We did a Barnes and Noble store in Willow Grove Pa, and worked from about 9-midnight for well over 1000+ people. The stores was so packed it was simply amazing. They had a lot of fun activities for the kids and a special section where the kids could get their pics taken as Harry etc., a place to make a magic wand or write a letter to Harry and a lot more.

As part of our deal, we got one of the very first books, if not THEE first book that was allowed at 12:01. They gave it to us as part of our agreement and it was nice to receive this along with our payment and gift cards for the store.

We had a lot of fun working with the kids and doing some sorcerer style magic. These included misers dream with a goblet, a card effect put out by Wild Magic called Sorcerer's Surprise (see above), some simple billard ball moves where the ball was a Golden Snith type item and the cloth was a cloth of invisibility. There was a lot more we did but we had a blast and got our name out to a lot of folks in our area.

Kyle

Kyle,

Add on to fees is a great idea.

Harris

Like Kyle, we also got paid in cash, gift cards and a copy of the book. Gee, Kyle, where did you get the idea from?

- Donald

I did three, 15-minute 'transfiguration classes' (a total of 11 effects) and all three shows went flawlessly. Some of the effects included the Grant Teakettle, opening a DeVal 'Master' padlock inside a box held by a spectator, the Dream Bag, an 'alchemy' routine using a chick pan mounted on a chromed candlestick as an 'alchemist's goblet,' and Turkish Turmoil with a 'worm balloon' (Ooey-Gooey, the Wonder Worm). I was dressed in my basic black with Gandalf hat and coachman's cloak, carrying my birch Alivan wand.

On the other side of the store, my wife, Andrea, did 'fluff' tarot readings using an Alice in Wonderland deck with all the negative cards removed.

Steve

Hey Donald. I use any ideas I can get. Especially when they work. Can you believe that I had NOTHING to do with getting this gig. My wife Kelly did it all on a Thursday afternoon. The day before the book came out and she landed one of the biggest Barnes and Noble stores in our area. I guess the marketing thing has her too. =) Not complaining mind you. She used a bartering or exchange of goods principle that would benefit both parties involved and it worked out nicely. We were also able to get our name out to over 900+ people.

Kyle

Mine is a more disappointing story. I landed the gig at our local Media Play about a month ago, and sent the manager some graphics to be used in their promotion.

But ... there was a big mix-up regarding the date of the event. I'd never been to one of these before, and the only flyer I had included the date of July 16, so that was the date I put down for the party. Without a signed contract between us, I believe the manager assumed that I knew it was a "night before" thing. I went out of town for the week last week, and on Saturday afternoon I returned to a slew of voicemails that proceeded like so:

"The party starts at 9:30. What time will you get here?"

"The party's starting. What time are you getting here?"

"The party's over? Why weren't you here?"

The poster they had produced was beautiful (they e-mailed me a copy during the week), and I was crushed beyond belief at having missed the whole thing.

Now, the consolation (if you can call it that) is that I wasn't being paid at all for the agreed-to two hours of magic. The manager had told me that two other magicians had called besides me, and I was the only one who had asked for money. I was new in the area and looking to get noticed, and since his advertising didn't cost me a thing, I figured that sponsoring the event (i.e., free show) was (his words) "the way it is done." Reading the above posts, I know that's NOT how it's done.

Have you any advice as to how I might repair the damage with this store manager for the kerfuffle of this past weekend? It's never good to stand someone up, and I want a chance to repair things. I don't know what to do.

PM me if you can, as I may not check this thread routinely.

Carrie