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A question to pretty much anyone on the forum.

Apart from performing at gigs,shows,for family or friends or just performing when your out on a night out with a few mates...do you ever just wander off into town on a weekend and perform magic to people in nightclubs or pubs etc on your own?

Occasionally when I'm out with my firends I will sometimes bring a few tricks with me for the smoking area or the bus home even.It normally goes down really really well and it's a ton of fun.Despite this even though I want to,I can never find it in myself to just drive into town on say a Friday or Saturday night while I'm doing nothing anyway to perform for people just for the fun and to break some new material in.

Does anyone do this?

Flood wrote:A question to pretty much anyone on the forum.

Apart from performing at gigs,shows,for family or friends or just performing when your out on a night out with a few mates...do you ever just wander off into town on a weekend and perform magic to people in nightclubs or pubs etc on your own?

Occasionally when I'm out with my firends I will sometimes bring a few tricks with me for the smoking area or the bus home even.It normally goes down really really well and it's a ton of fun.Despite this even though I want to,I can never find it in myself to just drive into town on say a Friday or Saturday night while I'm doing nothing anyway to perform for people just for the fun and to break some new material in.

Does anyone do this?

Since the decision to turn pro a couple of weeks ago, I go out on my own and perform at local bars and clubs every night.

If I'm not performing and handing out business cards, I'm not going to pay rent!

I would love to be able to perform for a wider audience, but I am not old enough to go to pubs etc and not experience enough to do all of that scary busking malarky.

Still, school is a great medium for magic.

Sorry, I just realised that this post is truly useless. Well, I've written it now, so I'll go ahead and press submit.

Interesting

Chris,it would be interesting to know who you target when you perform.I imagine if you were doing it from a business point of view then you would shy away from teens a little more perhaps and aim for the men in suits.

I was thinking of doing it for more fun than marketing but I'd bring my business cards out obviously.Do you hand them out to everyone or do you qualify certain people.Obviously you don't have to answer if you feel I'm asking too much but I tend to just give them to people who ask rather than throwing them around.

I have a firm rule; if they don't pay, I don't play.

To be honest, apart from a couple of shows at Christmas for my family in my early teens, I have never done magic without payment.

But I may be a bit unusual in that I neither perform or watch close-up.

Flood wrote:Interesting

Chris,it would be interesting to know who you target when you perform.I imagine if you were doing it from a business point of view then you would shy away from teens a little more perhaps and aim for the men in suits.

I was thinking of doing it for more fun than marketing but I'd bring my business cards out obviously.Do you hand them out to everyone or do you qualify certain people.Obviously you don't have to answer if you feel I'm asking too much but I tend to just give them to people who ask rather than throwing them around.

Differing from Tony, I perform both close up and stage.

In answer to your question in the day I'm at high class wine bars and cocktail bars getting gigs from the management.

In the evening I tackle either the owners of massive clubs (just bee talking to Oceana recently) and a local wine bar to where I live. The clientele that they have includes mainly rich people and owners of businesses - it's too expensive for students to frequent there.

Most of my gigs are now coming from there - includes now premiering players lounge, a bridal shop, as well as my gig last night.

The fact that I owe the owner a favour or two means that my performing free for him is, in a sense, paying off a moral debt. At the same time, I'm getting bookings.

In the last 2 weeks I've got a total of £2000 worth of work up until December from that wine bar alone.