Making a living doing magic

[TeeDee]

There are many people who do magic as a profession. They may not be as good as Dan and Dave or Houdini, but they make enough money to live a nice middle class life. However, in order for this to work you must devote a lot of your time on tweeking your tricks and perfecting them to make them as amazing as possible.

It will be tough but if it's what you want then go for it. You most likely won't end up as famous as Cardini or Mark Wilson or Dai Vernon but you never know until you try.

Have fun,
Dylan P.

I think you're right on the money Dylan. People seem to confuse "making a living" with "making millions". I currently work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week in sales, alongside doing some writing for a magic magazine and taking the odd magic gig. At my current rate of payment, I would only need to regularly be doing two magic gigs a week to bring in the money I'm currently making in my day job.

This calculation has meant that I'm now hoping to go pro within the next few months. I won't be a millionaire, but I'll be just as well off as I was before, while doing something I love.

 

[Brad Henderson]

And some people confuse making a living performing for other magicians with making a living performing for real people. Two entirely different creatures.

B

 

[c.ronaldo]

On Bill Malones "On The Loose" dvd he talks about how you can make a living with magic and how you can do it, for example he suggests that instead of asking for a job as a magician is to show one of the workers (a barman in a restuarant) and if he's impressed he'll come someone else to watch and they'll call someone else and then the manager will tag along. After showing the manager you make up some story like i remember working in a restuarant like this and showing magic tricks to the customers because the food was not prepared and they didn't want the customers to give them a bad review so they would send me out to pass the time. Thats the same example Bill Malone uses .

 

[RichmanMatthew]

I think you're right on the money Dylan. People seem to confuse "making a living" with "making millions". I currently work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week in sales, alongside doing some writing for a magic magazine and taking the odd magic gig. At my current rate of payment, I would only need to regularly be doing two magic gigs a week to bring in the money I'm currently making in my day job.

This calculation has meant that I'm now hoping to go pro within the next few months. I won't be a millionaire, but I'll be just as well off as I was before, while doing something I love.

Good for you.

 

[PjPinsonnault]

One thing to consider that hasn't been mentioned is to keep in mind the intangibles.

Health insurance. Dental. Coverage for your wife/kids (if not now, down the road.) Retirement savings. Plans for when your bookings are dry for a month or more. Hell even a week of no bookings can be tough if you haven't planned for it.

I know how easy it sounds to leave the day job, but ask yourself how you'll cover the costs your day job is covering right now. You may miss them because they come out of your check before you even see your money.

Get good at networking, rubbing elbows with all walks of life, and taking rejection.

Finally, and this is personal for me, don't put being a professional magician before your family. If there comes a point where you are faced with choosing one or the other, make the right choice. Magic should not outweigh your spouse/kids.

Pj