To all of the working Professional magicians and those who may part-time it; how long did you practice your magic before you decided to try to get paid to do it? How does one know when they're ready?
Is it like what I was told before I knew who I would marry, "you know when you know"? Any tips and advice welcome.

The moment you know for certain that you can go around the effect/trick in and out, inside out, forward or reverse, and you have all the escapes covered, you are ready. When every move and patter is second nature. When you don't even have to think but just perform ang glide through it. How long is relative. For some gifted individuals it comes quick. If it involves great skill like precision moves like catching or delicate touches such as perfect seconds , clean passes etc... then only the performer knows when he/she is ready.

Peace,

Rannie

I want to try and avoid a thread about how much you should get paid but here goes.
It is different for everyone. My first "gig" was offered to me by accident. I was just doing some magic and a friend of my mother invited me to perform at their companies Year End function. Some magician friends of mine from who I learned a lot were not to thrilled. They were not too thrilled because I had no idea what magicians charged and I charged (I was offered and accepted $10). I performed for that company for another 2 years at a stupid rate because I was too embarrased to ask for more money. When you can perform comfortably and you have done research on what the going rate is then Perform. It took me 7 years. But I started experimenting with magic when I was nine and only really got down to learning it when I was 14. My first performance was at 16. I was a wise kid who thought I knew everything and I didn't. Not much has changed since then but you will know when you are ready and if you were not ready when you did your first gig you will know why and fix it in a flash.
Enjoy

To be honest, I start performing effects, even if I'm not sure whether I can perform them perfectly. Why? Because even if you are perfect with this effect, when you perform under pressure, the situation changes completely. You are nervous, you make mistakes, your hands are shaking...... Because of that, I have no idea when I am perfect for the "real situation". So I just go out and perform.... learning by doing!

Magixx

You have to know your stuff in and out as said before but before you start to charge money perform for free. This gives you lots of experience and will give you an idea of how performing in the real world is like, just because you know the patter dosen't mean that when the real thing comes you'll be able to do it due to the constant interuptions that you may be faced with. So learn the material, perform for free for awhile and when you find your self comfortable start to charge money for your magic but start small and go from there.

If you are a part of a magic organization/club and you want someone else's approval, check with your club members (it helps if there are some working members to offer advice). Of course, it is up to you to either take their advice or not.

I started with a few free shows; there are usually plenty of those around. My first job was for the YMCA; part of the deal I made with them was that I would perform for free, but the organizer of the show would need to fill out an evaluation/critique form I would provide. The last question on the form was some thing to the effect of "Is this show worth paying for?". I only used this approach 3 times; with the support of my magic club and the customer evaluations I decided I had something worth paying for.

As far as practice goes I work on a routine until I feel it is ready; I show it to family, friends, co-workers, etc. I think most performers know when they should and shouldn't start performing something (dig deep and you'll know). When I am ready I try it out on the paying public and then I adjust and perfect it within its new environment (the paying performance environment)

Hope this helps,

Jered S.

The value of a magic club is hugely underestimated by new magicians. I know this cause I see it and I also thought it was a bunch of morons trying to tell me how to do things but the experience you can gain without running yourself into twists is very valuable. I suggest every new magician joins a magic club with pro's to show them the way. It is not very dificult to join one and well worth the while.

I don't think it depends on time some people buy a bag of tricks practice a bit and start preforming...So I think it just a matter of will...
By the way I don't earn money from magic...besides pickpocketing

All the best
joel

I don't think that time is the best indicator as to when you are ready to perform for the public. I started performing magic at bars only a year after I started close-up, but in retrospect I should have waited longer.

If you'll humor me, I'll describe what I would do today.

First, I would decide which venue where I would like to perform at, and then research routines that are most effect for that venue. Back in the early '80s when I did magic in bars, I would have killed to have studied the routines in "Fechter - The Magic of Eddie Fechter" and "The Magic of Matt Schulien".

Second, video tape yourself when you are performing. If you were in an the audience, would you be entertained by your material ? Is it magical ? Is it entertaining ? Are people having a good time, or are they just being polite ?

As you pull your routine together, write your routine down on paper, including patter, presentation, and misdirection. At the same time, search out (honest) advice from an experienced mentor/teacher ... hopefully such a soul can be found at your local magic club. Honest criticism is hard to find, and even harder to accept since your technique and performance at first will probably have lots of room for improvement.

As your routine gets polished, perform it for as many friends and family as possible (and again, try to videotape your performances whenever possible... be critical of these performances, and continue to update the routine.

By the time that you feel confident about your routine(s), and you are consistenly getting positive audience feedback, look for an "entry-level" place to start ... don't try to work at the best place in your area since you will likely make a lot of mistakes at first, so choose a location that is suitable for this learning environment. As your routine(s) get polished, then you can start to look for an ultimate location for your skills.

Hope this helps.

Well spoken but I still feel that the actual performance offers a lot more of a learning curve than a video tape especially if you are trying to sort out which patter works. I do comedy and there were times when I sucked because the audience didn't think it was as good as it looked to my friends. You get the hang of things very quickly when you mess up in front of strangers.
Don't rush out though and perform if you are not ready.