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Hello, My Name Is Francis McAllister, I am new to this forum.

I have been doing magic for four years now, and have grown and are now able to go out into the real world.

I have done several Street magic Videos some are seen on my webpage
www.francismcallister.tk

I really want to go out and perform for large groups, all seated, like a private show almost, around one hundred people. I have a table I call up spectators to show them my mentalism/close up.

Now I do not no where I could simply do this, where do i go? are there any good places you guys can mention, I know that is very hard because most of you don’t live where I do, I live in Edmonton Alberta, But I mean in General, places that are around the world. How Do I sign up for festivals, how do I get out there.

also What Material should I choose, Can Some Card Tricks Be ok for a large group, such as one hundred people or more?

Also how long, and how many tricks should I have in my routine,

I have trouble sorting out my routine, because here is the problem, everyday I go to school and someone wants to see new magic, its always show me another show me another, so i have to constantly change my tricks.

Now Should i have routines very almost every style because I love all of it.

Stage:

Impromptu:

Close up/ Walk around

Parlor

just please can you guys give me some advice, on how to get out there, thanks a lot

Mr_Mystery,
Your questions are in the minds of most everyone who starts out wanting to perform professionally. Many books have been written to answer your questions. There are no simple, short answers. The best thing you can do is find a qualified, experienced mentor. That person will help you discover when you are ready for professional performing and how to “break in” to the business. You can go it alone, but a mentor can save you a lot of time, money and disappointment.

Regards,
Gerald

Introduction

This essay was insipred by a question on TM last night about taking the magic to the public. I should say at the offset that this essay is just my view and based on my own experiences. You may not agree with all the points i make but i hope some of the material will prove useful.

Are You Really Ready?

This is not meant to be insulting but a friendly piece of advice. Many people try to run before they can walk. When you perform your first show you want to enjoy it and for it to go well. For this you need a solid act that is well rehearsed and with good patter. Do you know your effects well enough? the things you need to consider include "can i perform the trick while standing, talking to people etc". It is all well and good being in a nice warm bedroom performing a trick, but in the real World it is different.

Do you know what you are going to say to people. I firmly believe that having good patter is just as important as having a good effect. It is the little jokes and stories that help make the effect entertaining to the audience. So i assume by now you have practised your patter.

Are you confident? it takes a lot of guts to go up to strangers and perform magic for the first time. It really is harder than it looks. They do not know who you are. They will be a lot more judgemenal and harsh than family and friends will ever be.

'When can i start charging people for my act'. This is a real bug bear of mine. Too many people try to run before they can walk. Anybody can go into a magic shop, buy some tricks and call themselves a magician. Magic is not about tricks, it is about people and how you interact with them. You are an entertainer and need to make sure the audience have a good time. Never advertise your act until you have a full act that has been practised and you are confident with. A bad act could really affect later bookings if word gets round in your area. When you are at a booking you are doing so much more than magic. For example when you work a restaurant you are providing business for the owner, you help distract the customers if the meal is late etc.

This is why i believe that......

Your first real show should be for Family and Friends

This is because it gives you a chance to practise your act and patter under working conditions. Ask them to give honest views on what they think of the show. This will give you the much needed confidence when you come to perform for the public.

You could arrange a small dinner party for family / friends and be the after dinner entertainment. If you intend to perform close-up for the public this gives you valuable experience with working at a table. If you have a video camera i would get someone to film the show, you can then look back later and make notes. You will see what areas (if any) need improving. The other good reason to do this kind of show is that it gives you a chance to try out effects. You will find some just don't work in the real World, they may be boring or confusing to the audience.

Now to the act! You want to begin with a nice simple trick, one you are most confident with. It is good to do as this will relax you. I have been starting off with "It's a steal" (Martin Sanderson). A nice quick and snappy effect that gets people into the magic. Why do i do that trick? because it is quick, simple, entertaining and gets me ready for the complex stuff. It is good to start with something simple then the audience will be even more impressed when you perform the harder stuff. Remeber to have a little chat inbetween effects. Show an interest in the audience and they will do the same to you. Once you feel relaxed you can move onto your more advanced and involved work. You really need a good selection of material. I normally vary between card effects, coin, mentalism and maybe the odd prop. If you are performing card magic you really need a few tricks up your sleeve. Variety is the key here and will help you stand out from the other performers. I would not do the harder stuff first as you will be stressed if it goes wrong.

Do you have enough effects for a show, it is no good just doing the same 2 or 3 effects. So lets consider the various options:

1. A Cabaret Show: You should perform for about 45 minutes (an hour when you get more experienced). So the time you pick asistants, have a chat etc you should do 5 or 6 effects. Of course this depends on how complex and long the effects are. You may find you need more.

2. Table Hopping- I do about 15 minutes per table, so you will probably be doing 4 effects on average. Again you should have a little chat with the table during and between effects.

So before i go on to the next section here is your check list to see if you are ready:

1. I am confident with my effects and patter 2. I have enough effects to fill the time slot i will perform. 3. I know what patter to use and have some jokes to entertain the crowd (unless you are a serious magician)

Getting Work

Many people want to work in a bar or restaurant and who can blame them it is great fun. However, the first time can be stressful and harder than you think. The first thing i will say is please just don't walk into a bar and start performing magic Make sure you have the permision of the bar owner before you go ahead. There have been nasty incidents were people just go into bars and start performing magic.

If you drink in a local pub then have a chat with the landlord and see if he wants a free show one evening. Yes i did say FREE!, why? because this is your practise run and if it goes well you can charge the next time. If you get a booking for a free show then try to get a mid-week or Sunday night show, believe me when i say working a bar on a Friday and Saturday night can be very hectic. You really need good experience for this.

When you are 'working' your mind is racing all the time, you are constantly thinking about the effect, the patter, will someone try to grab the prop / deck etc. Choice of spectator is all important, i have a rule that i will never try to force someone to help if they do not want to. Some people are very shy and get stressed in such situations. So that is worth considering.

In the bar you will probably perform to groups for about 10-15 minutes. Now don't assume that the the music will be turned down! i have worked in places with music so loud people can hardly hear you. Also you may get asked to perform mix and mingle to the customers that are standing around the bar / club.

Now to Restaurants! the venue that needs the most consideration. Again if you know a SMALL local restaurant that needs some entertainment then see if they have a spare slot. But please do not ask TGI's on a Saturday night . The same time will apply to restaurants but you have a lot more to think about. Firstly you need to consider angles. If your effect is angle sensitive then you need to know where the tables are positioned. This may dictate what effects you perform on the night. The other thing is when to perform, i never disturb anyone when they are eating unless they ask. I simply move onto the next table and come back to them later.

Other thing is clothing! you need to be comfortable. These venues get really hot you know Find out what the dress code is for the venue. If a bar does not allow jeans they are unlikely to make an exception in the magicians case. I often get sent a dress code when some clients book me. You need somewhere to store props, so if you do not wear a jacket you may need a close-up case.

Someone asked if people are willing to pay attention in bars / clubs etc. This is all down to the venue. When i work them, it is normally advertised i am on. So when people enter the venue they know there is a magician on that night. It also depends on the people in the venue, you may get families, a bunch of Toffs or the local Hells Angels gang Each group of people will react different. The trick (no pun intended) is to try to get them to enjoy and join in.

People Approach

This may seem really obvious but you will be suprised how hard it can be. It is no good slowly walking up to a table / group and saying "erm... hi.. i .. am a magician". Be bold, friendly and confident! My opener is normally "Right! Good evening ladies! (pause) Good evening gentlemen! (pause) i am Stephen and i am the magician for tonight, Ok so who is going to be the first star of the show". A nice friendly replaxed approach will get people on your side.

I like to get to know some of the table so i also ask a few quick questions like name etc. It is good to get to know people

Advertising

Advertising is not as expensive as you think. Let's assume you have done a test show and it went well, the next step to think about is getting paid work. The cheapest places to advertise are the those free local papers you get on a Friday. The adverts normally only cost a few pound a week. You can also have a card in a newsagent, i used to do this all the time and got a lot of work in the early days.

A rather cheeky way of advertising for free is too find out if a local school or charity are having a fete and want some entertainment, sometimes a local press person is there taking photo's and you may get in the local paper

Conclusion

Yes i know, i have missed out a bunch of stuff but i am getting tired now and i hope i have covered the most common points. I could have gone on for longer but decided to stop there.

So in conclusion, be happy, be confident and have fun my friends and don't forget to tell us all how the first real show went .

I would also say don't try to spread yourself to thin, having lots of effects for lots of different shows can be expensive and will take a long time to perfect. You start start with one type of show, build it up to a good standard. Once this has been performed many times to a paying audience then think about adding an extra show.


Also see my post here

http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic12937.php&highlight=

First I want to congratulate you for willing to do this step into more professional/business oriented magic, but I will have to burst a few bubbles on the way...

First of all as I understand you are a student, I would guess in high school. and also of what I understand you do mostly close up and mentalisem which though being a great aspects of magic it is hard to make a big stage show with them (you are talking about a crowd of a 100 people or so, which maybe is not a full theater, but still is quite a big crowd to manage with close up magic (due to the fact it's rather hard for people to see most close up effects either standing up or especially near a table).
To be able to build a small show for that amount of people (and I'm talking about at least 20-30 minutes of performance) you need to take your experience in slights, and mentalism and convert it into something that can be done standing up to people that are several feet away, and also will be as interesting to them as it is to the "active" spectators you bring on to the stage.

That's the first point, the second point is that being a professional magician in your age is rather hard because though you are mature enough to have the experience and knowledge to perform, not all people take you seriously because of your age, which is a problem that may stop you from evolving into the more business and profitable side of magic.

I can tell from personal experience that I'm young too and I have only performed to a large scale audience twice, and both times were not very serious (the first time was a talent show on my school, that got me the first prize and then a city talent show that I got into because I won the school show, and I got 3rd place after getting beaten by some lame boy band and a blond chick that both sang and had giant tits at the same time). But I do make money out of magic by performing in kid shows, that ofc doesn't mean you have to go now and buy equipment and do kid shows, it means you need to find something that fits you, you can try to offer yourself to bars as a performer (if you have 18 or look old enough and can somehow fool them), you can offer your services to restaurants and do table hopping, you can try and keep up to date on talent shows coming up near you and perform in them (but ofc be prepared with a show that is oriented to large audience, don't try and do an ambitious card routine on a stage in front of 300 people that don't know what the hell you are doing there), you can go to markets or street festivals and do street magic (you won't get a lot of money but you will sure get a lot of experience), offer yourself for family occasions, they will be happy to give you some pocket money for performing on the next wedding/birthday/etc. you can offer yourself to your school for performing on the next party/celebration/ whatever. And basically every where that may need or can include a magic show in it.

Don't get down if you can't find any thing at first, just think of it as more time to practice, and just keep looking, you will find your brake eventually, but don't think it will all happen on itself or at once, you need to push yourself from the hobby side to the professional side. Don't go and invest all your money on expansive apparatus, invest it in learning how to take your skill and turn it into full ready routines, invest in business cards, I don't say go and buy a box of 3000 cards for a lot of money, I say design or have someone you know design for you, your own business card and find a print house that will make a small stock of them for a good price (100 cards for example should be more then enough to start with), you won't believe how much people will think more of you and your abilities when you present your own business card, and that 30-40 bucks you will spend on that, will book you more work then any magic apparatus you can buy for that some amount of money.

No one said it's going to be easy, but where there is a will there is a way.