Is it Time to Throw Away Your Magic Collection?

Is your magic collection dragging you down?

Is it time to throw away your magic collection?

Although this advice is aimed at readers that are thinking of becoming professional magicians, it could help anyone feeling they are drowning in material but making little progress..

I’m going to assume that you are reading this because you want to move into magic further and start the progression to become a working magician. If that is the case.. It’s time to clear things out!

Part of the process of becoming a working magician is a commitment to ‘weed’ or ‘prune’ the amount of material you work on and collect. It’s a change of mindset. It’s time to look at the magic you collect in a new ‘commercial’ way.

It’s time to move away from seeing magic as a fun hobby

Up until now, your reasoning for collecting new magic was probably that the trick was ‘cool’, the props were interesting, or that it fooled you when you watched it being performed. These are all reasons to collect magic as a HOBBY. You need to start assessing magic for its value to YOUR audience, YOUR style, and YOUR act. Magic needs to be chosen for its commercial qualities.. How well you can present it, how easy it is to transport and carry, the impact it has when YOU perform it, how practical the gimmicks are for regular set up and reset etc. Chances are, 90% of the magic you have collected up until this point, simply will not make the grade.. Why are you storing it?

Begin a process of CULLING your magic collection

Yes, I know… It’s your beloved magic collection… Your pride and joy.. Perhaps how you have actually come to define yourself.. But is it time to move on? Turning professional is about a change of mindset, uncluttering your material, and becoming very selective. I’m not suggesting that you give away your magic book library, or DVD collection.. I’m referring to all the props and gimmicks, the packet tricks and contraptions.. All the stuff you purchased, played with and then put away, with the nagging feeling that one day you will return and take the time to master it. These boxes and drawers of ‘stuff’ that you don’t perform are clutter.. It has no place in helping you reach your GOAL of becoming a professional magician.. Clear it out.

I don’t want to throw away my beloved magic collection!

You don’t have to get rid of the magic you already own if you don’t want to. Just stop adding to it.. BECOME SELECTIVE. You can still keep the parts of your magic collection that are not involved in your income as a magician. This is your ‘collection’.. A fun pastime. You are not throwing away everything, just trimming down the distracting clutter.

The magic collection a working magician SHOULD build.

There are two types of magic that are of real value to professional magicians:

Working Material & Potentially Working Material.

Working Material – These are tricks that you can perform well, they fit your style and you get great reactions when you perform them. Chances are, they are already in your regular performing sets or act.

Potential Working Material – Tricks that are a work in progress, but WILL become working material. These are the effects you are working on with a practice and rehearsal drill. This material is definitely going to be in your working act

Everything else is junk or collectable items you own just for the fun of it (designer decks of cards, posters etc). It might be ‘junk you love dearly’ but it’s still junk. If you can’t bring yourself to dump it, make sure it’s stored away and you don’t make the junk pile bigger. Feel free to surround yourself with your ‘collectables’ it’s part of your passion for magic, but these things should not take up much of your energy, focus or time.

I know this is hard.. Most magicians that read this will not be able to bring themselves to clear out their magic collection fully, because they are so emotionally attached to the magic props they love. But:

YOUR PROPS ARE NOT THE MAGIC.

THEY EITHER HELP YOU CREATE MAGIC, OR DISTRACT YOU FROM IT.

I hope you found this interesting or helpful. If you did, the biggest compliment you can give me is to share this post using the buttons below:

First Steps to Become a Professional Magician – The Plan

by Dominic Reyes 3 Comments

The very first step to become a professional magician is to plan how you will achieve it. You need a plan!

You have been practicing your magic, learning new material and performing magic casually for your family and friends, but deep down you are still not satisfied.. You want to become a professional magician! If that sounds like you.. Then you need to plan your approach.

Ask yourself a series of questions to see if you want to become a professional magician:

Do you want to perform magic with a public audience for a fee?

Would you like to generate a full time income, or just earn some extra money to supplement the lifestyle you want?

What do you hope to achieve by becoming a professional?

Are you happy to work alone, or would you prefer to team up with a partner?

Where would you like to perform? Locally, or will you choose a specific area or location that has a market for entertainment?

How much would you like to earn.. How much do you actually NEED to earn?

How often are you prepared to work? Can you work every weekend or every evening..?

What type of show would you like to present?

Do you have a backup plan if you fail to generate the income you need for your current commitments? Can you adjust those commitments to allow you time to build up an income stream?

That’s just a few of the questions you should ask yourself right now.. The sooner you start thinking about the REAL STEPS involved in working as a professional magician, rather than focusing on collecting more magic tricks and techniques, the sooner you can start putting actions into place to achieve your goal.

Create a plan by setting goals.

Take a moment RIGHT NOW to write down where you would like to be on one, two, and five years time. The people that set short term and long term goals are much more likely to achieve them compared to people that bumble along, hoping that their dreams will just ‘happen’ one day. Unless you define exactly what you want (by writing it down as an affirmation/goal) you will find it very hard to achieve anything other than by chance. Your future does NOT need to be left to chance…

Making a Magicians Showreel – Filming Your Magic Tricks at a Gig

by Merchant of Magic 3 Comments

Do you ever film your magic when you are doing a magic show? If you haven’t considered doing this, it may be worth looking at why this can be a valuable asset for making a magicians showreel.

When it comes to keeping a video record of a magic show, stage magicians have it easy! They can set up a camera and film each show they do, getting a great deal of material to use for their marketing. What about us close up magicians? How do we get footage to be used for making a magicians showreel and promotional material? Let’s look at the best way to fix this:

When you attend a magic gig, we recommend taking a good video camera with you. Many smartphones have excellent video capability now, so it’s worth investing in a smartphone that can capture HD video.

Getting Permission to film

Steve writes:

‘I wonder if the clients who have paid good money for magic at their event, will [see videos filmed at their event] and wonder what their magician is doing whist being paid to entertain THEIR guests…?!’

If you keep pulling out your camera and taking shots or video, your clients may not like it. You’re supposed to be there to entertain. You’re on THEIR time, not yours. It’s vital that you get permission to film, not just from the client but also from the venue. You should also pick the times and places you film carefully.

When you, or your agent take a booking, ask the client if it would be OK for you to film a few short clips of the magic. Offer to give them a copy too. Explain that you are keeping a video diary of your magic which helps you improve, and also helps your business grow.

If you don’t want to film your performance, you could explain to the client that you will only film, during parts of the evening when you can’t perform, such as during the speeches or awards, or before and after your booking time. That’s a good time to film some testimonials or a short talk about your services as a magician. You will find that most clients don’t have any objection to this. If they do, then there is no need to push the point. You don’t need to film at every gig, just enough of them, over time, to build up your footage.

Get it in writing.

It’s important that you include a section in your booking contract giving you permission to film and to be allowed to use the footage commercially. A quick Google search will bring up several template contracts for ‘signing off’ permissions that you can use.

Having a spectator film for you.

If you are with a group of spectators and have established a good relationship with them, ask one of them to film the next magic trick you perform. Hand your phone to one of them and prompt them to capture the reactions of everyone going crazy over what’s about to happen. That gets a laugh, and the person filming will enjoy the process. You can tell them that you plan to email a copy to the host of the evening as a souvenir.

You will find that many of the spectators will also ask for a copy, so it’s a great time to capture their email address’s so you can forward it to them later with your details.

Quality.

The footage will tend to be quite raw. The idea of live filming like this is to create something REAL, in the moment, and live. The footage will have terrible production values, but it’s of great value for that very reason. It’s valuable to include material like this when making a magicians showreel. Here’s an example filmed at a gig by professional magician Mike Fairall.

The footage you capture doesn’t need to be perfectly shot. You want something live, fresh and REAL. You can edit the footage and cut sections in and out later, if you want to use some of the footage for a professional showreel. The main aim of live video, is to build up a series of short videos, that capture your energy and how much fun the spectators are having.

The best time to film for making a magicians showreel.

Before you start the gig, whilst the guests are still in their meeting, or the wedding service is still going on.
Outside the venue, before you arrive.
During the speeches, presentations or awards.
After the gig, when you have packed up.
Build it into a magic trick

It’s a good idea to arrive early at your gigs. It gives you a perfect opportunity to check out the venue and record a short video about your services.

Think about how you could ask a spectator to film a trick and the footage become part of the trick itself. Could an extra revelation or magical event happen when the footage is played back to them?

Testimonials.

Asking a few spectators to record a short testimonial is very valuable to you. You can do this after you finish for the night. A great place to capture this, is outside the venue, where people gather for a break. Also, you might sound out the client when they thank you at the end of the gig, and see if they would find it fun to record something for you.

Remember your audience when making a magicians showreel

When you film, bear in mind who you are filming this for. The footage is NOT for other magicians. It’s not about how successful you are. The footage should be aimed at your target audience. As a magician, your target is the host of a magic event. The problem they need a solution for, is how their guests will be kept entertained and happy.

Your footage should show themwhy you are a solution to this problem. Your technical competency as a magician can be assumed. The focus of the footage should be on spectators having a great time and being entertained, NOT how well you can perform a sleight or flourish.

Recording footage of your magic to use in making a magicians showreel isn’t hard to do, as long as you get permission and don’t press people to take part. It shouldn’t get in the way for your show or your services.

NEXT: Creating a Magicians Brand