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I want to start doing my close-up magic, in a restaurant or a bar, hopefully...it'll lead to some bookings for my platform shows, if not...still good experience.
Just some quick questions, about
What sort of venue i should be looking at?
How much should i be expecting to get paid? (not working for tips, see)
How should i approach this with the owner? Should i prepare a package, or just go in and show him what i can do?
Any other advice?

I'll check back...In case i think anything, else to ask or add.
Hope you can help, a little.
Ed.

pm magic mark he should have some tips for you.

PMed you m8

Right, ive had a lot of requests for advice, so what i plan to do is write out Magic Marks Complete guide to Table Magic!

I will hopefully post this today or tomorrow

Yeehee! Sounds great mark!

Kati

Right, here we go!

Restaurant magic is great fun, but choose your venues wisely, the last place you want to be working is a roudy bar where they wont appreciate what you are doing for them, for this reason, i work in a few upmarket places, NOT the likes of a weatherspoons.

Dont offer to work for tips, you are your own boss and therefore have a right to get paid for what you do, i undercharge for restaurant work because of my age, i know i have just as much and in some cases more experiences than other restaurant workers, my fee is £50 for 1 hour, £80 for 2 hours. This is a great price, and 9 out of 10 times they will want you for 2 hours, because effectively they are getting a little bit of a freebie by having 2 hours, and when i get booked for 2 hours, i take it easy, i know i can cover the whole restaurant in 1 hour if i put my mind to it, but im not always in a total work mood if you know what i mean, so i take it easy over 2 hours.

To get the work, what i do is ring the local restaurants that i know get a lot of business, its not worth ringing the really small restaurants, because they may only just make enough to break even for the night so they dont want to be hiring a magician. When i ring the restaurants i tell them of my experience and i say "would you be interested in meeting for a demonstration of my skills?" this is the best thing to say, because if they arent too sure about hiring a magician, they can see what you can do, and also, they will invite you in so that they can have a private magic show!

Also, a great thing to do is to make yorself known to hotels in your area, not the tiny little ones, but the ones that have weddings and other functions, because the chances are that you will get lots of work through one place, i am lucky enough to work for 3 restaurants and 2 hotels, PLENTY to keep me going.

Another less important thing, if you get asked to work at a massive corporate dinner, beef up your fees, if a massive company asks you to work for them and you charge for example £50 for 2 hours, they will think that this guy isnt that good because hes charging next to nothing, remember, these companies are worth LOTS of money and are willing to pay for quality.

When you do get asked to go and perform in the restaurant for their diners, hygene and presence is of VERY high importance. As you all know, the main problem to contend with as a teenager is spots. Luckily, i am very lucky not to get spots constantly, i only get the odd one every now and then (normally when im taking a girl out ) so it is very important to make sure your face is as clear as possible, also, dont leave unwanted facial hair on your face, mkae sure you have a clean shave and everything is nice and trim. Also, make sure your hair looks good, not OTT, but casual. Whack a bit of hair gel in like i do so, this shows your emploer that you are willing to put the time in to make a good impression.

Another important part is what you wear. If it is a formal dining occasion, i will go in my DJ, with my black trouders with a satin stripe on them, winged shirt and a bow tie. If its a lot more "low key", then i wear my DJ with just a normal shirt, normal black trousers and a neck tie. If it is a casual do, make sure you have a professional look about youself, i would wear my less dressy DJ, with a plain white long sleved Tshirt, best jeans and best "posh" trainers. Make sure you ask the organiser what type of event it is and enquire as to what the dress code is. If it is a casual situation and you turn up in your tails coat (LOL, i hate tails!) then you will stick out like a soar thumb, remember, its always best to ask!

When approaching people, its best not to go up to them just as their food arrives, they want to eat! I always approach a table as they sit down with a drink, this way i know i will have at least a few minutes without disturbance from waitresses etc. Also, its a good idea to get them as they are stood at the bar, its good fun because you can work for just one person if needs be, rather than a full table.

When i go round tables, i make a point of visiting them at least twice before they start their meal, but i never do more than 5 minutes in one go at any one table, unless i know that the table is very interested, giving great reactions, this way, other diners will hear whats going on and you will find that you dont have to approach the table, people ASK for you! At the table, dont do any more than 3 or 4 effects, this way you arent showing them too much stuff, this way they will ask you to come back and do some more, and never forget to take a few business cards and try to link them into a trick somehow. I produce a business card in the middle of an ACR, by wrapping the deck in an elastic band, shaking the deck and your business card appears on top of your hand secured in place by the band.

Anymore requests for advice? Im LOVING this!

Hope this helps you all, i dont think i have put info on every aspect down, but i will add to it as and when i think of stuff that should be down in writing.

Mark

Another good source for advice on restaurant magic is Jim Pace's Restaurant Workers Handbook. Wonderful book that covers every angle of restaurant work. It is, however, directed to an american audience so there are certain aspects you may wish to rethink, but then again anybody with a bit of common sense will realise what will work and what won't.

To be added tonight, hygene and presence whilst working!

Updated 15/4/05

Okies, Cheers so far Mark (really really helpful)
Just add to the Complete Guide to Restaurant work.
When is best to approach a table? (after they've ordered, while they are waiting for their food? - I'm not sure, if they've like got half a mouthful of something, while I'm trying to their attention, it's gonna be kinda weird - or is it??)
And How long to stay for at each table?
And If you know you want to approach the table, when they are at a certain point in their evening - do you go round the tables in a seemingly unorganised order - just whoever's free...or do you just start at one and and go left to right, for example?
Yeh...hope you can make sense of those there questions.

I normally do between 5 and 10 minutes at a table. It all depends on how long you have been booked for and the number of tables. Some of clients like to be entertained between courses while other bookings want me to wait until after dinner has been finished.

i wonder how many tricks i have to know if i want to work at the restaurant? probably tons....right?? that's what i am worrying about..since i am not good at magic now..(card, coin, close up..etc..) i am still practicing 2 hours a day...but i really want to work at the restaurant..
i mean..do i have to professional??

I'm not a restaurant worker, but according to what I have heard:

You'll need eight-ish tricks: two (maybe three) 3 - 4 minute performances and one "backup" (which you use in case, say, the management calls on you to do a special table like a business meeting). Remember, you are going to be repeating the same few routines over and over.

These routines, however, have to be good. They need to be angleproof, you need to do them on very little, if any, table space, you need to be able to do them in your sleep, and you need outs (say someone spots a double, or forgets their card). They should also be strong...I mean, it's a bit pointless just doing a bog-standard ace assembly. Color changes, visual vanishes...things like that.

Note: I'm not a restaurant guy, so don't put too much faith in this . You could ask one of the professionals here...

Anyway, it's past my bedtime .

Night all.

Kati

i'd sugest :-

haunted key.
stripper deck.
ID.
wonder lock and keys.

magicdiscoman wrote:haunted key

You really love the haunted key .

The ID is excellent as an out, like so:

1. They pick a card and secretly bury it in the deck, then shuffle until the cards have degenerated into their component atoms.

2. You perform the triple spin swivel sybil super s... 180 mid air 360 3.1415962 flip spin spread flourish, and...

3. Turn over their card.

4. It's wrong.

5. "So what was you card then?"
"The 8H."
"8H?!"
"Yes."
"You see, I knew all along you were going to pick the 8H. I was just increasing the suspense a little. See, in this deck I have one card reversed. It's the 8H!"

6. Spectator faints and grabs the deck.

7. Tug of war because the ID is not remotely examinable.

8. OK, I'll stop.

9. Kati