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Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
About 30 years ago, there was a close-up magician in Chicago that nobody had ever heard of. He was a rotund, bearded fellow, who worked at a couple of clubs for a ridiculously low price, with the understanding that he could hand out business cards, and that when he got a "real" gig, he could take the night off without penalty.
He got a lot of "real" work at "real" prices. Now, he commands very high prices, indeed. His name is Eugene Burger. A few years later, a young man came to Houston and tried the same thing at a chain of Caféterias. He would work one each night of the week. He got paid very little money. In fact, it hurt the rest of us, because it became known to the restaurant trade that he worked the restaurants for a very low price. Now he is booking top dollar trade shows out of Washington D.C. His name -- Charles Greene III. Both of these fellows had a couple of things in common. They were willing to hustle. They had excellent material. And people liked them. If you find the right restaurants in London or anywhere else, the same thing will work for you. But you have to be memorable. AND you have to find a place where the people who book the kinds of shows you want to work will go to eat. You won't book that kind of show at MacDonald's.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
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kinesis Inner circle Scotland, surrounded by 2708 Posts |
I do 1hr table hopping two nights a week, in a restaurant in Scotland. I get £55 per hour. Restaurants are very resistant to paying cash for a table magician. Unless there is an obvious return on their investment, they're not interested. Unless that is you're prepared to work for nothing forever. It's very difficult to communicate the benefits of having a table magician. It takes time to draw in custom and it takes time for customers to feedback to the management - Good luck.
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doug brewer V.I.P. 1142 Posts |
Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT do balloon animals at a restaurant if you really want to do magic. Balloons are the dark side of the force . . . once you go down that path, forever will it lead you . . .
I don't do balloons, but I've had management ask me if I do. The answer: a big fat NO! The next thing you know you'll be wearing a wig, a spongeball on your nose and will answer to "Biffy the Magic Clown." (No offense to Biffy, if you're reading this) For the original question: I think magic is the Perfect Job for a student. Work 1 or 2 nights a week and make more money in tips and pay than 20 hours of work hourly. I'd say work for free only once or twice (to entice management to use you), then insist on being paid. Very interesting discussion on working the UK. I visited back in the late 80's, ate a lot of mad-cow beef, and really enjoyed myself. London and Edinborough are awesome and I thought it would be really cool to live there for a while. So what's up? Is it just really hard to get decent work there (even outside of magic)? Doug Brewer San Diego, CA |
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