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I am sure that there are as many different rates of pay as there are different magicians out there - but I was wondering how much a magic working in; a restaurant / at a wedding / private party / corporate setting gets paid?

If you are a close up magician - how long is your routine and how often do you get to repeat it?

Do you charge an hourly rate - travel / mileage?

I am sure that there are as many different rates of pay as there are different magicians out there - but I was wondering how much a magic working in;

Firstly it has a lot to do with age, experience level, novelty and things such as winning competitions, etc.

a restaurant Average rate is $20-35.00 per hour depending on the location and type of establishment. The majority of first time gigs are typically tips and if you're lucky a free meal and sodas

at a wedding Depends on what you're doing; if you're strolling doing close-up we come back to what I said above. The typical working pros I know get a $300.00 up front base + $100.00+ after the first hour + expenses when applicable (that can be a tricky issue, be careful) If you're doing a platform show it depends on act content and if it's just you or an entire crew + livestock. A traditional dove & manip act should (if it's any good) see no less than $800.00 for local (home town) gigs... if you have won awards and have a sense of name recognition (with the non-magic side of things) that can go as high as $2,500.00... more if you are doing more time and include some larger illusions

private party $300.00 to $500.00 should be on par. Sadly, most magicians/variety performers settle for $75.00 to maybe $200.00 per gig (especially kiddie shows) which is outrageously low when you consider cost of living factors and how this is close to what we were getting paid back in the 1970s

corporate setting Again... experience, awards, age, what you do... when I was working tables at trade shows in the early 80s the average rate was $1,200.00 to $2,000.00 per 10-12 hour day + expenses. If I brought in the Illusions (typically 8+ 20 minute bits per day) it could exceed $20,000.00 if the client wanted tailored pieces that supported their name, logo and products.

If you are a close up magician - how long is your routine and how often do you get to repeat it?

Wisdom would have it that you are doing 5-10 minutes at each table and moving to the next. You want 3 completely different routines + a few "extra" bits for special situations (birthday's, engagements, etc.) as well as something special to do with the staff if you work the same gigs week after week. You will also want to "change up" the material about ever 8-12 weeks maybe sooner, due to repeat business and needing to deliver something fresh to such patrons. It keeps them talking in a good way about you.

Do you charge an hourly rate - travel / mileage?

I think I've covered most of that... travel time, etc. would only apply when you have to travel a significant distance or, such as when working with big props, transport and logistic fees come into play. I doubt you'll need to worry about such things just yet.

Though semi-retired I work primarily in the area I live in and charge no extra rate for transportation for the most part unless I have to travel more than an hour's time in distance. I do this for two reasons, the biggest being to detour folks from bringing me to locations outside my comfort zone... (long story) but the other reason is that my business focus is local... everything I've been working on centers on generating a new aspect of tourism to this region, not elsewhere... I no longer chase the dollar as it were.

Expenses can be the deciding factor on whether you get the booking or not.

Work out the area in which you are prepared to travel without charging for expenses. Most working magicians work this way unless someone specifically wants you and are further afield.

As said, this will be dependant on reputation, competition titles etc.

Many thanks for the information.

Give the Search function a try, rates of pay has been discussed many times before and there are many useful bits of info - somwhere!

very true and with all respect to craig but could someone in the uk break with tradition and take what craig said and put uk prices to it, just for clarification please.

This is one of the most honest posts on pay I have seen.

The rates are realistic so just knock 30% off to give yourself a UK price.

The rates quoted are what I would say the average magician can earn, some will be on less some a lot more as explained.

It all depends on the market you are in.

If you are working for the average working man then prices have got to be affordable, if its a blue chip company it does not mean you will get more unless the event and its requirements (your reputation) dictate.

When starting don't worry about price worry about developing your act, I assume you have a day job so you don't need to earn the going rate from your magic at the moment just go out and work as much as you can even for free, charge what you are happy with as your confidence and performance grows so will your prices.

Don't run before you can walk keep away from weddings etc until you are confident. Practice down the pub on strangers, if you can't do this because of confidence then your not ready yet.

Also don't devalue the market. The reason I say this is once you charge £100 for a wedding how do you justify charging £200 to someone who saw you there a year later when you feel that's what you should have been charging all along!

That said if you are happy to work for £100 then that's your decision.

As people have said, pricing is quite a difficult thing to put a figure to. A lot depends on the type of funtion and also where in the country you are. If I do a gig in London, I can get away with asking for a much higher rate than I can if I work in Kent for example. As a rough guide to you, when I price, if it's a Kent gig then once I've given a few 'discounts' for various things I aim for £75 to £100 per hour. If it's in London, as I said earlier then I'll go for a bit more.

Hah, the American forums are very secretive about saying how much they charge.


I've been working it out myself, since. If you do street magic for a year or two, charge what your best rate as far as tips go. That's my experience. I've topped $200/hr on the street (only twice. I've come close to that a handful of other times), so that's what I offer.

I've only gotten that a handful of other times. I've let them talk me down a bit, if I'm doing a repeat show, if it's a charity event, etc...

So, ask for what you think you're worth. If you've never done a show before, either hit the streets with your material, or join a party/entertainment business like Mad Science... You need experience before asking someone to pay you.