Getting a job in magic

[Punk'n'magic]

i recently turned 16, got my license and my parents want me to get a job over the summer, so i figure it's a great opportunity to get into some restaurant work. Ive done table hopping before but never for pay, i always just end up getting dragged from table to table by some waiter who thinks im cool er something. Just a few question aimed at anybody who have gone through something similar:

-what kind of restaurants are best suited for something like this? in other words: What restaurants will be willing to hire me? (im assuming no chain restaurants have a need for me)

-How serious should i look? Do i print a resume and give them a business card or is that almost laughable for a 16 year old?

-How would i go about scheduling an interview? and should i schedule interviews with multiple restaurants or just one? (i apologize if that's a stupid question)

-I'm assuming that they will expect me to perform a trick, what kind of trick should i perform?

-how often will i be expected to work? Does a restaurant need a magician on the weekdays?

-finally: a friend of mine is in a jazz band that plays at restaurants occasionally, would it be a good idea to tell him to put in a good word for me?

i appreciate any other tips as well thanks in advance

 

[notsoltd]

Awesome post! I'd love to see these answers! I am also interested in doing restaurant work - I am going to be looking into The Real Secrets of Magic by David Stone

 

[William Draven]

Go search out a thread called How to Get Gigs and Keep Clients on this forum. There's about 8 of them in all. You may find some helpful tips.

 

[RikAllen]

Go search out a thread called How to Get Gigs and Keep Clients on this forum. There's about 8 of them in all. You may find some helpful tips.

Promoting yourself much?

He is right though, his 7 or 8 threads have tons of information that should be helpful after you find them.

Jamie D. Grant's recent posts might be of some help as well.

I will say this to try and help with the second question, You're only taken as seriously as you take yourself. If you go in and act professional, let them know you're not just jerking their chain, then they will take you into serious consideration. If you go in unprepared and can't even tell them why you want to be a magician in a restaurant or how it will benefit them, they will dismiss you very quickly and you won't even get a chance.

 

[chriswiehl]

I would first get a business card. a nice one. go drop money and get one from moo.com those cards are high quality.
i have a brochure featuring past clients and possible venues and a short bio with some pictures.
there are lots of ways to go at getting a job, but no real golden rule. i have heard from setting up meetings with the general manager to just walking in the establishment and talking with a manager, to just eating at the restaurant and performing then talking to the general manager.
you have to go in looking your best and have a pitch.

why should you do magic at the resturaunt? thats the main question. why do they need you?

those are basic questions

if you want a good dvd check out live at the jailhouse.

 

[William Draven]

Shameless self promote? me!? NEVER!

 

[William Draven]

Business cards are like $35 bucks for a thousand through Kinkos for black and whites. Colors are about $135 for a thousand color printed. They usually can get the order ready to roll within 48 hours too.

 

[YRAMagicMan]

I worked a theme park this summer. The difference there is that I was doing street magic, and had an actual audition. I did my ACR and the Sponge Balls and maybe another trick or two. I was shocked when I got the job... one of the "judges" was heckling me the entire show. I gave them a resume with my application, and they took me seriously.

My advise is to find some place, like a coffee shop, that does open mic nights and perform there for a while for tips. If they like you, they may give you a real gig. I would not be surprised if the crowd was rather uninterested at first, or heckled you, so be on your toes, and do very strong stuff to get their attention. Make sure once you have their attention, you do something with it.

 

[Craig Browning]

Theme parks are very much the better market to focus on but chances are the competition will prove more than stiff and too, given our present economy, it's just doubtful many such facilities will be bringing in "new' talent. For that reason alone I'd suggest doing a season on the road with a Carnival/Circus/Side Show company or simply earn your chops busking through most of the week while pushing for close-up/strolling gigs in a local dinning facility (be real, at 16 you aren't going to get the local Sports Bar... shoot for the family restaurants... Chili's, Spaghetti Warehouse, etc.) and while I don't encourage people working for tips, this might be your only choice at this point in time... again, your age as well as the economy has a lot to do with this. But, try to get the management to cover $50.00 a night so as to get your gas money and maybe have them chip in a meal and non-alcoholic drinks.

Do not expect to get more than one or two nights a week with any one facility but, if you are lucky, you might find a franchise site that has an owner with two or three other stores within easy driving distance... I was once working three different Olive Garden's owned by the same guy, all of them about a 40 minute drive from where I lived; the per site income wasn't huge but the culmination of scale from all three sites along with tips and side-parties made it a livable thing.

REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE PLAYING DOMINOES... If you are doing close-up in a nice facility or busking on a street corner, you have to be selling yourself and what you do. that means that you are building a solid rapport with folks that very well could be a talent buyer on down the road. For that reason you want them to get a brochure about you and your private party services.... you want each thing you do to open doors to the next thing... like a line of dominoes, you want the first tile that gets knocked over, to start a cascade of effect, getting you job after job, after job.

As a Psychic Entertainer every Reading I do leads to either the next Reading or Home Party, or Fund Raiser, or Work Shop, etc. Everything I do is connected with each skill set (as it were) opening doors to another... frequently, something that will generate greater income.

You'd be doing yourself a huge favor, picking up some books on Magic & Marketing... given your age, I'd focus on kiddie shows more than anything else, which means you need to not only learn how to move into that market but start now in building your inventory so you have the appropriate effects for that market... not tricks that you want, but props that are proven effective and commercial within the kiddie show market. It's very important that you learn the difference on such things.