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Leaving a Magic Gig – Essential Things You Should Do

Being a magician is about learning and performing magic, but being a working magician means you need to look after the business side of entertainment too. What you do as you leave a gig can be just as important to your success, as the marketing you did before you landed the job. If you simply pack up your bag and head home, you could be missing out on some very important opportunities to bring in more work. So let’s look at some of the tips and tricks you can do, after the card tricks have been done, to make sure you get the most out of each and every booking you do.

See the Toastmaster.

If the event has a toastmaster or master of ceremonies, make sure you tell him or her that you are leaving. They love to announce it to the room (Toastmasters crave announcing anything they are can, whenever they can), and you will get a round of applause from all the guests. This is a boost for your confidence, but most importantly it shows everyone that the group really enjoyed having a magician attend. The client confirms that they made a wise investment, and all the people clutching your business card, see how well the magic went down with everyone. The final thing you want the whole room to associate you with is a huge round of applause.

Say goodbye to the client.

The room is in full swing and the client is buzzing from table to table talking to their guests. Make sure you go up to them and say that you now need to leave, and thank them for booking you. NEVER just pack up and go, when your time is up.

Hold a magic trick back just for the client.

When you say goodbye, you don’t want to appear too eager to leave. Yes, I know, that McDonalds you noticed on the drive in, is calling you, but resist it. Stop and chat. They will often ask for ‘one more trick’ so hit them with a great closer effect, so you leave them amazed.

Give the client your deck of playing cards.

Let’s face it, almost every magician performs card tricks that require the spectators to sign a card. Keep those playing cards with signatures on, in the deck rather than giving them to the spectators and you have a great gift for the client at the end of the evening. They get a deck of cards with all their friends and families names on them. It’s a nice keepsake, especially at a wedding, and also shows the client, how you got around everyone and worked hard. Pop your business card in the card case too.

Would you like to learn more tips and advice for when you leave a magic gig? The Merchant of Magic has written a free ebook on the subject. It’s free and suitable for complete beginners getting ready for their first magic performance, right through to professionals wanting to get more gigs and improve their feedback.

What to Do When Your New Magic Trick Arrives

by Merchant of Magic 1 Comment

By Dominic Reyes

It’s arrived in the post! A large padded envelope has been dropped off by the postman and you are standing by the front door, staring down at it.

You know what’s inside…

After all you’ve been excited about this moment right from the second you clicked the ‘confirm order’ button.

Now it’s finally in your hands

Your next move…

Rip it open, play with the props and experience a small feeling of disappointment? Maybe!

The problem with magic is that the secret is hardly ever as exciting as the magic effect it produces. That’s one of the reasons why TV shows that expose the magicians secrets never do well in the ratings over time. The whole value of magic, its charm and fascination, is in the feeling created by the magician using the props.

The props and techniques are not special in and of themselves. They are by their own nature ‘empty’. For example, there is nothing special in either a coin or a handkerchief. But when the coin is placed inside and transforms into something else, then the magic has been created. The props don’t contain this, it’s the way they are used that makes the magic. When you receive a new magic trick, you are excited about the effect you saw demonstrated and want to perform yourself. But the contents of the package don’t hold any of this, it’s up to you to create it.

So how can you avoid this feeling and get the most from the new magic trick you decided to learn? Choosing it is just the first step!

The Merchant of Magic team have created a free ebook teaching you how to get the best from the next new magic trick you intend to learn. Written by professional magicians, ‘How To Learn New Magic Tricks‘ takes you from the moment you rip open the packaging to your first performance.

The Pitfalls of Performing Magic Tricks for Your Family and Friends

by Merchant of Magic 7 Comments

By Dominic Reyes

It’s a cruel trick of nature.. Those that need the most practice and experience

have the least opportunity to receive it.

Those pesky professional magicians, they have hordes of new people to show their magic tricks to every night. Not only that, but they get paid to do it! What about those of us that are starting out, or simply prefer to treat magic as a hobby? How are we supposed to get better if we don’t have access to an ever changing audience to sharpen our classic pass’s on? The answer… our family and friends.

How to bore friends and annoy people

Your friends may love your magic tricks. You may always be asked to show them a trick or about how your magic is going. Being a magician is quite unusual, and you are probably the only magician your friends know. However, many of your friends, and most of your family knew you before you started to learn magic. They like you because.. Well, you’re you! Hanging around with you is not a license for you to constantly show them your latest tricks, or even worse, each stage of development that your current favorite trick has reached. They haven’t decided to go and see a magic show every time they see you, so make sure you don’t ‘magic them to death’

71% of magicians partners reported that they no longer like being shown magic tricks. (Source: Feedback survey MagicShop.co.uk 2009 (Sample size 627)

Pick the right times to show them some magic. Wait to be invited to do so. Thinking that because you have a ‘relationship’ with someone, it’s fair game to make them watch endless card tricks, is a sure fire way to bore and annoy your friends and family. So who do you show your magic to? If you don’t perform to the public, your friends and family are your only audience. However, it’s really easy to avoid these pitfalls. You just need to keep in mind some simple advice.

The dynamic’s are different

The dynamics of performing magic to people who know you is very different to that of the general public. You already have a relationship with these people. Basically, they know you aren’t really magical. This gives them far fewer boundaries than someone who knows you only as a magician, there to entertain. This expresses itself in may different ways. Here are just a few:

They ask more questions
They will grab at props
They try to get the ‘secret’ out of you
They don’t regard you as a professional
They want you to repeat the tricks

Be yourself

Another challenge when performing for people that know you, is that persona’s simply don’t work.
Suddenly switching to the character of a wild west hustler, or a mystic from the middle east, comes across as ridiculous. Your friend may have known you at school or has sat through several dull business meetings with you earlier that week. When you show them a trick and switch personalities to become someone else, it just doesn’t work. The only authentic style you can present these people, is one that fit’s with their knowledge about you. Basically, you have to be yourself!

Doing it right

We have written a free ebook that discusses the pitfalls of performing magic for your family and friends. The book gives you practical ways to:

Improve your presentation
Deal with ‘grabbers’
How to answer ‘ Do another one’
Being the center of attention
How not to reveal the ‘secrets’

The free ebook, written by professional magicians also gives you tips and techniques on the approach, character and timing.

Do you have some advice for magicians performing magic tricks for their family and friends? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below: