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I’ve stirred up some major interest with the general manager of a large chain of restaurants. He is very impressed with my magic and my table-hopping skills and is keen to get me working a couple of nights a week in some of his restaurants.

Only problem is (as always!) money. My rates are exceptionally good for the high standard of magic I perform. His restaurants are large and attract some very high profile customers, so I would be entertaining some influential people. I know my fees are very good, but I need the work and the exposure would be great. What do I do? Do I work for less or knock back the work?

He has seen me working and has witnessed the reactions I can generate. I have plenty of experience in the restaurant game and this could be a massive coup if I can get working for this chain. However, he has obviously gathered that I need the work through my persistence, so he knows he holds most of the cards (no pun intended!).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

If you want to start low you will find it very difficult to get the price up much later. One thing you can do is offer an introductory rate for a set period of time, as a taster so that you can show what magic can do for his restaurants. If you do this make sure the time period is defined and the price following that is also clear. Hopefully by the end of that period you will be holding far more of the cards.

Even with an introductory price you need to be careful not to go too low, you will lose his respect as a business man. I was sat down with one of the Managers of a restaurant that's part of a large group last week. We do this particular restaurant on a weekly basis but he also has a kids entertainer come in sometimes. He was telling us how cheap the guy was and laughing about it and telling us what an idiot the clown was. This part time entertainer had no respect from the manager because of his price, not a good situation to be in.

With our very first restaurant we quoted low and stayed for longer than we were being paid for. We have never been able to get this guy to pay significantly more than that first time.

I agree with Happy Toad. You need to be very carefull that you don't under sell yourself.

I don't see a problem with doing a fixed run of gigs at a discount price and then walk away if the money doesn't start going upwards once the trial period ends. If you're pulling in the business and the customers are returning because of you, then he won't want to lose the repeat business.

agreed with both, resturants as me you get throw out so easily.

I would agree with everyone else - you don't want to undersell yourself. At the end of the day, if he's seen you perform, he knows the quality of your act. If you were truly appalling, he wouldn't let you work in his restaurant even if you offered to do it for nothing!

Providing the rate's not too exhorbitant, a couple of quid here or there won't make a difference, and you should certainly price yourself so it is worth your while doing the work. Whilst it sounds a great opportunity, you can't do unless it's worth your while in the long term.

By going it at a very low rate, you risk losing his respect altogether. Be realistic, but it needs to work well for you too!

Just my thoughts on the matter!

Russ

I don't think that I know of any professional restaurant magicians that make their living off of the restaurants that they work for...

The entire reason to work in a restaurant is for exposure and building a client base, which you use to make real money.

The rule of thumb for restaurant work is that you charge the average cost of two meals per hour.

Mike.

You never mention tips in your post. Does the restaurant have some rule to prevent you from collecting tips? That was pretty much my main revenue from restaurant work back when I was working my way through school.

Hi Spellbinder,

I'm I'm afraid it's a cultural thing. A magician surviving on tips in the UK would quickly starve to death. I have a recedency with 10 restaraunts and the last time I was offered a tip was weeks ago by an American. You do get offered a drink but not money, we are just not a tipping culture. True enough I could get offered far more by angling for tips but even then it would be measly and that's not taking into account that Bill lives in Scotland