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NZBloke New user 23 Posts |
Do you use an agent? If not, why not. If yes, how have you found them? Helpful? Asking too much?
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Red Shadow Inner circle 1788 Posts |
No. Do the work yourself and save yourself the commission fees.
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NZBloke New user 23 Posts |
Yes I do at home here in New Zealand, but I am thinking about touring overseas. Some countries like America you aparently have to be 'employed' by someone. So am guessing an agent is the only option? Not sure...
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Eldon Inner circle Virden, IL 1137 Posts |
I book all my school shows through an agent. I know some guys have had bad experiences with agents but mine have been all good.
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Tony James Inner circle Cheshire UK 1398 Posts |
Theatrical agents in the UK dominated the entertainment business right through to the 1980s. Partly it reflected a traditional need.
The theatre managements owned lots of theatres employing hundreds of acts. It wasn't practical for them to set up a department to deal with each act independently. Acts were frequently unable to conduct business to their own advantage. Many who came from travelling performers never had sufficient education to make them competent business people. Agents were the doorway to the theatre managements who were always looking for new, fresh novelties and couldn't find them for themselves. And agents handled the acts and their business, leaving the act free to do what the act did best - to perform. The rise and fall of the club market - 1960 to 1980 - took over from the theatres and the agents and their acts simply changed venues. The only difference was duration. Theatre acts were mostly one week bookings but repeated week on week for three months across a circuit of theatres. Clubs were one night stands with a possibly repeat in a few months time. Agents offices became frenetic places with many times the phone calls, negotiations and paperwork flying about. Children's work was different. Certainly until the 1950s professional children's entertainers were few, the market small and those who needed an entertainer went to an agent. As post war restrictions eased in 1953, material availability increased, new thinking began and the children's magic effects market slowly developed and more magicians turned their hands to tackling children's entertainment. The catalyst was the 1946 edition of Open Sesame. It opened people's minds to the possibilities even if the lack of materials confined the supply of effects at that time. The expanding private birthday party market during the 1960s was driven by direct bookings and agents rarely became involved. Agents were involved in Christmas party events, plus in summer the then expanding corporate family fun day market influenced by the American market. American companies over here had an initial influence. these were lovely days and good business. Sadly it collapsed at the time of the 1987 stock market crash and the subsequent 1990s recession and has never returned in the UK except as an occasional one off, such as a company centenary. Agents also continued to be involved in supplying the holiday camp entertainment needs for acts of all sorts but increasingly holiday camps cut out agents and worked and booked the acts direct. The holiday camp market continues but is a shadow of its former self, many camps having closed and become housing estates. The new generation of children's entertainers were well educated and generally came into the business slowly, via part time working with a day job. By the time they turned pro they often had business experience they could apply to their entertainment business, administrative, sales and negotiating, geographic and territorial management and so on. They could pick up a phone, negotiate and sell their business and plan the logistics of travel and all the associated paperwork. frankly, neither they nor their clients needed an agent. It was the collapse of the club business and the subsequent 1990s recession which more or less saw the entertainment agents slide away. Today 97% of my business is direct with the client. At the same time there has been a big increase in a new area, event management. This is a logistics and planning business, involving booking acts but a great deal more, creative, theming, identity, promotion, locations, tents and toilets, stages, lighting, effects, visitor management including admission control and car parking. Yes, a bit like an agent, but it is all contracted in and it is a very different type of person who runs it. They are not ex acts as many agents were traditionally. They don't know OUR business, don't always understand the simple requirements we have which allows us to work to the client's best advantage. But that's a detail. There are still a few agents left whose main work is supplying music and comedy acts. Sadly, the words which put fear and trembling in their eyes are the two beginning with M. Magic and magicians. To be avoided at all costs. In a modern agent's experience, with the exception of a very few people they know well, magic and magicians means poor entertainment which generally brings complaints from the booker. So they avoid them. In simplistic terms, there is today such an overwhelming surplus of people calling themselves 'magician' that the few really good entertainers are swamped by the mediocre. Agents, events managers and end clients tend to avoid the magic world. Which is why the good ones often avoid the use of the words 'magic' and magician' in their promotional materials. Which is also why a few reliable magical acts are very busy and the rest are scraping for work.
Tony James
Still A Child At Heart |
NZBloke New user 23 Posts |
Thanks for these replies. I appreciate your thoughts a lot. I have the same problem as a ventriloquist. That word gives people preconceptions about the entertainer...
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Signor Blitz Elite user 419 Posts |
No agent here!
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themagiciansapprentice Inner circle Essex, UK 1381 Posts |
I've got two agents, but never had any bookings.
I've got to agree with Tony, on Saturday we did a puppet show in a park in Colchester as part of a free festival. We got mugged by people wanting us to do puppets, they got concerned when I also said I was a magician.
Have wand will travel! Performing children's magic in the UK for Winter 2014 and Spring 2015.
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Potty the Pirate Inner circle 4632 Posts |
I have several agents who give me some work, but book most of my gigs directly. Agents do play a valuable role for the higher end and corporate clients, as they (at least in theory) can supply a stand-in if the booked act becomes unavailable due to illness, etc.
In my experience there are two kinds of agents - the ones who expect to pay a pittance, and are always desperately seeking new acts, as the ones they've been using move on - and those that pay significantly more than you would normally charge. I have no problem with using agents, but am also becoming more pro-active in gettting corporate work directly. As Tony says, many places such as holiday camps, and tourist attractions realise they can save a lot of money by cutting out the middle man. Potty |
Tim Hannig Inner circle Chicago area 1147 Posts |
No agents for me.
Author of PERFORM, the 2020 Magic Cafe Book of the Year
"I loved this book!" Ken Weber "4 out of 4 stars!" Nick Lewin "This will be a classic of magic!" Mark Pocan performbettershows.com |
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