority of the time) souring them on the idea of ever bringing a magician into their facilities again (I know this from experience, in that I've shown up on the coat tails of poor performers; often times drunks and womanizers that saw the place as their "hang-out" vs. a JOB. It's not easy to prove to the management that "no all magicians are alike")

If you work a place doing table magic for tips for the first year or two of your learning, you will do far less damage to the craft and ultimately gain more in way of experience and reputation. Too, should you see the opportunities presenting themselves, this is a far more practical spring board to work from, in launching your career... either in the next few years or on down the road when you've retired from that day job (which is quite common).

The moral of the story is, don't let your lust for money put you on unfair footing. Even if you are the only guy in town that does magic, be kind and graceful and let the money come on its own, not through immediate solicitation.

Hard to add to Craig's great post. For what it's worth, I've joined my local (well local 'ish') magic club and they often do charity events which is a great way of gaining experience so I would recommend doing this.

Craig.

Just go up to random groups of people in pubs or coffee bars and ask if they wanna see some magic. They say yes 90% of the time. People just love this sort of stuff!

Thanks for all the advice, it's good stuff.

I'm definitely interested in offering my services for free to charity events and the like, and it's one of the things I've been thinking about doing.

I work in the local press, and we've got lots of contacts with charity groups/ youth organisations etc. so it wouldn't be too hard to get in touch with these places.

Craig Browning wrote:The moral of the story is, don't let your lust for money put you on unfair footing.

I did say that I wasn't in this for the fortune and glory At the moment I'm just looking for a few outlets where I can get a bit of experience.

I'm 33 by the way. No Ellusionist kid

What might be good is if some of you wouldn't mind telling a few stories of your early 'gigs', whatever form they took, or what you do now on the day of a show. ie. what time do you turn up? Do you just wander to the first table and start? What's the etiquette?

I used to be in a band, so I know about carrying equipment in, soundchecking etc. What's the magic equivalent of this? What do you do before showtime? This is the stuff I'm really interested to know.

If there's any books or DVDs that deal with this sort of thing, let me know, but if you're happy to tell me some tales, I'd appreciate it.

Cheers.

double post.

My first ever booking was for a kid's show (I worked as a kid's magician for about a hour before I switched to adults). Goodness me, I cringe now. I turned up wearing a zoot suit and a fez and proceeded to limp through 20 minutes of "tricks" before realising that there was 40 minutes left of the booking and I had nowhere else to go with my act. So I uttered the immortal words, "Erm. Does anyone want to see any of my tricks again?" The dad asked me if I could do "the thing" with sponge balls. "No," I replied. He looked very disappointed. I really was rubbish but luckily everyone was too polite to complain.

The next day I learnt how to do balloon animals! Balloon animals are a wonderful way of padding out any show! I am now an expert at dogs, cats (same as dogs but with shorter legs and longer tails), swords, hats and giraffes. When pushed I can sometimes do a rabbit and will happily make a two balloon flower if asked nicely.

Balloons are the secret to a kids show!!! I find a great way to lengthen a routine is to award the assistant with a balloon made to music!

Harry Guinness wrote:Balloons are the secret to a kids show!!! I find a great way to lengthen a routine is to award the assistant with a balloon made to music!

There is actually a very easy and very funny way to turn making a balloon animal into a good 20 minute routine. First of all, much fun with balloon going down unexpectedly, then balloon shoots off around room, then pump up balloon but can't tie knot, then tie knot around finger, then announce "un-bent" balloon is a dog, then try making a dog but it all goes wrong with legs pointing upwards and head pointing downwards, then... oh well, you get the idea and could quite literally carry on for hours.

I started out by just doing magic around the pubs, I don't really like the idea of just going up to people, I find it very rude. I'd perform for my friends at the bar, during the trick I'd just look around for anyone else who seemed interested, there'd always be a few. Invite them over and perform for them, I'd carry on like that for an hour or so.

My first paid gig actually came from a couple I performed for in the bar one night, it turned out that they were getting married and being impressed by what I showed them, they asked if I'd perform at their wedding.

The wedding was a table hopping gig, I mainly performed cards and a few coin effects as that's all that I really knew back then.

The most important thing is to make sure you know what you're being booked for and get it in writing. It might sound obvious but a few months ago I was booked for two hours of table hopping during a meal, only to find out when I phoned to confirm the booking a couple of days before the event that they actually wanted me for an hour strolling at a champagne reception and an hour during the meal. I had three days to hash together a set for the first hour.

I always show up at the venue and hour before hand if possible, firstly it allows me time if I get stuck in traffic and secondly it gives me some time at the venue to check how the tables are laid out and to think about how to approach and the order to work the tables, it also gives me some time to chat with the waiting staff about how service works so that I don't end up getting caught at a table with the main meal shows up.

Thanks for your thoughts Lady of Mystery.

I also would never just wander up to a stranger in pub or whatever, it could all end in tears of you approach the wrong person.

I've heard that for table hopping type stuff, three or four effects per table is about the right number - do you people generally agree with this?

How many effects would you have ready per gig? Is it the same three or four for every table, or do you have a few mini sets prepared to mix and match from table to table?

I find that you want to be at a table for between 5 and 10 minutes, how many actual tricks that is depends on your routine. I have 5 different routines that I use for table hopping and it depends on the setting as to how many I use. If the room is very spaced out then there's not all that much chance of any of the other tables watching so you can get away with using 1 or 2 routines for the whole gig. If the tables are very close together then you could well find people for the other tables watching you performing at the tables around them. In that case I use 3 or 4 rountines and rotate through them.

Another thing to think about is the size of the tables, if the tables are very big then you may need to perform for one side of the table and then move to the other and perform again for the people there. Again, you'll need more routines in this case.

This is another good reason to get to the venus nice and early, so you can work out what you're going to perform.

I always take along 5 routines and then trim down to the minimum when I see the setting.

Is there a TM group meeting near you? Trot along there!

I've only made it to one meeting of the Manchester group so far (illness and various other interruptions always seem to turn up on meet days), but had loads of fun and mean to go again ASAP. Meeting, talking, and showing tricks to each other in the pub inevitably leads to people nearby asking to watch, and so it goes. It's not as scary as barging in on complete strangers. And you can do as much or as little performing as you feel up to, or just watch and learn from the others.

And you can always say to the people, "Lucky you! You've caught the local magic club on our day out." Which seems to break the ice, and the specs don't feel like they're being put on the spot or begged for tips.