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mmreed Inner circle Harrisburg, PA 1432 Posts |
Hey guys (and gals)
What advice would you give to a magician that has never done any table hop work, but is looking to start... Are restaurant owners sensitive to magicians new to this? Any techniques or approaches for new guys to use to land the deal? Any pitfalls to avoid? I don't do table hopping work myself, so I thought I would ask the pros here.
Mark Reed
Wedding and Event Entertainment |
TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
3 pieces of advice:
READ THE FOLLOWING: David Stone - Close up magic book Ken Weber - Maximum Enteratinment WATCH THE FOLLOWING: KozmoMagic - Live at the Jailhouse DO THE FOLLOWING: Get your 3 best tricks together into a little routine. That's what you do.
www.theambitiouscard.com Hand Crafted Magic
Trophy Husband, Father of the Year Candidate, Chippendale's Dancer applicant, Unofficial World Record Holder. |
pepka Inner circle Uh, I'm the one on the right. 5041 Posts |
Wow Mark, it's a shame there isn't anyone in your area who works restaurants on a regular basis. Hmmmm.... If there was, I'm sure you'd go to one of his gigs and check him out and pick his brain a little bit. OR you could just hang around magicians who only do magic at the local magic meeting, never perform for real paying audiences. Yeah, that's the ticket.
Oh, and Frank forgot one book, Kirk Charles The Restaurant Magician's Handbook. |
montymagi Special user Slidell La 752 Posts |
I love restaurant work. I would say the best thing is to know where you fit in and how you being there helps the restaurant. Know what table turnover is and how to not affect it. Once you know how you can help the restaurant make money you can educate the manager. A lot of people will jump on me for this next part but it works for me dang near every time. Done an hour or two at the restaurant for free. Once he sees the cilents laughing and talking about how good you are he will see the up side. I have only done this one time where I did not get the gig and that was because the restaruant was corp. owned.
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mmreed Inner circle Harrisburg, PA 1432 Posts |
Quote:
On 2008-12-30 02:59, pepka wrote: Pep!!! I do plan to pick your brain when we get together next I had a friend email me asking about this stuff so I tossed it in here to get some info for now.
Mark Reed
Wedding and Event Entertainment |
Natanel Special user 739 Posts |
I have to say I was pretty disappointed with Maximum Entertainment. It all felt like common sense, and there wasn't any unique insight or perspective.
When it comes to practical restaurant advice, I really cherish my Eugene Burger books. The volume that is actually a collection of early manuscripts, that I believe is entitled "The Art of Close-up Magic" is one of the best works on restaurant magic.
People who work for Theory 11: Do you want a young guy without a stupid gelled haircut or eurotrash jeans for your videos? PM me.
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
Quote:
On 2008-12-30 09:56, Natanel wrote: Interesting position on the Weber book.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
Natanel Special user 739 Posts |
^ I don't mean to malign it. I'm sure the advice would be helpful for someone who has never done much in the way of professional performing. It's just that the book seemed to be so highly recommended (even Jeff McBride recommended it personally at a workshop I attended) and I found it a little disappointing.
When it comes to practical advice, works like The Restaurant Workers handbook are great, and when it comes to the theory and philosophy of tablehopping, works like Tommy Wonder's tablehopping essays are highly valuable. To me, Maximum Entertainment tried to be a little of both and didn't really go in to either with enough depth.
People who work for Theory 11: Do you want a young guy without a stupid gelled haircut or eurotrash jeans for your videos? PM me.
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
Well you did malign it.
Interesting how at your age you have surpassed such a work. You must be proud.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
Natanel Special user 739 Posts |
Pettiness notwithstanding, I'd like to second a recommendation for the "Jailhouse" DVDs. I particularly like Garrett Thomas's material. A really remarkable performer who is well worth seeing live (I understand he does consulting for Blaine now).
Those and David Stone's DVDs can be a fun, vibrant way to get some tablehopping inspiration.
People who work for Theory 11: Do you want a young guy without a stupid gelled haircut or eurotrash jeans for your videos? PM me.
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
Pettiness? Where? You DID malign the book.
As for your question about restaurant owners being sensative to performers who are "new to this", let me just offer an opinion. I simply would say that my advice would be to not really let them know you are new to it. I would recomend getting a restaurant job so you can learn "restaurant language". Learn what things mean and more importantly learn HOW TO BE OUT OF THE WAY. Learn what is and is not important to staff members. These things will keep you more jobs than anything you can imagine. I would not get a job at THAT restaurant mind you, but the language is universal. Don't let them know you are "new" yet don't put yourself off as more than you are. This can be pretty obvious when a 19 year old who has never worked a restaurant before comes in and acts like an expert. Owners who have been in the business for 40 years really don't take well to this. I don't think they mind "new" so much as "fake" if you get my meaning. As for a pitfall I would avoid making claims you simply can not back up. Promises to "increase bottom line" and other such BS have really bitten magicians in the but in the past few months. The economey is the largest factor in restaurants right now, and if you promise a better bottom line, and don't deliver, you are OUT. Rather center on "atmosphere" or what the guests get as a result of your service as opposed to reminding them how much you are paid. Don't plan on telling someone who has been in the business forever how you know more about increasing business than he does. It is a tough sell. If you don't know anything about restaurants, at least know that knowing magic tricks does not make you know anything more about restaurants. Your relationship with the staff will be more important than almost anything else. If they like you, they don't complain on your nights off about you. They will welcome you so cultivate those relationships well. These are not hard fast rules, and one may have another opinion and be 100% right as well. Beauty of it is people can have differing viewpoints and each be right for what they do.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
puggo Inner circle 2022 Posts |
I do not have a residency yet, but will be aiming for one this year (I normally work part time, strolling, parties, weddings etc).
Stuff that I found useful: This place (magiccafe) - aside from dodging the odd 'bun fight', reading various threads & posts from the many experienced people has been enlightening (OK, enough a** kissing!) The James Prince 'Menu of Miracles' DVDs seemed to contain useful advice (especially as UK based), as did David Stone. Jim Paces book. Tommy Wonder And now to research some of the things mentioned above.. Happy New Year to all Charlie |
Magicmatt1982 Loyal user Southeren IL 295 Posts |
All of those are great. I love david stone and jim pace. I just came out with a dvd on resturant work. Everything on my dvd is tested. It is shot in a real resturant with live people. Not paid actors. Also at the end of the dvd I am interviewed by another magician. It is great for the info on it and it is worth the price just for the effects. If you would like on you can get one at my website http://www.matthewhampel.com and just click the store button.
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MByrne217 New user 3 Posts |
Cool conversation going on here. One thing that I would say (that many of the above books and DVDs DO say but sometimes gets largely ignored by magicians) is to know the restaurant LONG before you decide what magic you will be doing.
Spacecop touched on this in an above post. Take your significant other there and actually eat there. Look at the clientele: is this the demographic your magic applies to? Look at the table turning rate: Is it too fast for what you would like to do? All managers, restaurants and otherwise, love to talk about their business and what they do to make it better. If you start the conversation with information based on your own dining experience (rather than a cold walk in and asking for a job) your already higher on the list in that manager's eyes. Think of it as reconnissance work! Thanks! Mike |
rick727 Regular user Houston, TX, USA 188 Posts |
Mark,
I just saw that Michael Ammar has a downloadable MP3 file called "Restaurant Magic Business" by Charles Greene. I have not listened to it, so I can't comment on it. The price is only $8.95, which seems like a low risk option. You can see details here: http://www.ammarmagic.net/mp3files.html One tip I can offer is to go to the restaurant as a customer before you try and get them to hire you. This might not be practical if you are going for the "shotgun" approach, which I do not recommend. You should target certain restaurants and Good luck!
Practice what you present.
Present what you practice. |
Nash Inner circle Hong Kong ~ USA 1101 Posts |
Quote:
On 2008-12-30 09:22, spacecop wrote: I agree with spacecop. Doing free show is a good way to get your foot in the door. But don't offer to do the whole deal for free, tell them you will do the first hour free, if they like what they see, you will do the second hour and they can pay your full rate that night. GO GET THEM TIGER!!
I teach leaders the magic of curiosity and empathetic communication. keynote Speaker | Seattle magician
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Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
Danny:
I don't think Natanel actually "maligned" Ken Weber's book. He just wasn't impressed with it, because he felt it was common sense, and didn't contain any special insight that he wasn't aware of. There are a lot of books like that. I searched everywhere for a copy of Neo Magic (the original one). I finally paid a premium and got a copy. I felt that the information was basic stuff that anyone who had been in the business for any length of time at all should know. I felt I had wasted my money. Would I recommend it to a beginner? Yes. Would I recommend it to someone who had been successfully producing shows for a long time? No. Not everyone is going to like every one of the so-called "must have" books on any subject. That doesn't mean that the books are worthless. It just means that they aren't to everyone's taste. David Berglas is really ticked off at me, because I read his book, then sold it for what I'd paid for it. I felt cheated, because certain things that were advertised in some of the early ads were not actually in the book. That doesn't mean the book is worthless. It just means that I didn't get what I wanted out of it. And that's the way it goes. But back to the original subject. I did a lot of restaurant work. The first thing is to have a nice repertoire of short, good close-up tricks. Try to keep off the table. The next thing is to go out and hit the restaurant owner up for the gig. Show him how you can cover for problems in the kitchen. Show him how you can make the dining experience memorable. Don't do more than 30 minutes TOTAL as an audition. It won't take him more than half that time to see how good you are and how well you handle customers. Also, don't tell him you are new to restaurant work.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
Nala Nosmoht Special user Surrey,B.C. Canada, 641 Posts |
I just noticed your "Topic": "Advice for magician looking to break into restaurants" ............. I was going to recomend a crowbar , flashlight, gloves and a mask. (chuckle - chuckle , my New Years joke.
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