How 'Rich' are Magicians?

[Anthony Bass]

I make about $30 per stage performance and about $10 for kids shows.

About 2 stage performances per month + About 10 kids shows per month = $160 a month. Plus my $8.50 an hour job at Albertsons. Not exactly what I would call "loaded". Haha!

Anthony Bass

 

[David Rysin]

I make about $30 per stage performance and about $10 for kids shows.

About 2 stage performances per month + About 10 kids shows per month = $160 a month. Plus my $8.50 an hour job at Albertsons. Not exactly what I would call "loaded". Haha!

Anthony Bass

Are you crazy!? *Should be read in a serious but kind way*

You are underselling yourself and all of the other magicians out there. You should not be charging anything less than $100 for any type of show, and I personally would suggest no less than $150.

PM me and we'll talk a little =]....or else.

To actually answer the question however, I will give you a little example:

An aquantince of mine is a full-time performer who does quite a bit of shows...he lived in his mother's house until she sadly passed away, at which point he became the sole inhabitant of that house.

Another story:

A local magician who does well over 300 shows a year lives in an apartment...alone.

Creators don't make much either. They can choose to sell a book for 30 dollars which has 10 effects in it, or sell each of those 10 effects for 30 as DVDs....that little fact had to be pointed out to me by one of the artists on this site, and only then did I realize that I could not blame anyone for trying to sell a single effect for 30....Something along the lines of this was said: "If I sell a book with everything that I've created in it, I can put food on the table for a year. However, if I put out a new DVD every year for every effect I have created, I can put food on my table for a year and do it year after year."

So creators don't really make much either...

Unless you get a lucky break like a TV show or a 10 year contract at the [your name here] theatre, you're not going to be making much.

However the true goal of most of the people who love this art is to just be able to get by doing what we love- which is possible.

~David Rysin

 

[Anthony Bass]

Are you crazy!? *Should be read in a serious but kind way*

You are underselling yourself and all of the other magicians out there. You should not be charging anything less than $100 for any type of show, and I personally would suggest no less than $150.

PM me and we'll talk a little =]....or else.

Well, I'm not greedy.
Plus, I doubt a mother of a 10 year old is going to hire me to do a 45 minute magic show for $150. Higly doubt it.

Anthony Bass

 

[Tempest]

Anthony, you should charge what you feel you are worth, and if you are happy with that payment, then that is the best route to go. I personally charge in regards to how hard I work in magic and how much I feel my hard work is worth for a potential client. I factor in a few different things such as amount of people, age range, and length of time and all of that contributes to my price.

For stage shows, you can charge admission based on the same premise, but you have much more control of who your audience is composed of and a lot of your admission pricing will depend the ratio of expenses to profits.

If you want to learn about the business side of magic, I would highly recommend you talk to some working professionals in your area.

As for the original question, they pay the bills. : )

As for me, I'm a college student, so no matter what, I'm going to be broke regardless of how many effects I release and shows I do, haha.

|| sean ||

 

[Anthony Bass]

Anthony, you should charge what you feel you are worth, and if you are happy with that payment, then that is the best route to go. I personally charge in regards to how hard I work in magic and how much I feel my hard work is worth for a potential client. I factor in a few different things such as amount of people, age range, and length of time and all of that contributes to my price.

For stage shows, you can charge admission based on the same premise, but you have much more control of who your audience is composed of and a lot of your admission pricing will depend the ratio of expenses to profits.

If you want to learn about the business side of magic, I would highly recommend you talk to some working professionals in your area.

As for the original question, they pay the bills. : )

As for me, I'm a college student, so no matter what, I'm going to be broke regardless of how many effects I release and shows I do, haha.

|| sean ||

I'm completely fine with the pay I recieve. I'm 15 years old, I don't need to rake in huge piles of cash (it would be nice, but oh well). Like I said, i'm not a greedy guy. I usually negotiate a price with my clients. And yes, I do differ prices depending on age/audience size/etc. But really, i'm not really in need of financial advice.

Anthony Bass

 

[AceOfSpades2662]

Regarding the rich magicians I believe Mr. or should I say Sir Kenner appears to be quite wealthy. I do not know about many others. Of course David Blaine, Criss Angel David Copperfield are all pretty rich. I have heard Copperfield is in Forbes, but I'm not sure.

Hope this helped,
Happy Holidays,
Michael

 

[Tempest]

I'm completely fine with the pay I recieve. I'm 15 years old, I don't need to rake in huge piles of cash (it would be nice, but oh well). Like I said, i'm not a greedy guy. I usually negotiate a price with my clients. And yes, I do differ prices depending on age/audience size/etc. But really, i'm not really in need of financial advice.

Anthony Bass

Sorry, I didn't mean to give financial services bro, I was just saying what I said in regards to Mr. Rysin's post. I wanted to support the fact that you're not crazy, but mature.

|| sean ||

 

[Eddie]

I'm poor as hell, yet I spent my own money of at least $400 on magic and flourishing.

 

[KatieKenner]

David Copperfield is the highest paid solo performer of all time.

Wrap your mind around that.

Katie Egleston.

 

[StevenLevitt]

Correct!

He is a little rich

 

[MattTarrant]

I get around $300p/h for personal gigs,

Business's between $600-800p/h.

 

[StevenLevitt]

It isn't how much you get, it is how often you get.

 

[MattTarrant]

How much you get helps though .

 

[StevenLevitt]

Not if you only get one job a year.

 

[MattTarrant]

Exactly, but if your only getting one job a year, maybe magic isnt for you lol.

 

[StevenLevitt]

You have just proven my point

So it isn't just how much you earn, it is how often you earn it.

 

[David Rysin]

It's both...

$1,000 a gig is insane, however $10 a gig is even more insane in my opinion.

I won't state the price that I charge, but it is in the hundreds (100, 200, 300, etc), and I consider myself to be under-charging at that price. Amature magicians (and by amature I mean the ones that do it as a side income) charge around $300, and professionals charge in the THOUSANDS. Go to gigmasters and look at the max price for some of the pros on there....If someone charges $200 an hour, sure it's under-pricing, but it doesn't really hurt any other working amatures out there, however by charging $10-$30 a show makes the booker think that is the normal price, and when then go to hire another magician- one who charges the average price- they will not book that magician because they are used to a price that is 30 times less than the norm. By charging $10-$30 a show, even $50 a show, you are selling out every working amature in your area who charges a fair price.

Ask a working amature in your area....chances are they charge anywhere from $200-$400 a show, and do 4-10 shows a month if they're really into it and 2-5 if they really do it as more of a hobby then a side job. So yes, it is how many times you make the money, however it also matters equally as much how much you make too- even if you don't care about the money but do it so that all the other magicians in your area have a fair chance of getting a gig.

~David Rysin
​

 

[clarrus]

I get $23 a performance. OMG the number 23 just came up again.......i'm going crazy.....

 

[Anthony Bass]

Sorry, I didn't mean to give financial services bro, I was just saying what I said in regards to Mr. Rysin's post. I wanted to support the fact that you're not crazy, but mature.

|| sean ||

It's kool bro. I wasn't trying to tell you off for trying to help. Just saying what needed to be said.

Anthony Bass

 

[Anthony Bass]

It's both...

$1,000 a gig is insane, however $10 a gig is even more insane in my opinion.

I won't state the price that I charge, but it is in the hundreds (100, 200, 300, etc), and I consider myself to be under-charging at that price. Amature magicians (and by amature I mean the ones that do it as a side income) charge around $300, and professionals charge in the THOUSANDS. Go to gigmasters and look at the max price for some of the pros on there....If someone charges $200 an hour, sure it's under-pricing, but it doesn't really hurt any other working amatures out there, however by charging $10-$30 a show makes the booker think that is the normal price, and when then go to hire another magician- one who charges the average price- they will not book that magician because they are used to a price that is 30 times less than the norm. By charging $10-$30 a show, even $50 a show, you are selling out every working amature in your area who charges a fair price.

Ask a working amature in your area....chances are they charge anywhere from $200-$400 a show, and do 4-10 shows a month if they're really into it and 2-5 if they really do it as more of a hobby then a side job. So yes, it is how many times you make the money, however it also matters equally as much how much you make too- even if you don't care about the money but do it so that all the other magicians in your area have a fair chance of getting a gig.

~David Rysin
​

Yeah, the magicians on Gigmaster are probably a little more known too! Like I said, the idea that somebody would hire a 15 year old magician, who they've never heard of until they saw their flier or something, for $300 is insanity. This is when you negotiate. And like i've said again and again, pay isn't a factor to me. I could care less about how much money I make, I just like to perform!

Anthony Bass