I didn't know where to post this and couldn't do a search for it, so here's my question: has anyone built a business around teaching magic classes/workshops?

And I don't mean to other magicians. I am talking about classes for regular people to learn magic tricks to build public speaking skills, entertain friends, and use magic for business.

Yes, this is done regularly by many companies.

What kind of participation have the classes had? 5 students? 20 students?

A local magician conducts classes at the local college. Adult education classes at night. He only gets about 5 people at a time.

I really don't understand your comment, "not magicians" as once you learn magic tricks and perform them, you are a magician.

I have known car salesman use magic tricks to "break the ice" in sales. Recently a barber attended the local class and is having fun with his clients.

These classes only teach much of the magic found in the beginner books on the market. Do to price concerns, it is very difficult to charge several hundred dollars and supply such items as sponge balls. It is best to find items around the house as tools to use in magic classes.

I am teaching a class tonight actually. It is at a college. The students pay $65 for 5 classes.

They learn very basic stuff, mostly impromptu stuff.

This class is for adults (13 and over) but is only adults. Most of the folks who have taken my classes in the past have a little bit of magic background. They like to do tricks already. I get paid a flat fee for the whole thing. The college will pay for supplies, but I usually never turn in any of the paperwork to be compensated. We use cards, coins, rubberbands and household items.

I have taught summer "day camp style classes" that last a week, and have had over 25 kids want to be in the class. But we limit it to 10. The night classes usually have between 4-8 for kids, and the adult classes get 3-6. My summer classes last a week and meet every day (5 days total), and the night classes last 5-6 weeks but meet once per week.

I have taught:
basic kids class
sleight of hand class for adults (which is not to much sleight of hand)
and an impromptu class for adults


I have a lot of fun teaching these. it pays pretty good, and happens at a time when I don't usually have shows (thursday night, or MON-FRI at 10 am in the summer).
Of course the other benefit is that these folks really like magic, they end up really liking me. And who do you think they call for private parties. Getting paid to market, that is cool!


-scott

Sb, great reply. I was wondering if there was actually a market for magic classes, and it seems like there could be. Thanks for the info!

Last summer I taught magic at a local day care summer camp. I taught for four weeks, 3 days per week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) for 1 1/2 hours each day. I had a total of 25 students, but there was never that many because since it was a summer camp, sometimes kids were on vacation with their parents. The age spread was 5 to 8 years. The younger ones were more of a challenge due to shorter attention spans and more difficulty with motor skills. The original curriculum I put together was changed daily for the first week as I realized what the limitations were with this age group. During the last week we rehearsed for our finale, which was a magic show which we put on for the parents and staff. The finale was an hour long and it was a combination of me doing some of my best children's magic (good marketing exposure) and that was interspersed with the kids doing magic. I left it open so that they had the option of not doing any tricks which they felt uncomfortable with. They would all get up and do a jumping rubber band or knot on a rope, etc. At the end we did a stage illusion (arabian tent) using cardboard boxes. One child was selected by me (based on auditions) to be the one who was the box jumper. The rest of the kids all participated in working the illusion. It took a lot of rehearsal, but it came off well.

I got paid $600 for that month plus expenses ($5 per child). I did it as a "pilot" to see how it would work. It worked well, plus I liked the fact that I was working my magic business in the mornings during the week when I otherwise would have been doing anything else but. I believe there is a market for this, but I just never continued my marketing in that area. Now that I have my program together, however, I am good to go.

I think there is a niche in using magic to teach public speaking, I have worked with a working pro to do this with excellent results, using simple beginner effects that he chose and was comfortable revealing. My concern is where is the line drawn so as not to reveal secrets. Where does it end as a beginner or "kid's magic trick" Svengali deck? Professor's nightmare?