Let's assume that you're an amateur magician with pretty decent skills and a few years of practice under your belt. Still, you don't have any walk-around experience. How should you get your feet wet?

Conventional wisdom states that one should never perform for free... but are there exceptions in this case? Should you:

a. Accept free charity gigs?
b. Donate time to hospitals, etc.?

I'm not suggesting you take paying gigs from working pros or that you perform for free in venues where pro's typically charge.

I'm just curious which are the best ways to get started performing for the public when you have the moves, but not the experience.

Please let me know your thoughts!
Joe

Donating time to hospitals, seniors' homes, veterans' facilities, and the like is probably the best way to "get your feet wet."

These places usually have little or no money for any form of entertainment.

Not only would this be a proper charity "gig" but it would be much appreciated and you would feel good about it.

Try to get regular volunteer charity gigs in your magic field of interest and go at it to improve your performance skills, confidence and poise.

The performance skill improvement benefits from quality performance time greatly outweigh the no revenue downside. I've been volunteering at a hospital doing walk-around bedside magic on a regular basis since last November and just now am I contemplating going after a paid gig. Of course, I want my routines bulletproof and am constantly tweaking the presentations and spectator interactions, but there would be no way to get this amount of experience relying on in-home practice time or family/friend performances.

Plus, you help a worthy cause as you get to pick where you volunteer.

In one of McBride's DVDs, he noted that he snapped up as many free charity performances as he could to get his skills up to speed. That's not a bad act to follow.

Here's a thread that discusses different volunteer magic gigs:

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......5&66

GL!

Performing for charity or any other like cause, you will get experience, your name out, and a good way to develop the do's and do nots. When you then get into an arena of being paid, you will have valuable experience from it.

I live in a small town (50,000)and honed my skills for several years before doing free work for kindergardens, schools fetes, etc. got my name out there very quickly. A year later, I was in a position where (I do magic part time)I had to knock work back occasionally.

Basically, I did the work for free and when I started to hear comments like "You should do this professionally" and "Do you have a business card" a lot, I went the next step up.

That's a good start.
CHARITY WORK..

Charity work is good, if you can afford it. That may sound like a rather stingy way of looking at things, but that isn't the intent at all. Let me explain what I mean.

When you are just starting out and you have the necessary skills, but not the experience, you may have a tendency to take every charity gig you can fit into your schedule. That's a kind thing to do, but there can be some undesired consequences.

1) You may become overexposed.
2) You may forget to allow time for possible real gigs.
3) You may develop a reputation for being a person who is suitable only for charity events.
4) People who are not charities may impose upon you to do free shows.

That last one is a major concern. When I was first starting out -- back when I was in High School -- there was a lady here who was a kind of wannabe Judy Garland type. She had lots of connections to powerful political figures, and she booked a lot of entertainers into shows for them -- all free. These politicos had the money to afford to pay, but she was really good at conning people into working for these non-charitable free events. There were always promises of real gigs in the future, but none of them ever happened.

So just be careful, that's all.

On the other hand, the benefits are great. The look on a child's face when he or she is hurting, and you relieve a little of the pain by making them feel good for a few minutes -- that's really special.

Just make sure you know how to set boundaries.

How about taking it to the street. you might have to use some different material but it will help you to get the audience interaction part down and that is just as, if not more, important then the tricks themsilves.

Charity work is great, but be aware that doing FREE shows almost always gets you more FREE shows. Although the folks that run these things will tell you that you will get 'exposure', and mean it in the best of ways, the reality is that mostly free shows get you more free shows. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but just be aware of it. On the other hand it IS a way to get experience working for audiences that can be some of the best for which you will ever work. I said this in another post: Sick children appreciate ANYTHING that can transport them out of the hospital and somewhere else and THEN occupy their minds for some time after.

You can build off the experience that you get in doing this type of show and then go for it and do paid shows. Best,

I started with Charity Work usually during Christmas season for religious foundations.

While studying the Maher Ventriloquism course, they also recommended going to the places all of you have listed in order to get your feet wet.

One caviet (sp?) was to NEVER go into a free event and treat it as if you can get away with anything. Always give them your best, regardless. A magician or vent that goes into a show unprepared is just asking for trouble. Rehearse your act and tricks and get them down pat before you even enter the door.

Not trying to be rough, just pointing out that a poor performance is never welcome.

Before I became a professional, I was working in the corporate world. I would always perform walk-around magic at every corporate cocktail party or similar function that I attended.

I was in my twenties then and many of my friends were getting married. I would always perform walk-around at the wedding receptions.

These performances gave me the confindence to start performing for $.

I eventually started getting requests to perform for pay at other corporate functions and weddings. This was without any business cards or marketing of any kind.

I like what a lot of you are saying... "Free gigs will lead to more free gigs"... very true! How people see you is exactly what they will use you for in the future when the opportunity arrises... It goes all the way to how you run your business, your clothes, personality fit to venues and people, etc...

>>> I will add, try to convey Your Worth/Value or even the Value$$ of any pro that they could have chosen so they know you are giving a Discount of FREE "this time" cuz you really like their Cause or whatever.. and being honest that you are looking for some practice might be risky (although being honest is key too) I would just leave it out and treat it like business .... Makes a HUGE difference in business down the road. I am a full time magician who has actually won many business awards and trust me when I tell you, you do not want to set yourself up for an image that will take many years to overcome once you land real working jobs... AND THANK YOU very much for being a "pro" already by not trying to undercut folks making a true living at this! Very commendable. cheers to you! rich

I'm new to magic and when I learn something new I hit the streets and try it out.. this really helps my confidence.. cause odds are if I screw up ill never see that person again anyways

I am too looking to move from domestic work to private work.

I do close up magic at Christmas for family. They love it, and in fact the in-laws INSIST I do magic tricks at Christmas. So, this year I am going to a hotel for Christmas and will do a show for them...no doubt other people there will show interest and I will try to get some practice with strangers too.