Where's the best place to store your magician's case?

Michael asks: 'Where do you store your equipment when you are doing walk-around magic? Should I keep everything with me, or have an area that I use as a base?'

It would be lovely if magicians only performed material that allows them to carry everything they need with them at a magic gig. Working without a bag or case is a great position to be in, as it allows you to just turn up and start performing. However, in reality, that's just too limiting. Unless you are performing only mentalism or card magic, chances are you will need to take a wide range of items with you to most gigs. Take a look at this post about essential items to keep in your magicians case.

Here's a short video I recorded at a recent gig that talks about something I highly recommend you start doing when you take magic bookings:

Ask for a private room

Whenever possible, either myself or my agent will ask the client for a private room or area to be put aside for me to set up. It's worth taking a moment to ask for this, as it's often easily provided. Most venues do have small side rooms that could be put aside for the magician, or they will be happy to set aside a screened off area for your use. Don't assume that this will be an issue, as almost all venues are used to this request. You may also find that either the venue or the client will provide some refreshments in that area for you. There is never any harm in asking…

Finding your own place to store your magicians case

Most of the time, you will need to turn up at a gig, have a look around, and choose a place that will be best to store your magician's case. You need to pick an area with the following 2 features:

1) Easy access

You will need to return to your magician's case several times through the event, so it's important to make sure you will be able to gain access easily when required. At the same time you need to find an area where the case won't be in the way. It's a balancing act between accessibility and consideration for the guests and event staff.

2) Security

A lot of magicians have had their magician's case stolen over the years. That's really not a nice feeling! Pick somewhere that is quite hidden, so your case it not in view to people passing by. Keep items like your wallet or car keys with you if possible.

Put your business card on your magicians case.

Leave one of your business cards on the case when you are away from it. If a staff member or security find the case when you are away, they will know who it belongs too and why it's there. Your business card as a 'marker' will also stop them moving the case to reception or a cloakroom.

How to Start out as a Magician and Get Experience

by Dominic Reyes 1 Comment

Samuel didn't know how to start out as a magician

By Dominic Reyes

I received this email from a young magician:

'I emailed you about how to go about getting a first gig, and you told me that as I was 14, I should consider doing some charity events. I spoke to members of our towns committee about it, and they seemed more than happy to take me on. I am now getting lots of gigs, so I thought I should say thank you, as you gave me the original advice that started it all off. So thank you very much for your great advice.' – Samuel Prior

This got me thinking about the advice I game Samuel when he was 14. It applies to young magicians that are just starting out and are having trouble being taken seriously when they approach venues or companies to pitch their magic. However, I think the advice is solid for magicians of any age, when they have the catch 22 situation of needing experience, but struggling to get gigs because of that reason:

If you want to do magic as a paid performer, you HAVE to get out and start performing for the public. Nobody will come to you and beg to hire you, so you need to put yourself in public situations where you can perform professionally. The easiest way to do this is to HELP YOUR COMMUNITY by offering your services at local charity and community events. That first step will give you the confidence to market yourself, get your name out, and push forward to get future paid work as a magician. If you have been thinking about doing this for a while, now is the time to act. Contact your local community centre TODAY, and ask them about events coming up that could use some free entertainment. It's just a phone call, but it's that first step that you have to make sooner or later..

Do you know a keen magician that has been thinking about doing paid work, but has yet to take that first step? If so, email or text them a link to this page. A little push from someone that cares about them is all it might take..

Are you already a working magician and have some advice for magicians just starting out? How did you get your feet off the ground performing? Maybe you are in the same position Samuel was in, and have a question? Leave a comment in the section at the bottom of this page.

Switching Items Without Getting Caught

by Dominic Reyes Leave a Comment

Joe is having trouble switching items when he performs magic tricks. He keeps getting busted when he does a switch.

Joe writes:

'I've realised that I'm not very good at switching or at least I don't know how to without being detected :).

So for Example, with LINK-O, a powerful move would be to show a normal pack of polo mints that are inspected, then switch it with the special labelled ones. Any Suggestions?
Thanks.I’m having trouble switching items. Whenever I try to do a switch, I get busted. Any tips?'

How to perform a magicians switch

Hi Joe,

Many thanks for getting in touch.

The secret of switching items without detection is to remove any of your guilt while doing it. It also helps to have a good understanding of the on-beat and off-beat moments that performance naturally creates in order to maximise the chances of getting away with it. Here is a link to a free eBook on misdirection which talks about the off-beat/on-beat and how to recognise it:

Ben Williams writes:

There is a limit to how much I will have things inspected. For example, when I perform Linko, I never have a normal pack of Polos examined before the trick. Saying, 'Hey, check these out, make sure they are normal' could cause the spectator to think “There must be funny Polo packets or magic Polos”. Even people who hadn't thought of that, would probably then be thinking it in the back of their minds.

I find that what works for me best is to take out the top two Polos and hand the spectator the pack and say, “sorry, can you just hold onto these for a second”. when you ask this, they have no desire to look at it because you are showing them something with the Polos and not the pack. When you move the logo on the pack, they will think that they would have spotted it if there were something up with the pack as they were holding onto it themselves.

By inviting people to examine objects it automatically arouses suspicion. Unless you have something so unbelievably clean you can ham it up, and then it is, in my opinion, not a great idea to enforce the fairness of everything. If you hand a packet of Polos to someone and ask them to check it out it will make people look harder at the packet. When that suspicion is in their mind, you will most likely get busted switching it.

I sometimes use the method where I have an extra cut out of a Polo on the packet stuck down with either lip balm or a glue stick of repositionable glue. This way when you drag it there is no question the Polo was there on the design as they were looking right at it.

So to sum up, try to relax, forget about the moment when you are going to switch. If you are worried about switching you will be sending out signals of tension and anxiousness which your spectators will pick up on no matter how small they are and make sure you are engaging the audience at the time of the switch and it will help out lots. Over time, you will not worry about it at all, and you will find you don't get busted.