talkmagic.co.uk

I know a guy who does chidren's shows. For an extra fee of about 25 dollars he adds his 'safety show' to the act, and for 75 dollars he brings his spider monkey and does an extra 45 minutes including time for the kids to interact with the monkey, ties balloons and does some specialty stuff for the birthday child. In all it is a package of about 450 dollars or so. His cheapest package is 45 minutes of magic, and 15 minutes of balloon tying and is probably about 150 dollars, (not sure of the exact price). In the end it doesn't matter what package the client buys, he stays longer, he always brings the spider monkey, he always includes his 'safety' message and he always has a special gift for the birthday child and little magic wand certificates, (official I am a magicians assistant) for each child.

He explains that he had a show previously so he already had the monkey and this is his last show of the day (or he doesn't have another booked) so staying a little longer is not a problem.

He always gives more, he is a full time pro and he is always booked. And while he doesn't get a lot of offers for the 450 dollar package he usually makes about 250 per show childrens show. That is 8ish kids and a few adults. He makes a lot more performing at schools, (his specialty) childrens camps, etc.

Point is, never sell yourself short, always give more than they paid for, always leave them wanting more.

Ive been away so not seen this thread,

But firstly.

Eshly well done on going out and finding somewhere. It takes a lot of guts which many 'magicians and mentalists' never seem to find, preferring instead of offer advice from their armchairs !

As for fees.

Well I personally in the area in which I live for a first 'gig' so to speak would have been happy with what you asked. But thats me, and certainly wouldnt be undercutting any other magi in this area as there are none lol. Trust me readers earn a pittance too so magi stand little chance lol.

Anyways back to my point.

You have come on here, again asked advice, received a lot of conflicting advice, (not right or wrong just different lol) and went out and actually listened and adapted !

Does it matter really if they do or don't get back to you ? At the end of the day you have listened to advice, made your own decision and acted on it.

That in itself shows you are growing and getting towards your goals


xxx

(ps i am rather rumed up, so i may retract anything ive put in the morning lol x)

My very first gig I got 40 quid for doing a 15-20 minute set. I don't do paid gigs that often, mostly because of time constraints and because I prefer a parlour-type setting (so a special booking of some sort is required) rather than walk-about. Saying that, I do about half an hour, but with a bit of banter and chatting involved, say 45 minutes, and last time I got £90, plus a couple of rounds of drinks bought for me.

Again though, because I like my parlour set up, with a little table to sit at with a nice cloth on it for card work and a few props dotted about, its a little different from resturaunt work. Certainly go for what you can get, highball them first and if you're too pricey, let them talk you down, haggle a bit. Obviously don't go "I want one MILLION dollars!", but start out at the high end of 250 or something, and dont be bullied to low by some shady resturaunt owner. Having good entertainment could make them a lot of money, so make em pay for it.

Also, business cards are a MUST. Learn a trick with them, that always helps (I got a rather good one from Lee Smith's eBook). The only reason I get any work is because people hand my card around. I don't really advertise, friends of friends give my card out, so yeah, get some printed and make them look nice, it's worth it.