How to do Magic Tricks

Advice and Support for Magicians

8 Questions Magicians Should Answer When Arriving at a Venue

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Questions for Magicians at a Venue or EventDo you ever internally ask any questions when you arrive to do close up magic? It’s important that you take moment to look around the area you are going to be working and consider your surroundings. It’s easy to forget the real reason people are sat around the table for the evening:

8 Questions to ask yourself:

After you have arrived at the venue, take a moment to look around the room you will be performing in. Answer the following 8 questions:
  1. The Layout – Is there room to move between tables?
  2. Blackspots – Are there places with limited viability or bad angles?
  3. The Serving Flow – Where do the waiting staff enter and exit the room?
  4. Waiting areas – Where are the best places to wait when speeches or awards take place?
  5. VIP Tables – Where will the client be sitting?
  6. Bag Corner – Where can my magicians case/bag be stored and easily accessed?
  7. Table sides – Which side of each table would be best to perform from, to get the best visibility, yet providing shielding from the other tables?
  8. Table Time – How many tables will I need to do, and how much time can I allow per table?
Dominic Reyes talks about checking out the venue when arriving at a gig
Understanding the layout of the room and the places that you should avoid, so you are not in the way of the waiting staff, will mean you can quickly move around the room without getting in the way of anyone.
It’s much easier to do this BEFORE the guests fill the room, so make it a habit to arrive a few minutes earlier, so you can walk through the venue and note these points.

The Service.

Remember that you are NOT the most important member of staff in the room. The guests are there to eat and chat, your job as a magician is to entertain them IN-BETWEEN these primary activities. If waiters come to clear plates, stop and let them take over the table.
Careful planning, once you understand the serving flow, will mean you can work the opposite side of the room from the food being served, but sometimes a table will need to be cleared, while you are there. Let it happen and be happy about it. If you act annoyed that you have been interrupted, it comes across as ‘self important’.
Taking the time to scout out the venue and answer the 8 questions above will mean that you will face less unpleasant surprises at your gigs and will work much better with the restaurant staff.

Merchant of Magic Podcast – Episode 2

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Merchant of Magic Magicians PodcastIt’s been a while since we recorded our first podcast at the magic shop, as all the team were on full Christmas delivery mode, sorry about that!

Episode 2 features the same staggeringly high production values of episode 1, but now with a little extra added background hiss, awkward pauses, and pointless ramblings thrown in. Basically, it’s 3 magicians (Dominic Reyes, Ben Williams, and Paul Knight) sat in the magic shop chatting about practicing, performing and marketing for close-up magicians.

 

This episode, we discuss:

  • How to approach restaurants to get residency gigs.
  • How to use social media and your website to promote yourself.
  • How to create more time in your day for practice.

Download Podcast

Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes

What would you like to see us discuss in the merchant of magic podcast? Leave your suggestions in the comments section below and we will do our best to cover the areas of magic that have the most interest for our listeners.
If you enjoyed this episode of the merchant of magic podcast, please take a moment to give us a review on iTunes, It really helps the podcast to reach new listeners.

How To Do Magic Tricks Where People Are Eating

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By Dominic Reyes

how-to-do-magic-tricks-between-coursesSome of the most popular venues for close up magic are restaurants. People go there to relax, enjoy great food, socialize and be entertained. Because of this, restaurants are very busy places, and it’s important to know a few things about the structure of the evening and how to approach performing magic tricks where people are eating.

The Plan.

There are a few factors that you need to identify as soon as possible when you arrive:


Will you be the only magician?

Luckily, being a magician is not like time travel, and the universe will not end if two inhabit the same space.  Mostly you will be the only magician, but sometimes if there are several hundred guests, the clients may have booked a few magicians to make sure everyone gets to see the magic. The ideal ratio tends to be one magician for every 150 guests.  If it’s a large event, you may be working with a few more magicians, so find out where the setup  area is and go meet them. Now is the time to make sure you are not going to be doing the same tricks, and to decide how the tables will be split up.


How many tables?

You need to ensure that every table gets to see some magic during the evening.

When does the meal end?

Find out what will be happening when the coffee’s are served. Will there be speeches? Perhaps dancing or a cabaret show will start. Do they have an after dinner speaker or awards? Knowing this is vital as you can then split up your time at each table to make sure you don’t get struck at the end with tables still to do.


Is there something happening between courses?

Sometimes awards may be planed between courses, or a speech will be given. Find this out in advance, so you don’t get any nasty surprises, right in the middle of performing at a table.

What type of meal will be served?

Will it be a set series of courses or a buffet? If it’s a set meal, find out how many courses will be served.

If at all possible don’t perform while your guests are eating.

You are going head to head with food, which is satisfying one of your guests primary drives, so don’t try to compete with that!

Dominic Reyes writes: I was performing at the Dorchester and was booked for a private room in the Chinese restaurant. All good, but it poses a challenge for magicians. The room is tiny. Just big enough for one large round table, with no side rooms and only one exit. The entrance is a solid windowless wooden door leading to a very busy corridor used by the waiters to serve all the areas. Basically, I had nowhere to wait other than in the room with the guests thought the meal, which consisted of 9 courses. As soon as a course ended, it was whisked away and another arrived. This can be a problem for magicians, as there are no defined start and end points for the magic to be presented. I ended up entertaining while the guests ate. They did not seem to mind at all, but it’s very hard to keep the group’s attention while they rolled aromatic crispy duck into pancakes.

The buffet.
If it’s a buffet, you will face several problems doing magic tricks where people are eating:

  • People continually getting up to leave the table.
  • Some guests will have finished while others still have full plates
  • Guests from other tables can visit the table right in the middle of a trick.
  • Courses tend to go on for much longer

In those types of meals, it’s often better to let the first course, go by, and wait for the guests to become more relaxed. After they have all visited the buffet at least once, they will be more relaxed and happy to focus on other things.

Knowing the format right from the start, lets you decide how much time you can allocate to each table. Find this out right from the start, so you don’t have to rush the last few tables.  Not fun at all.

DO THIS: When you arrive, go and look around the room before your guests arrive. Count the tables and look at the layout. Chances are   there will be staff putting out the finishing touches to the tables. One of these people will be the event planner. That person can very quickly answer your questions so you are all set for the event.

Do you have any further tips for doing magic tricks where people are eating? Leave a comment below