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Hi everyone, for the past month I’ve sat and studied a lot of the posts that involve the subjects of; Finding work, Table-hopping, Performing to the public and Treating your talent as a business etc. And I thank all of the people who posted them because they have been a great help thank you.

So in the past month I’ve posted my details on magician directories, got some business cards printed and my MySpace page is now complete. Along with this, I spent several days hard work walking around Sunderland and Newcastle going bar to bar, restaurant to restaurant and handed letters/flyers out to the managers. And with this work I eventually landed myself a few hours work in two establishments, offered three bookings for the very near future but I now find myself in quite a ditch.

I’m an eighteen year old drama student that wants to use my performing to make a little money on the side. Like many other entertainers I would prefer to be performing my brand of magic then working at my local Tesco. I’ve decided the only way I can really do this is by; Firstly, carrying on with my promotional side of things and not to stop handing out letters/cards or advertisements and secondly to perform charity events to hone my skills and to improve while not getting paid.

I’m basically asking for advice from anyone! If anybody has advice for how to get these sort of gigs [like hospitals] or how to approach them. Thanks lot for your time and hope yous all can help.

When it comes to hospitals you should ask the clerk of the ward so for instance the paediatrics clerk. You should be prepared to undergo an enhanced CRB check in this scenario though. [EDIT: If you want to work several wards then contact the Head Administrator or the Head of Occupational Therapy as they can advise as to where you will fit best]

With hospitals you get a chance to effectively table hop only it's beds and you will brighten up what is likely an otherwise dull day for the patients. Make sure you communicate with the ward clerk/manager at all times about who to avoid and to organise the frequency with which you will visit the ward. NEVER expect any financial gain from this though or indeed any other charity work, you should only be seeking to gain performance experience really.

Sometimes you may be able to earn as charities may pay you but this is very much case by case so again don't expect it.

When it comes to charities there is an organisation called the Charities Commission with whom ALL charities must be registered. If you contact them they can advise you of the charities in your area and then you can send letters to those that interest you.

I do quite a bit of charity work - mainly with the organising.

Find yourself a charity event that is being advertised locally and approach them to offer your services. It is very unlikely they will turn down someone who is volunteering to work for free at a fundraiser if there is an opportunity to use you.

Even with those two replies that’s a great help thank you. I’m acting on what you said already haha. One more question guys, from your replies it’s obvious you’ve performed at these sorts of events before. But are they a good way of gaining experience etc and do you highly recommend them?

Any performance is a good way to improve - especially for your self confidence.

I do a freebie for a charity twice a year where I try out new stuff, or new versions of old stuff - and intersperse it with some old favourites.

If it all goes well, then the confidence soars, if mistakes happen, then it is an invaluable learning experience that will allow you to correct your errors and learn from the mistakes.

Totally Mental wrote:Any performance is a good way to improve - especially for your self confidence.

I do a freebie for a charity twice a year where I try out new stuff, or new versions of old stuff - and intersperse it with some old favourites.

If it all goes well, then the confidence soars, if mistakes happen, then it is an invaluable learning experience that will allow you to correct your errors and learn from the mistakes.

Without the fear that you didn't provide value for money as there was no money involved lol

They certainly will help you hone your performance & audience management. My first gig was a fully paid corporate which threw me right in at the deep end. Hopefully by doing the freebies you will gain confidence & maybe pickup a booking or two off the back of them.

I would watch out how 'On the side' you want to make this though. If you're making money then people will know you're making money if you know what I mean. Keep it above board.

Russ

contact local am dram societys. there going to be able to point you in the direction of local charities, who like to have something on, during a fish supper night, of a quiz evening.

Jordan C wrote:When it comes to hospitals you should ask the clerk of the ward so for instance the paediatrics clerk. You should be prepared to undergo an enhanced CRB check in this scenario though. [EDIT: If you want to work several wards then contact the Head Administrator or the Head of Occupational Therapy as they can advise as to where you will fit best]

This is something that I'm very interested in doing myself, however I was wondering how willing hospitals are to use you because of Infection Control? They are very strict about washing hands inbetween dealing with patients, so how does this affect your using cards, pens, pads of paper etc going from one bed to the next? Has anyone had problems with this in the past?

Also, I've read in other threads people recommending volunteering in Old Peoples Homes and I was wondering if mentalism works in those kinds of places? What I mean is, are the old folk alert enough to follow and understand a demonstration of 'mind control' or would it be a complete waste of time?

In the name of God don't do mentalism at seniors homes. You will kill them all off in one go. They will die of boredom.

The best thing is to do an old fashioned magic show. And make it tasteful. Old people do not approve of blue material or profanity. Neither do they appreciate insult humour or aggressive performing.


They are very concious of their dignity and should never be humiliated. And be careful about audience participation. Never get anyone up to help you. Instead use one of the staff. It is quite acceptable to go up to individual people in the audience and ask them to hold something or examine something or select a card. However bear in mind that they may feel slightly embarrassed since their physical abilities aren't what they were and they might drop something or not be able to write their name on a card or what have you.

Be tactful and smile all the time. They quite like calling out things en masse like magic words and so on.

Don't expect standing ovations. They would fall down if they tried it. And don't expect lots of noise and cheers either. You will get smiles and polite applause if you are lucky. You wouldn't feel like cheering either if your arthritis was making life a misery.

And treat them like adults. They will not be pleased if you treat them like children.

Challenging audiences but satisfying. Some of them just don't get much entertainment. You will doing them a good service and they will appreciate you very much. Your best applause will come up afterwards when they tell you how good you are.

They will be easy to book. You won't get much competion. Nobody wants to do them so you will be welcomed with open arms. Bear in mind however that their entertainment budget can be very low at times. This ain't the London Palladium.

Hi lukejohnson,

I just asked my wife about working in hospitals. She's matron of a local Community Hospital. She said she'd refuse because of the CRB issue and that ultimately, the decision would have to be passed up to higher management within the PCT who own and run the hospital. With the CRB issue - even if you have one that's up to date, as with most charities you volunteer for, unless they organise and request the check on you, then it's not valid for their purposes. I have been volunteering for years for various charities and none of them accept checks unless they instigate (and pay for) it. As most charities work with vulnerable groups of people, it's not really surprising they do this.

My wife did suggest you might get a better response from the people who run the children's wards in the local Acute Trust hospitals, providing the right procedures were followed to check you out.

Local schools? Organisers of village galas and fetes? We had our local village gala last week and it was chocka with charity stalls and there were some circus type performers there too. Local Chamber of Commerce? They will have lots of good contacts. Councils, community groups, Round Table, Freemasons. If nothing else, contacting these people and passing out your business cards will get your name known.

Good luck.

Wishmaster

Ok, thank you for your help Mark. Its something I would really like to do and it must be a lovely experience performing for that audience, but sadly I only present mentalism and I have no skills at other forms of magic. I did suspect it would not be entertaining for them but have been debating for some time whether an easy to follow mentalism show could work or not. I have thought about quick effects like an ID or an add a number, maybe even a Q&A whereby I reveal fond memories from their past. Obviously I don't want to bore or confuse them with the routines so I may have to abandon the idea all together.

Thanks for all your good tips.

Our local carers' support group has an annual Carers' Awareness Week, which culminates in a celebration day and sort of fair to give carers a fun free day out. There's information booths, a free lunch, and "pampering" activities like massage and colour analysis (what colour suits you best).

The thing is, last year there were also a couple of booths offering things like palmistry and card readings. These were absolutely booked solid, and I know a lot of people went away disappointed in not being able to get a reading.

Come to that, there was time enough for a brief stage performance or a bit of table-hopping for entertainment during the lunch.

You might want to check with local charities to see if they're planning any sort of special celebration or fund-raising day like this.

Penguin. I should work up a good visual magic act. I don't think mentalism is visual enough for seniors.
Apart from a few who suffer from Alzheimers or memory problems their brains can actually be quite sharp. Their bodies may be gone but their minds are still pretty good in a lot of cases. I just think their attention span wouldn't be strong enough for mentalism.

I suppose you could try it but I wouldn't do more than 20 minutes of mentalism for them and it should indeed be very easy to follow. And I don't think that any of the tricks should exceed three minutes in length. Of course that doesn't sound like most mentalists I know.

penguin wrote:Ok, thank you for your help Mark. Its something I would really like to do and it must be a lovely experience performing for that audience, but sadly I only present mentalism and I have no skills at other forms of magic. I did suspect it would not be entertaining for them but have been debating for some time whether an easy to follow mentalism show could work or not. I have thought about quick effects like an ID or an add a number, maybe even a Q&A whereby I reveal fond memories from their past. Obviously I don't want to bore or confuse them with the routines so I may have to abandon the idea all together.

Thanks for all your good tips.

Maybe try out a couple of simple card tricks....something I have found with grand paretns is that they love a little gamble......just in this case you provide some poker chips as money....

3 card monte......several possibilites to bet on plus visual when you say no look the ace is over here. (tip move the cards much slower).

I am sure you can find a couple of other card tricks that are easy to follow and maybe provide a small gambling aspect....

but thats just my opinion.