How to do Magic Tricks

Advice and Support for Magicians

How to Sell Magic Tricks on Your Website

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Many magicians, website owners, or YouTubers would like to sell magic tricks on their channels but don’t know where to start.

One solution is to team up with a magic shop to look after that side of the process for you. Many magicians have a magic website promoting their services, but would also like to be able to offer some magic tricks on their site too. The problem is the time, money and work involved to do it right and give great customer service. As a performer, you want to spend your time following up leads for bookings and performing shows.  How can you provide this service but not have to do any of the work involved?

Use a magic shop referral link
MagicShop.co.uk provides a personal link which will earn you commission for every visitor that clicks on it and orders from the shop! It’s a great way to earn an extra income, fund your magic hobby, pay for the upkeep of your site and help your visitors access a full range of magic items. Oh.. And it helps support the magic shop by getting the word out about them.

It’s super simple to set up
You don’t need to know any programming code or HTML to sell magic tricks online. The site automatically gives you a unique referral url link to use and you can create clickable product images and banner ads to use in seconds. The only computer skills you need is how to copy and paste!

You can add any of the thousands of products on magicshop.co.uk directly to your website or blog and the shop takes care of the checkout, shipping and customer care process for you. You can automatically generate product images to add to your own site to help you sell magic tricks automatically. The link goes to a product on magicshop.co.uk and pay you a commission when your visitor orders them. Your visitors get to find out about the magic products you like and you get an income from any sales they make, without having to handle the process.

 

Join MoM


Great for children’s entertainers.
It’s very popular with children’s entertainers who want to sell magic items to parents wanting magic related party gifts. You can create a whole section on your site, showing magic sets and small ‘pocket money magic’ items your clients can order for their party, and you know the whole process will be automatically looked after by the shop and you don’t have to lift a finger. Nice!

Your email signature can work for you.
It’s really quick and easy to create an email signature recommending the magic shop with a link to the main page or the beginners section of the site. You only have to do it once and you could be generating an income every time you send an email.

Ideal for YouTube channels, Twitter and Facebook.
If you post videos on YouTube, why not add in your referral link in the video description. If you are reviewing magic tricks, you can include a link for your viewers to find out more about the item and you get a commission if they place an order.  Want to recommend a trick to your twitter followers or Facebook friends? Send them a link that refers back to you.

 

What You Really Need In Your Close Up Magic Case

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By Paul Knight

Every time I open up my close up magic case, before I hit the road for my next booking, I get that “Darn it! Why on earth didn’t I sort this mess out after my booking last night!”.

I proceed to go through the laborious task of trying to run through everything I should have with ten minutes to spare. “What do I need? Which decks of playing cards can I throw out? My playing cards have signatures all over them. Wow, those ropes look dirty! Oh no, I’ve run out of business cards!! Aurch! Really should have thrown those lemons out”.

So, in an effort to get myself mildly organized I’ve stripped down the contents of my close up case to basics, i.e. What I really use and need.

Nail Scissors
Self explanatory. There is nothing worse than that moment when you’re doing your magic, all focus is on your hands waiting for the final climax to the trick, when you look down and you notice the state of your nails! Not nice! If that’s what you are thinking just imagine what the audience is made of it! So, I always carry my nail scissors with me. A quick trim takes but seconds.

Face wipes
“Face wipes? Face wipes? Are you sure you’re not looking in a makeup case?”
Nope, you heard correctly. I always carry face wipes in my close up magic case. Many reasons. Firstly, you guessed it, to wipe my face. Yep, they are good at that. Secondly, to give my hands a quick clean before I start, all helps with confidence, and thirdly, to wipe off that coffee stain from my tie. Very handy stain removers.

Three decks of playing cards.
One is never enough. Four is too many. So therefore three feels about right. Two would probably be fine, but I’ve decided on three. It’s my choice and I’m sticking to it, and that’s that, ok?

One deck of blank faced cards
I don’t know why, but still to this day asking somebody to sign a card still seems as alien to me as I’m sure it does to spectators. We forget that, to magicians what seems like such a normal thing to do is actually a little bit odd! The number of times I’ve said “Please madam sign your name across the card” only to be looked at like I’m insane. “Really? You really want me sign the card? But that will ruin them!” Therefore, I carry at least 25 blank faced cards inside my jacket, and when a signature is required I ask them to sign a blank faced card. Nobody questions this, and I think it’s more visual. All in all it makes things easier for me and the audience. There is nothing worse than deciding to go into a four ace routine, only to find somebody on the previous table has one of the aces signed.

Three Sharpies
Exactly the same reason as the three decks of cards!

Deodorant
It’s good to smell. Even better if it’s a nice one.

Tie and Bow tie
Sometimes I’ve arrived at a venue ready to perform only to discover all the guests are wearing Bow ties. Good to be prepared.

New rope
I usually end up performing rope routines at some point in my act. I remembered years ago I saw a magician performing rope magic at a table, and the white rope he was using was clearly not very clean! It looked awful and unprofessional. Therefore ever since that day, I have an obsession with using clean, crisp white rope every time I perform now.

Business cards
Never ever leave home without them!

Mints
Refer to explanation of deodorant.

Bottle of water
With all that talking, and sometimes shouting depending on the venue, It’s important to drink. At least if I forget to drink, when I’ve finished I can grab some water when I empty my pockets and load up my case. Hold on! There’s an incentive to organize my close up magic case before my next booking!

One new effect I’ve perfected, but haven’t performed.
Ok. We have all been there. You’ve bought loads of stuff, learnt loads of tricks. Put it all in the close up case. Gone to booking. Left all new stuff in the close up magic case and spent two hours doing everything you always do.

I’ve found that just having one new trick in my case means, once I’ve done my tried and tested routine, I have options. If I feel comfortable to then approach what I know is a very receptive table of people, and perform my new effect.

Essentially, there is only one thing stopping me performing new tricks, and that’s the first performance of it.

Carrying one new trick and then choosing what I know to be a good audience has really helped get the new stuff out of the drawer and into the act.

WHAT TO DO NEXT
So.. That’s what’s in my close up case. Have I missed anything out? Why not take a moment to grab your case or bag now and have a big sort out. It takes moments and you will really benefit from taking the time to prepare a professional close up magic case.

Other posts you might like:
A Magicians Thumb Tip is Insurance
Mistakes when traveling to a gig
Magicians Finger Nails

Avoid Nasty Surprises At Close Up Magic Bookings

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magician-surprised-at-gigIt doesn’t matter how many close up magic bookings you have done in the past, you simply never can tell what you will find when you arrive at your next booking. Most nights it falls into the same pattern. You arrive, quickly set up and off you go. But every now and then chance throws something at you and which takes you totally by surprise.  This happened to Dominic Reyes this week:

‘I took on a booking to help a friend who was away performing overseas and could not do the date. The client was a VIP and had used him before, so he wanted to recommend a magician, he knew would do a great job. Because of this, I did not use a contract and simply agreed to 2 hours walk around and table magic, during a meal for the guests.  However, when I arrived, I discovered it was for only 5 people, two of which told me right from the start that they ‘Didn’t know why the host had booked a magician as they hate magic’. Ahhh! The venue was a small room, with no ‘side rooms’ to retreat between courses. On top of this, the client wanted a 2 hour close-up magic show consisting of an hour during drinks and an hour between courses through the meal. That’s a LOT of material for just 3 spectators and 2 hecklers to enjoy! Luckily, I was able to pace the magic, and the client agreed that it was better for me to pop in at points through the evening and perform little sets of magic, so it did not dominate the evening too much.   The lesson: Prepare in advance and find out about your audience and the location, BEFORE you actually get there to perform! – Dominic Reyes

Dominic’s experience teaches us that you have to be ready for any eventuality. He’s an established pro and had plenty of material to perform the gig professionally. However, if he had taken the time to ask a few questions FIRST, he would have been able to prepare and start the gig, in a structured and paced way.

You spend a great deal of time preparing your act. Spend time preparing for the situations you will perform in too!

Here are 4 quick tips to help you never have this experience at your close up magic bookings:

1) Get information about the close up magic bookings from the client

It’s vital that you or your agent either ask the client in person or have these questions on your booking form:

  • The location – The full address and phone number for the venue
  • Is there parking available?
  • Are there any special access requirements? – Ferry crossings, security gates, limited access conditions.
  • Who is the event planner or point of contact at the venue?
  • How many guests will be attending?
  • The dress code for the event.
  • The duration you would like the performance to last
  • Will the event be walk-around, table magic or a show?
  • Will other entertainment be running while the magic takes place?

2) Arrive early

Make sure you arrive at the venue an hour before you need to start. That way you have enough time to check out the venue, and deal with any surprises that have popped up.

3) Find a room or screened corner to be your base.

You need a place you can retreat to for resets and the breaks in the evening, so you’re not just standing around. Sometimes you can ask for a room for this, but other times, it may be a ‘chair store’ a screened off area or simply an unused corridor. Stay well away from the serving stations and the routes used by the waiters, as you really don’t want to be in the way.

4) View the room layout 

Being forewarned is being forearmed. Taking a look at where you will be performing BEFORE it’s full of guests, will give you a chance to ask for some changes, or to adjust your planned material to fit perfectly with the setting. Look out for these points:

  • Is there space to access all the tables when the guests are seated?
  • Which tables  have a clear view of your performance?
  • Will other tables be able to  watch the magic tricks, while you perform them to other tables?
  • Will this need angle adjustment to some of the techniques?
  • Does the seating allow everyone to see ok?
  • Is there going to be a lot of room noise?
  • Will the lighting cause you any problems? 

What next:
You may also find this article on mistakes magicians make when getting to a gig useful.  

We would love to hear any similar experiences you have had, or any advice on handling close up magic bookings that you would like to share. Please add them to the comments section below: