Need Pocket Management Advice

[DominusDolorum]

Have you listened to businessmen like Kostya Kimlat? I am also a businessman and there are plenty of things to go around. You make the pie bigger. You can't steal gigs.

I based my first post on something that Kostya said in the lecture you recommended (thanks again by the way). If you're going to restaurants just to practice and get experience then you could be hurting the business of working professionals in the area. I grouped that in my mind with bars at the time.

That being said, it probably does no damage at all to the business of professionals if you're just doing a few routines at the local watering hole for the couple hours you're there.

Back to pocket management @GrahamHorgan
For duplicates or gimmicked cards, you can most likely get away with just keeping them in your deck. You can always just leave them in the box when you take the rest of the cards out and bring them in later when you need them.

For my pockets:
I always carry a packet trick in my wallet, in an envelope. There's other stuff for tricks in my wallet ready to go as well. That is in my left pocket along with a regular sharpie, a frixion pen, and SMOKE 2.0 oriented differently so that that's the one I'm grabbing. In my right pocket, I carry my phone and another pen (my everyday pen) and Spidey's The Name Game in an envelope. In the coin pocket, I keep...wait for it...coins (omg groundbreaking!)! I also keep a book of matches tucked in there as well. My deck of cards is clipped and tucked into another pocket.

Basically, everything I carry is small and light and doesn't take up much room at all.

 

[ProAma]

Hey Magicians. ♠️

So about pocket management. How do you carry your extras? I'm really on about business cards and extra playing cards, such as duplicated and other gimmicked playing cards. For me, I'm having throuble finding a good spot to bring my business cards. I only had 15 with me recently. I tried storing them in my wallet, then my front pocket. But both places had made them into a bent round shape. That's surly something I'm right in being not happy about? It's not professional looking. When I was buying my business carss online. It had an offer to get a strong business card case holder with it. Was I wrong not to get that? That being said. I've only found that bringing an empty playing cards box and carrying my business cards in that, along with other important gimmicked cards. But carrying two playing cards boxes around is a pain. I'm talking about magicians who would be wearing jeans. And not if any other pockets in jacket etc. David Blaine style for example. Any creative ideas please? Or maybe I have to step aside more often and reload.

PM me and I will teach you pocket management.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Yeah. The problem with guys like Kostya is that their advice comes from a view point of someone who has already succeeded. He's so far along in the game he doesn't see the starting line any more. He doesn't remember what it's like when you're nobody. Thus the advice is not as helpful as it could be, since it comes from someone who already has the confidence to demand the appropriate fees. That confidence is extremely rare for beginners. On top of that, considering "How do I price my gig?" is one of the most common questions asked on magic forums, I'm going to say that most people don't have the confidence to ask for appropriate fees.

Ok. Example: My (then) girlfriend's circus troupe was booked for a gig. The event organizer was a friend of ours, it was her first event, we were one of the main entertainers. About two months until the gig was scheduled, the organizer gets an email from someone saying that he was better than us, and that he'd do three hours for $50. The organizer sent us his email and we all had a good laugh about it, but if it had been someone else they may well have taken him up on the offer. After all, he was offering a much longer show (Ours was 45 minutes), and at a much lower rate (I think that one was booked at $260 for us). While we didn't lose that gig, it could easily have happened.

So you can keep saying that it's impossible to steal gigs all you want, that won't make it true.

 

[obrienmagic]

There are a few belt clips/harnesses on the market that will help free up your pockets. I usually keep my cards in my coat pocket. haha my setup is something to this effect (And trust me i am loaded when i do strolling.)

Coat Breast Pocket: Handkerchief
Left outside coat pocket: Ninja Rings/NinjaPlus
Right Outside Coat Pocket: Empty (card to pocket) or has the pokeball if I'm doing pokemon version.
Left Inside Coat Pocket: Business cards (inside case) 1 sharpie and deck of playing cards
Right Inside coat pocket: cell phone/extra pack of cards (just in case) or pokemon card deck
Left Front Trouser Pocket: 3 sponge balls and bagless purse frame
Right Front Trouser Pocket: 1 half dollar, bag with small pieces of flash paper and a lighter
Left Rear Trouser Pocket: jumbo coin
Rear Right Trouser Pocket: either wallet containing EB or sometimes just empty to put all my tips.
Clipped to Belt: Splash bottle gimmick for Wine Bottle Production.

lol so i make the best of my pocketspace and TBH this is VERY PACKED. i could add more if i wanted to use my shirt breast pocket or wear a vest, but honestly at that point it is a bit much. I usually do the same 4-5 effects all night and still have a ton of variety with all the different props and stuff i am carrying.

 

[GrahamHorgan]

For one, yes they can. All it takes is a jerk of a magician and an unscrupulous event booker. I've seen guys get gigs sniped from under them.

For two, even if someone is not stealing a gig, that doesn't mean they aren't making it significantly harder to get appropriate fees for gigs. That was a major issue in Fresno. There were so many performers that were willing to work so cheap, that laymen had no concept of what a performance was worth. The circus/fire troupe I was a part of had someone try to steal a gig from us by offering $50 for 3 hours of constant fire performance. Furthermore, talented performers were harassed when they charged fees to teach new performers - not by the potential students, but by other performers/instructors who didn't think anyone should charge.

You could say that anyone who wants to charge more should be able to do so anyway - and you can, if you're already established or can clearly offer a value to do so. But what happens in practice is that people who live in that area decide that entertainment is about whoever charges the least, and it makes it impossible to get established enough to make anything close to a living in that area with entertainment.

I really uderstand where you're coming from.

I based my first post on something that Kostya said in the lecture you recommended (thanks again by the way). If you're going to restaurants just to practice and get experience then you could be hurting the business of working professionals in the area. I grouped that in my mind with bars at the time.

That being said, it probably does no damage at all to the business of professionals if you're just doing a few routines at the local watering hole for the couple hours you're there.

Back to pocket management @GrahamHorgan
For duplicates or gimmicked cards, you can most likely get away with just keeping them in your deck. You can always just leave them in the box when you take the rest of the cards out and bring them in later when you need them.

For my pockets:
I always carry a packet trick in my wallet, in an envelope. There's other stuff for tricks in my wallet ready to go as well. That is in my left pocket along with a regular sharpie, a frixion pen, and SMOKE 2.0 oriented differently so that that's the one I'm grabbing. In my right pocket, I carry my phone and another pen (my everyday pen) and Spidey's The Name Game in an envelope. In the coin pocket, I keep...wait for it...coins (omg groundbreaking!)! I also keep a book of matches tucked in there as well. My deck of cards is clipped and tucked into another pocket.

Basically, everything I carry is small and light and doesn't take up much room at all.

Hi Dominus. Thank you for giving me a run through your pocket management. A quick question about your SMOKE 2.0. Would you recommend that smoke device out of all of the devices out there? Its something I wish to have in my routine some day. There`s a few out there now and its hard to choose because they're really expensive.

 

[GrahamHorgan]

There are a few belt clips/harnesses on the market that will help free up your pockets. I usually keep my cards in my coat pocket. haha my setup is something to this effect (And trust me i am loaded when i do strolling.)

Coat Breast Pocket: Handkerchief
Left outside coat pocket: Ninja Rings/NinjaPlus
Right Outside Coat Pocket: Empty (card to pocket) or has the pokeball if I'm doing pokemon version.
Left Inside Coat Pocket: Business cards (inside case) 1 sharpie and deck of playing cards
Right Inside coat pocket: cell phone/extra pack of cards (just in case) or pokemon card deck
Left Front Trouser Pocket: 3 sponge balls and bagless purse frame
Right Front Trouser Pocket: 1 half dollar, bag with small pieces of flash paper and a lighter
Left Rear Trouser Pocket: jumbo coin
Rear Right Trouser Pocket: either wallet containing EB or sometimes just empty to put all my tips.
Clipped to Belt: Splash bottle gimmick for Wine Bottle Production.
lol so i make the best of my pocketspace and TBH this is VERY PACKED. i could add more if i wanted to use my shirt breast pocket or wear a vest, but honestly at that point it is a bit much. I usually do the same 4-5 effects all night and still have a ton of variety with all the different props and stuff i am carrying.

Wowa! That is a lot of stuff lol. But insightful. It`s nice to have extra things tricks to do though. Very awesome OBrienMagic

 

[RealityOne]

Work backwards. Design your routines and then figure out where things need to be in pockets.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

I should really get back on topic here -

I followed David's advice ages ago and plan my pocket management from what I plan to perform. Though I think I go about that a bit differently than many.

If I'm going to do a strolling thing, I restrict myself to 1 object per pocket. So, voodoo doll in the shirt pocket (the visual of it peeking out over my vest is an easy conversation starter), business cards in a case in the front left pants pocket, phone in front right pants pocket (I have a TOXIC-style routine I do), notebook in back left pocket (Used for reveals and images), and a Post-It pad in a vest pocket. I might have a needle and alcohol swab in my other vest pocket for Through and Through, depends on the crowd. This is probably the most I would carry at any event.

I do this for two reasons - one, because I hate when my pockets feel like they are bulging. It's a minor OCD thing, it would distract me all night. And two - by limiting my material I never have to have the thing where I blank, trying to think of the next thing I could do. I only have so many routines practiced with those items, so I can perform for a group, and turn to the next group (Or as usually happens to me, walk to the other side of the room to find a new crowd who wasn't just watching me), and start on the next routine in the rotation. If I need more than that, I can freestyle psychological stuff for hours.

 

[DominusDolorum]

I really uderstand where you're coming from.


Hi Dominus. Thank you for giving me a run through your pocket management. A quick question about your SMOKE 2.0. Would you recommend that smoke device out of all of the devices out there? Its something I wish to have in my routine some day. There`s a few out there now and its hard to choose because they're really expensive.

Anytime friend. About SMOKE 2.0, I can't recommend it over another smoke device because I haven't used any other. I certainly do like having it and the reactions with the tricks I've used it for have been amazing. The fact that it's cleverly disguised as an ordinary object that the spectators themselves can hold is a definite plus. But you're right, it is really expensive.

 

[Josh Burch]

I'd like to break down mine as well. I hinted towards it earlier but I'll break it down.

Coat Breast Pocket: Buisness Cards
Left outside coat pocket: Omni deck and Unboxed deck
Right Outside Coat Pocket: Warning
Left Inside Coat Pocket: 2 Sharpies, Tear No Tear pad, Invisible Deck
Right Inside coat pocket: Card to wallet extra pack of cards
Left Front Trouser Pocket: Phone and Keys
Right Front Trouser Pocket: 4 Coins and Holy Moly
Left Rear Trouser Pocket: Poker Chips
Rear Right Trouser Pocket: Poker Chips
Shirt Breast Pocket: Hundy 500

It changes if I am performing for a more casual gig but that is really what I use most of the time.