Advice for my first magic gig?

mattjones

mattjones

Sep 1, 2007
494
0
on Theory11.
Hey guys,
Sorry if this has already been posted, but I searched the forums three times with no dice...
Anyway, I got my first gig! It's at a high school graduation party in early May, so I've got plenty of time to get some tricks together... The only thing is: I have NO IDEA what I'm gonna charge. I'm not sure how long the party is, but I'm gonna ask before it's too late. (I'm guessing a few hours...) My question(s) are-

How much do you guys charge when your doing a gig?
Do you charge by the hour?
If you guys wouldn't mind naming a few prices, I might can get an idea for where I want to start...

A side note (that might affect the prices you name): I would classify myself being an average-skilled magician. I do stuff like ACR, 2CM, Invisible Deck, Fraud, Sinful, Kaos (workin' on it), a sandwich effect of my own (based on Danny Garcia's White or Wheat), and a card to wallet routine... I know a lot of magic, but I just need to go in knowing what I'm gonna do.
I'm going to be prepared.

Any advice for a guy doing his first magic gig?

Thanks,
-Matt
 
MitchellStafiej

MitchellStafiej

Aug 31, 2007
1,889
0
33
Montreal, Quebec
www.MagicForDarfur.org
I assume this is going to be a walkaround gig right? Well, since it's your first gig, I would recommend doing it for free or a VERY low price. It's the experience that matters, NOT the money. When an inexperienced magician (I'm not saying you're inexperienced in magic, but in the paid performance field) performs for the first time at a party/gig it will be rather overwhelming trying to attend to all of the guests to perform magic. Therefore you may be sub par at the party... I would recommend to do this gig for free just to get the experience.

As for your tricks, I would definitely recommend expanding your repertoire beyond the list you have there. If the place that you are working at is filled with people, they will want to see you again, and again, and again. They will gather their friends to see you again, and again, and again. You should have such a large repertoire of tricks that nothing is repeated for the same person. You should also be prepared to change your routine ON THE SPOT.

Just some friendly advice. I hope I helped.

Mitch
 
A

Ampersan5340

Sep 2, 2007
297
0
my first gig was for the release of the last harry potter book, did magic for basically most of my friend's. Maybe that's why they gave me a 20$ gift certificate as payment, cheap *******'s.

Anyway, you should probably shouldn't ask for much because you don't want to screw up.

this gig should let you learn how to be a paid magician, how to do restaurant magic, walk around etc.

The thing's you do for these people you should remember for your next gig. what was good and bad, you forget the bad trick's that get bad reactions and remember the good trick's that get lot's of reaction's.

But everyone is diffrent, most important thing is too enjoy yourself.
 
Sam Hardy

Sam Hardy

Nov 30, 2007
682
1
Midlands, England
A gig is simply a place where one performs. Be it a magic performance, a musical performance, etc. There's often a moderately large audience (10+, i'd imagine).
 
mattjones

mattjones

Sep 1, 2007
494
0
on Theory11.
Alright, cool. I wasn't planning on charging a whole heap of money anyway, but I will definitely benefit from the whole expierience. I'll go ahead and take all of the advice so far and seriously work out some routines that will hopfully get some killer reactons. I've got a couple of videos of myself perfoming and I'm taking note of the best and worst of it and trying to get a PERFORMANCE. Usually I just do the trick without putting a whole lot of thought into presentaton, but I'm starting to sell the tricks a little more now. I've got a notepad in my room with routines and ideas for routines and possible new tricks.
Considering what you guys are saying, I'm just gonna work for tips only. I'm just pumped I get to go to a party and do some magic!

Note: As far as my repertoire goes, I've also got Digital Dissolve, Distortion, Control, and The Daniel Garcia Project. Needless to say, I've got the tricks, I just have some practicing to do.

Thanks for the advice so far... (more advice is welcome)
Keep it coming!
 
I

iq92

Oct 8, 2007
181
0
copperfield 14 said:
Alright I feel pretty stupid for saying this but my spanish teacher told me it. DOn't assume, it makes you an ass and me too.:(
Click to expand...

I feel a lot more stupid for saying this but i heard from a friend that it's supposed to be like "Don't assume, it makes an ASS out of U and ME" :p
peace

Anyway, congratulations on the gig. I've remember performing for my relatives at our Christmas party some time back and unfortunately for me, though it started out strong, I had to stop because I kinda ran out of tricks to perform. I didn't run out of tricks in the sense that i didn't know anything else to perform. It's just that I wasn't prepared to do over 5 tricks to the same spectators. I showed some tricks to some of them before but they were also present at that performance so i couldn't just repeat the trick.(Many of them were present there, about 20 or so) I didn't have the necessary props with me to go on further so i had to decline even though they wanted more. (actually, they always want more, they don't know when to stop) So i guess you have to be prepared for that, be ready to perform a lot of tricks for a lot of people. This is a gig we're talking about, it's in a much bigger scale than a party with your relatives.
 
S

Shodan

Sep 1, 2007
662
2
Advice?

Have fun! Take note of your mistakes, and make sure the next one is better. Don't charge any money for the gig, but think about what you'd like to get paid (an hourly rate) and askt he organisers to tell that to anyone who asks, as a favour to you.

You're going to make a whole bunch of mistakes, you're going to realise that your repertoire has gaps that you need to fill, be it tricks, routining, flexibility or practicality. Take note of these areas then work to fix them.

You have listed a whole bunch of standalone "tricks" - Ellusionist/Theory11 material. Two potential issues here are adapting to your audience and the age group you are likely goign to be performing for. Younger folks are more likely to have seen this stuff somewhere before and been inquisitive enough to youtube it. One person being very vocal about how your tricks are done can really take the wind out of your sails. If you know anything that's a little off this path that would be a good move.

Once again, have fun! If you're enjoying yourself your audience will too :)
 
mattjones

mattjones

Sep 1, 2007
494
0
on Theory11.
FliXeRoCk107 said:
I started this thread last week ago, and i got loads of helpful advice.

Felix
Click to expand...

Cool. I'm not insanely nervous- I feel like I can handle it.
I've already started practicing, and I'm planning on bringing the most tricks I've ever had on me at one time...
For sure tricks:
ACR
2CM
Sandwich Trick (Based on Danny Garcia's White or Wheat)
Trapped (Nicholas Einhorn's Encyclopedia of Magic)
Invisible Deck (Finale)
Ash on Arm
Stigmata
Here Then There
The Indicator (with 4 Aces revelation)
Face Value
Stained Skin (Queen of Spades) *need a blank red-backed bike deck*
Card to Mouth

Tricks that need work:
Digital Dissolve
Distortion
Control
Kaos (for sure gonna nail it down)
Fraud (definitely got that coming)
C.A.A.N
Scatter
Card to Spectators back pocket
Dan and Dave's Deja Vu
 
MitchellStafiej

MitchellStafiej

Aug 31, 2007
1,889
0
33
Montreal, Quebec
www.MagicForDarfur.org
mattjones said:
Cool. I'm not insanely nervous- I feel like I can handle it.
I've already started practicing, and I'm planning on bringing the most tricks I've ever had on me at one time...
For sure tricks:
ACR
2CM
Sandwich Trick (Based on Danny Garcia's White or Wheat)
Trapped (Nicholas Einhorn's Encyclopedia of Magic)
Invisible Deck (Finale)
Ash on Arm
Stigmata
Here Then There
The Indicator (with 4 Aces revelation)
Face Value
Stained Skin (Queen of Spades) *need a blank red-backed bike deck*
Card to Mouth

Tricks that need work:
Digital Dissolve
Distortion
Control
Kaos (for sure gonna nail it down)
Fraud (definitely got that coming)
C.A.A.N
Scatter
Card to Spectators back pocket
Dan and Dave's Deja Vu
Click to expand...
The thing about all of those tricks, is that they are almost all reveals. After performing reveal after reveal, it may get boring for your spectators. Try to mix it up a bit :).

Don't worry though, you'll do just fine! :)

Mitch
 
B

Brad Henderson

Dec 14, 2007
817
2
you are there to do magic for them, not YOU.

What that means is, pick your three best tricks and do them over and over.

Each group is different. They haven't seen you before. So, there is no reason to do a thousand tricks.

Pick your strongest, introduce yourself politely, do one or two, then go somewhere else.

Leave them wanting more.

Brad HEnderson
 
mattjones

mattjones

Sep 1, 2007
494
0
on Theory11.
Ok, Now what? MitchellStafiej says:
MitchellStafiej said:
As for your tricks, I would definitely recommend expanding your repertoire beyond the list you have there. If the place that you are working at is filled with people, they will want to see you again, and again, and again. They will gather their friends to see you again, and again, and again. You should have such a large repertoire of tricks that nothing is repeated for the same person. You should also be prepared to change your routine ON THE SPOT.

Just some friendly advice. I hope I helped.

Mitch
Click to expand...

and Brad Henderson says: "There is no reason to do a thousand tricks..."

What do I do?

Do I perform as many tricks as I feel comfortable with (about 10 at the most for me) or just stick with a couple of really good tricks?

P.S. How do you use Multi-quote? I hit the button on those two quotes and hit "post reply" and only got one quote...
 
B

Brad Henderson

Dec 14, 2007
817
2
When I work a big walk around event, I might do the same one or two tricks all night long. I have to get to as many people as possible.

If it is a smaller group, and I can spend more time comfortably with the people, I might do a three trick set for each group.

It will be the same three tricks ALL night long.

Remember, these people are not (usually) there to see magic. You are, essentially, an interruption. Now, you may become a welcome surprise, but usually there are other goals of the party host than just wanting everyone to see a trick or two.

Remember to consider your guests' comfort. Are they holding saucers of food, drinks? Is the music loud; can they hear you? Is it dark; can they see you?

No one wants to stand in a dark place, with music blaring in their ears, trying to listen to a magician, picking cards with one hand, and balancing a glass on a plate in the other!

Likewise, if they are there to mingle, they want to talk to their friends - not spend all their time watching someone they never met before.

So, it's a balancing act.

Get in, show them something amazing, leave. If they loved you, they will find you again. Then you can do a longer set, or show them something a little more involved.

If not, then you did your job and left them happy but not fed up with magic.

But to answer your question, I refer you to the famous quote of David Devant. An amateur approached him, bragging, "I do over 200 hundred tricks." David Devant, considered the finest and one of the most succesful magicians of his era quipped, "I do seven."

His point - a professional needs to master his craft. He needs to work at the best material and present it with as much strength as possible. His audiences change, but even return customers like to see wonderful things done well a second time.

You are there for them. It may be the thousandth time you've done your strongest opener, but it's the FIRST time they have seen it.

Never forget that!

(And once you've done it over a thousand times, you start to get pretty good at it. Before then, you're still just learning - in my opinion.)

While you might want to have some spare tricks in your case in the coat room, if the party is any size, three tricks is probably all you need.

Brad Henderson
 
mattjones

mattjones

Sep 1, 2007
494
0
on Theory11.
Reply to Brad: (cause that's way too long a post to quote...)
What I usually do, to see if a spectator or group of spectators are interested in magic, is something quick, simple, and visually stunning. I tend to stick with Here Then There. If they react well and seem interested, then I continue wth 2CM, ACR, or something.
Are you saying that I should do just a single trick or a pair of tricks, then thank them for their time, and move on?

A side note:
I don't know for sure, but I'd be stunned if there were more than 75 people there. My guess is anywhere between 20 and 50 guests. It's a high school graduation party, not like some huge corporate gathering.
 
E

eeeeeo

Oct 26, 2007
5
0
toronto
alright man from what i read, you are still not sure if it's on stage performance or walk around. i definitely find that out. and you should find out as much as possible about the event.

what kind of students?
how many?
loud music?
formally dressed?
if you are doing walk around, for how long?
how big are the tables, how many people can sit around?
how's the lighting?
is there gonna be other entertainers walking around?
etc...

the more questions you ask, the better you can prepare yourself. And if you are on stage, think about what your goal, do you want just tricks after tricks after tricks, or just one or two but very very entertaining. For me more is not better in magic. You probably heard this one before, a lot of people do a lot of things poorly, some people do some things good, and few just does one thing, it is amazing.

and for tricks that you should do, everything on that list you wrote, lots of them require gimmicks and set up and clean up.

If it's table's you want, like brad said, fast trick, instant reset, move on.

pm me if you need more help man.

rui
 
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