My first restaurant gig

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My first restaurant gig

Postby taneous » May 3rd, '05, 14:50



I've been doing kid's shows for a while now, and then I occasionally have the chance to perform for adults in a more 'informal' kind of setting.
I was approached by a resturaunt on this weekend to perform once a week on a wednesday evening. I'm really excited at the oppurtunity and I think it'll open up a whole new side to my magic.
I start tommorow night - so wish me luck :)

The secret to a succesful rain dance is all about timing
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Postby bananafish » May 3rd, '05, 14:56

wow - way to go taneous! well done. of course we will be rooting for you. Its fun watching your career take off bit by bit - just think how far you have moved on...

again - well done. you are really making the magic happen.

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Postby Nairolf » May 3rd, '05, 15:02

Congratulations ! Hope everything goes well for you tomorrow.

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Postby Mandrake » May 3rd, '05, 15:14

Yaaaaaaay taneous! Actually, you don't need luck my friend, you got that booking through sheer ability and skill. Sincere congratulations, and I hope it all goes smoothly for you - as Bananafish says, we'll be rooting for you and looking forward to hearing how it all went. :D

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Postby dat8962 » May 3rd, '05, 18:56

I think the term is 'break a leg' and well done!!

Go in a positive frame of mind and you'll conquer all.

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Postby jbmagic » May 3rd, '05, 19:00

I think I can remember my first time, and although I was nervous, once I got going the nerves seemed to fade away.........I am sure you will do well and the best of luck...... :)

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Postby Magic_MockingBird » May 3rd, '05, 22:55

Good luck, Have fun and enjoy yourself.

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Postby jbmagic » May 4th, '05, 00:06

Magic_MockingBird wrote: enjoy yourself.


What a nice thing to say, I almost forgot to say it myself.....I think thats the most important thing....enjoy yourself, coz if your enjoying yourself, the audience are too! :)

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Postby MagicBill » May 4th, '05, 08:47

Yes, best of luck!

Quick gag that plays well for any signed card effects:

Once the spectator has signed their name on the card, look at it and proclaim that as they have effectively ruined your card, they do now owe you 5p. Inform them that it will be added to their bill - this gets a laugh! I have actually had people check their bill at the end of the night to see if 'ruined card - 5p' appears on it!

Enjoy the experience anyway.

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Postby kems » May 4th, '05, 08:59

Well done.....
time to update your profile ;)

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Postby MagicBill » May 4th, '05, 09:05

Moi?

:?

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Postby kems » May 4th, '05, 09:13

... no sorry, taneous! :)

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Postby MagicBill » May 4th, '05, 09:15

:lol:

Bit slow this morning!

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Postby taneous » May 5th, '05, 08:28

Well, as usual, thanks so much for the support and encouragement.
I think it went really well. I had a lot of fun and I think the restaurant customers did too. The manager seemed quite impressed and asked if I could please give them more of my details so that other restaurants in the franchise can use me - which I guess is a good sign. I performed a fork bend for him (which is probably the thing I do best) and that seemed to do the trick.

It was a combination of children and adults - so it was interesting. I gravitated to the kids - cos that was in my comfort zone. I started off a bit conservative - sponge balls, d'lite etc. but later in the evening I was having sword fights with kids with balloons and flowers. They also have a kid's section - which helps. When nothing was happening I could retreat there and still look busy.
For the adult I mainly did my rubber band routine and spoon bending - it was catchy because I had tables asking to have me specifically to see me twist a fork or bend a spoon.

Staying 'in character' was a bit tricky - because of the extremes of what I do - clown magic for kids and mentalism/pk stuff for adults, but I managed to somehow find a happy medium. I'll try and explain when I figure it out.

As for wp (my profile) - I've thought about it - does it count if I still have a day job? I guess even though I got paid (and I can see some nice opportunities financially) I guess the main reason I'm doing this is definitely because I really enjoy it and have loads of fun doing it. Getting paid is a nice bonus - but I guess in many ways I'm still a serious hobbyist ;)

The secret to a succesful rain dance is all about timing
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Postby Mandrake » May 5th, '05, 10:13

Pleased to hear it went well and is probably the start of something even more promising for you.

We'll have to invent a new category for you, how about WSP - Working Semi-Professional?

Last edited by Mandrake on May 5th, '05, 12:05, edited 1 time in total.
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