Okay.

I got a call today from a Marketing Manager of a franchise restaurant comparable to Dave & Buster's. They have employees they call hosts at each location who do balloon animals for their guests. I was asked if I would be interested in training 8-12 employees in a group session for 3 hours to teach them how to perform basic magic using little to no props. I told her this project was definitely interesting for me and that I would get back to her with my fee.

Now here is my question. How would you guys price this training session? I am clueless right now as to how to approach this. I welcome all comments and feedback.

Might be more money in for you if you try to sell them on the idea of booking REAL magicians in their establishment - and then acting as an agent to book their talent.

Learning a "few tricks" these people are going to be inept at dealing with situations that can come up during a performance. You can teach a novice tricks, but you can't teach experience and professionalism.


Lyndel

Sounds like Dave and Busters, is going to phase out magicians.

Hey, its cheaper to pay an employee to do tricks for minimum wage than it is to hire a magician at $50/hour and up. That's what management is looking at. After all, isn't magic "Easy?" Cam't "anyone" do it? There's been a few infomercials selling that line. "Learn a trick in just 10 minutes-- just buy my video"

I'm actually not concerned about this though. There will always be room for good entertainers.

I received a call like this from a chain called Pizza Inn a few years ago. Teaching basic balloons was easy, but the majority of the employees just didn't care about the magic. I believe that performing magic is something you need a certain level of passion for in order to be even remotely competent. I explained this to the local franchise owner and he accepted it completely. We focused on the balloons and built various jokes and fun routines into the sculptures. It was a huge hit and he had me come back every 6 months for new employees and a fun refresher course for the older ones.

Jcmagicman,
My office received this call as well. I am not sure if one should do such. Still debating in my mind.

Scott, I aree completly with the last line. Well the whole post really LOL.

I think that even once they learn Skips point that magic is more about the magician than the trick, they will most likely drop magic for a while, then move to hire magicians.

All sound advice.

I'm going to have to digest this info and sit back and see the big picture before I make a decision. This is a tough call on my part.

About 25 years ago, K-Mart tried the same thing. They opened two pizza places with the idea of training busboys to perform magic. If it worked, they were going to put them next to every K-Mart in the country.

It was a disaster. A huge, unmitigated, really lousy idea, disaster. (Lasted about two years, and they lost like $1 million in the process.)

By the end, though, they gave up on the amateurs and actually hired some real performers instead. The last year or so before they padlocked the places, you could have seem some nice work. But by then it was way too late. It was an embarrassing debacle. Bad for the company and bad for the art form.

My advice it to try to talk them out of it. Let them know that some things are harder than they look. Professional entertainment is one of them.

Dan
Day 31

Tell them K mart tried it. THAT should be proof enough for anyone of exactly how bad an idea it really is.

This is a tough call?

My God man how long have you been into magic really?

Anybody with enough experience should know right off the bat the whole scenerio is backwards and won't work.

Training minimum wage restaraunt employees to do magic on a pro level working with real paying customers is NOT a good buisness idea for you or them.

When I read your first post it took about 20 seconds for me to realise how bad an idea it truly is...20 seconds.

You want any kinda money outta this?

Sell yourself to the company, book gigs with them, that's what should be first and foremost on your mind.

If Dave and Busters is already as...um..."non-thinking-about-this" as
they sound, I don't know if they'll really comprehend this point.....

You can't teach them to be magicians, but you can teach them a couple of tricks and stunts that they can use to improve their tips and to keep kids quiet. And you're looking at real basic stuff, like real basic.

Make sure the management know the difference between a magician, and what they'll get. They'll still go ahead with it, the staff will be happy to have a couple of tricks to make tips, but I think you'll find they rarely use them. They'd still be room for a pro magician in the restaurant, and maybe it's worth showing them what you can do?

Paul

A young fellow told me that at Sesame Place if you can juggle you don't have to push a broom, but they offer no financial rewards for juggling. If I get $150 an hour for juggling and my competition is getting the minimum wage he can learn how to juggle on his own. The good jobs in this country are disappearing fast enough without my help. Before you know it someone will ask you to train undocumented aliens to twist balloons for $5 a day. How many of you ever heard of the shrinking middle class?

What I would do is charge by how many employees you are training

How much is it worth to start chipping away at completely eliminating the market altogether?

Ha ha, I can just picture all of us who would work in restaurants marketing ourselves as magic instructors for waitstaff instead haha.

The powers that be in this country want all of us to train our minimum wage replacements. I strongly suggest that we all vote for the candidates that we think will supports our way of life. The choice is yours please vote in November because your future depends on it.