talkmagic.co.uk

I like to have a goal and whilst I have no ambition to do magic for money the idea of ultimately performing for people outside of the family is appealing - and daunting.

The old people's home sounded like a great idea - may I ask - how many people have actually done that?

I did one gig for an old people's social club thing and it went down pretty well. As long as you are polite and speak loudly enough they will be delighted, it is a great confidence builder. As with any other venue you are likely to find the odd grumpy old dear but they are usually fairly easy to ignore or work around.

I work in old folks homes about once a month, but dont charge too much for them, as the residents will hardly understand what you are doing! and people dont want to pay for that

Archie wrote: performing for people outside of the family is appealing - and daunting.

When I was 15 an agent offerered me a gig and I looked in my diary and pretended to be booked already as I didn't think I could do it. he called again and I did the same.

My mum said why do you keep turning down work if you want to do this as a career, you have to get out there, so I took the next gig he offered me and I've never looked back since. Just jump in the deep end and enjoy the ride, you'll be suprised. once you get the first one out of the way you'll be fine.

about performing in old peoples homes, i need abit more advice before i go and do it liek what magic shall i perform. i know coins might be out of the question becasuse of there eye sight. some suggestions would be nice. but no fancy props or gimmicks that i will have to buy just tell me the names of the tricks. plz

and one more thing, what shall i do about the smell??????? nose peg????

Mate, you have just stereotyped all old folk.

they dont smell, and there eyesight isnt allways bad, its just that complicated things will confuse them.

boywonder wrote:its just that complicated things will confuse them.

As would be the same for most people, save Stephen Hawking.

Ben, if you were trying to be funny, it wasn't. Nuff said.

Thanks for sharing the experiences guys. I'm at least 6 months off doing this but as I said - I like to have a goal!

Have a look at http://www.online-visions.com/other/0501retirement.html for another view of performing in 'Retirement Homes'.

Very interesting link - thanks Mandrake.

I can't help but think trying to pronounce the guy's name would cause confusion to start with!

well. let sex sell the magic lol. it dos everything else. so u know. where something a little reveaing. will draw away a little attention from the hands. and grab their attention and lust lol. just kidding
yeah i know what you mean. id love to perform for lots of different people too. specially as theirs a family wedding comeing up.
are they any tell tale signs. anything that u watch out for. to determine whether or not to show some1 some magic. lol of course theres the obvious. like verbal abuse and them haveing a nice is a big giveaway. but id be interested to know. if any of u magicians have an tips or tricks on finding a great spectator(s) lol
Paul (disappears ina puff of smoke..cough)

nice link but yet again american uk bugets don't match american care homes.

old folks homes can be a hard avenue to get into but if you can and want to put in the effort doing some frebies then you can get a lot of regular bookings remember dispite all you hear to the contary the matron is the boss and she will dictate if you get rebooked.

Try this site: http://www.ianrowland.com/Start/Home.html
Go to "magicians only" and then click the "advice " button.

I give the old folk's homes a solid discount on my fee, because even in America these places are on a tight budget. They can only spend so much in entertainment and that allowance isn't real high. Most all of the entertainers that I know cut a good deal to the old folks homes. Really, if things work out properly, we are all headed there so we might as well sow a few good seeds in that area (karmic law being respected by even the less religious among us).

I'd like to deal with this, though (from the opening post):

...all they do is try to figure out how the tricks are done, or not follow instructions.

First, learn to routine your material. If you do three or four effects in a logical progression, your audience won't have time to figure out how you did what you did. By routining your material, the strength of the overall grouping of tricks rises exponentially, which is exactly what you want. You simply don't give your spectators the chance to question what you've done or how you've done it before you are onto the next part of your routine. Much like cups and balls - when one ball disappears then impossibly reappears under another cup, the human mind accepts the vanish no matter how implausable it is. If you simply stop at the vanish, though, it is then that the spectators try to figure out how you made the ball vanish. This is important psychology to study.

As far as your audience not being able to follow instructions, this is your fault not theirs. Your directions MUST be clear and concise. The wording of your instructions must be in simple english and easy to follow. Keep in mind, it isn't communication unless both parties involved understand exactly what is being said. So, when giving instructions, without being condescending, you must make them simple and easy to follow - as if you were working with a 5 or 6 year old.

Further, this is a matter of audience control. This comes with time and experience. So, when you are having a problem with your spectator not following your instruction, pay attention to where you are going wrong. Later, sit down and work out a different way of instructing your spectator. Write the instructions down and study this part, learning your direction word for word in necessary - yes, this is work. But, if you're not willing to put work into this, then you should avoid any trick that requires this kind of magician/spectator give and take.

Mike.