talkmagic.co.uk

Hey,

Ok so, you will all agree that the hardest part of this career is getting everything perfect down to the last button in your presentation but once your satisfied that your ready for the meatier part of it and getting yourself gigs, then where does one start? I mean how do you get your 'first gig'? What are the twists a turns you have to go through to get into the profession properly?

Where do i start from here on out?

You've just got to start off slowly and don't expect too much too soon. Look for opportunities to perform and if people like your style then the word will spread.

Find a location, book it, promote yourself and take it from there.

I just started by showing people things at parties and then got invited to parties to show people things. It just starts to generate it's own momentum from there, but you must have something people want to see.

print some business cards and laminate them as they will last longer in the draw, expect to wait around 6 months for your cards to circulate and word of mouth to back them up before you start getting calls.

you can advertise yourself in the thomson local for free which is also online plus microsoft are now doing free comercial webspace and a site designer so set yourself up a page and stick that on your business cards.

next its time to do the whore bit, thats right you didn't read that wrong youv'e got to start selling your body.
in the pubs wilst having a drink with your mates practise with your cards or coins and wait to be asked to show a trick, if youv'e got good mates they can give you some american style reactions to hook genuine customers who will also ask to see a trick, thease you can give your cards to.

same thing for coffee shops, resturants, busses, cabbies and anyware you go just steer clear of phone boxes at the moment your reputations not that good yet.

wile at the local pub ,bar ,resturant ask the boss man / woman if they require someone to do some magic don't mention money , let them broke the subject if there interested, even if there not ask if you can leave them a card just incase someone asks for an entertainer most will be quite happy to take one.

find your target audience be it mothers with kids or business men with fat wallets and give your cards to them, be polite and open with them and persude them its for a future opertunity not a you will buy me now which will put them off.

I got my first (and so far only) paid gig through performing for people at the pub. I was doing a few tricks for a couple one night, I impressed them (obviously easy to impress) and they offered me a gig at their wedding.

I'm planning on performing my stand up act, when it's ready for free at places like hospices, the British Legion etc get myself seen and known. With any luck, paid would will follow from those.

Lady of Mystery wrote:I got my first (and so far only) paid gig through performing for people at the pub. I was doing a few tricks for a couple one night, I impressed them (obviously easy to impress) and they offered me a gig at their wedding.

I'm planning on performing my stand up act, when it's ready for free at places like hospices, the British Legion etc get myself seen and known. With any luck, paid would will follow from those.

Oh, you've just jogged my memory. This week's Japanorama on BBC3 has a long piece on Princess Tenko, the Japanese illusionist. She started out as a pop singer in the 80s, combining a bit of illusion with the singing to make a more visual show, but then gradually let the magic take over. She's one of the top earners in magic now.

I'm hardly "out there", but i've gone the quiet approach...

i have no business cards, no site, no nothing, except one contact e-mail address...all passed on via word of mouth...it started at a friend's cocktail party and has gone on from there...regular work...and i get wine too!

im lucky to be in a job were i work flexi-time, and the money is pretty good - so i dont have the pressure of being a proper working magic-type..

i would say though, approach a bar/resturant/wherever you feel comfortable, and approach the owner...perform a couple of things and maybe even offer to work for free for the first month...then re-negociate..

if worst comes to the worst, you get a months experience, which cant be sniffed at - can it...

isnt there a dvd out thats gotten good reviews? sanderson is it?

There is the Jailhouse Dvd which Dat reviewed which is mean't to be an excellent 'getting out there' type thing.

http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic15878. ... =jailhouse

I have recently done my first paid night, at a bar/restaurant that we frequent quite a bit.

We've sat with the owner on many occasions at the end of a night and I've done a few tricks for him, and it got to a point where every time I went in there he'd be asking me to show whoever he was with at the time a trick. This natural progression led to him asking me to do a couple of hours one friday night.. nothing too formal, but I did it and it was fantastic.

One thing it did teach me though is that I don't think I'm quite ready yet to be advertising myself, with all the pressure to be a success that that will bring. Like abraxus I'm going more for the slower, word of mouth route and hopefully it will build from there!

on average, i do a paid gig once a week, which suits me fine...

im never introduced as a magician or mentalist, or whatever label you wanna wear...only "oh so you're the guy so-and-so was talking about.."

i quite like being seen as a curiosity...

start slowly, make it as fun as possible i reckon, then start building it up..but do what suits you...performing on a massive stage would make me puke, but give me a table with a dozen people or so and its catnip to me...

do what fits in with who you are...take some of the pressure off so you can concentrate on performing..thats my tuppence worth...