Hey guys.

I am REALLY EXCITED!!!!

a while ago, about a month or so, I booked my first gig.
I showed a man and his son some magic tricks, and he gave me his card. he asked for me to email him because he is throwing a party and would be interested in hiring meas the entertainment.

* I am only 13...i do not have buseness cards, which makes it harder to set a price if YOU recieve their card instead of vice versa*

so I emailed him with some info.
he emailed me back
I emailed him
then he emailed me back saying that they could pay me 65 dollars for a 4 hour walk around performance with some table shows.

* I know, cheap....but like I said, I was just glad to get booked for the gig*

SO, my trick list is: (in no order)

Magicians Insurance Policy
Spongeballs
Jay Sankey's Nailed
Rope for escapes, etc.
Sankey's Deviant Behavior (Front Row Sankey)
Sankey's Phoneix Effect (Front Row)
Gazzo's Tossed Out Deck
A deck of cards w/ Sharpie (at least an hour of tricks right there)

The party is this Saturday

Know any more tricks I should buy???
SOOOOOOOOO KIDDING!!!!!!

what you do you guys think of my effects I have planned??
Wish me luck!!!

Congrats. $65 isn't chichenfeed and you're making well above per hour what many people earn. Most important advice. You're the entertainer. The magic should be for the audience. So enjoy it with them and be natural and you'll have a great time.

Larry

You got to start somewhere 65 dollars is good for 4 hours starting

Thanks guys

Larry, thank you...i (personally) think that is one of the best pieces of advice that should be told

thanks again guys

Actually getting their card is better because you can contact them rather than waiting to be contacted so no problems there.

You plan on doing walk around escapes?

Just 2 rope escapes


a Houdini Rope Tie

along with

an in and out rope escape

both are tied at the hands


I perform a spirit tie with a chair........so I might bring longer rope for that

Hey - good luck!! $65 bucks is 65 bucks. I think I got $10 for my first show (but that was back before you were born).

You might get some sponge bunnies - these go over better than the balls, especially with kids and females. But you really don't need anything else - analyze your performance after you're done and you'll know what you need to do for future gigs.

Jim

$65 bucks ain't nothin' to sneeze at. That will get you a couple of gallons of gas which is great...right? = )

Seriously...don't look at it like you're getting $65 for a gig. Look at as you're getting PRICELSS PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE...and that you can't put a monatary value to.

I think my first gig back in the day I got about $20 for and my Dad took $15 of that and put it in the bank for me. Come to think of it...I don't ever remember getting that $15 back???? I bet the interest on $15 over almost 30 years is what...about $65. So I think you're right in the groove baby...RUN WITH IT!

Not sure what tricks I tell ya to think about before next Saturday as that's not much time to rehearse something new. Just perform what you do well and be entertaining as apposed to trying out a lot of new stuff that you don't do well.

GOOD LUCK!!!! Let us all know how it goes!

The party is all adults, no alcohol

I was joking about the new trick thing BTW

Keep up the work man!

That's awesome buddy. But you will learn that 4 hrs is almost to long for walk around. It will be very tiresome cause ur doing more work then a normal person working a four hour shift. Have fun oh and a nice easy trick to learn is hundy 500. I use it all the time. I probably missed spelled it.

4 hours IS a long time for a first gig. You'll probably be exhausted after 3, and the 4th one will just crawl by. Oh well...you got the gig, now get the experience.

Best piece of advice I can give you is to have fun, and get them to like you. If they like YOU, they'll like what you DO. It's that simple. Become friends with everyone. Spectators are just friends you haven't met yet.

Have fun, good luck, and go for it!
Steve

Apart from it being too long, you'll also be performing for the same people. Working in a restaurant is fine, you'll have people rotating in and out. I did a two hour gig and after the first hour, I realized that I was starting to hit the same people up, they do like to mingle. If you run out of material, be prepared to jazz.

The party was















A HUGE SUCCESS!!!!!!

it was formatted poorley (for me) because there was a lot of talking and auctions, so really, I got 2 hours of performing time in.

IT WAS GREAT

got 80 bucks (65 for the gig, 15 for gas)

Glad to hear you got some coverage for your overhead expenses as well as your performance! You're off to a great start. As you add another show, and then another to your list...these experiences will add a dimension to your performance that cannot be achieved any other way. So, keep 'em coming!
Best wishes.
Nicholas

Jeff-
Congratulations on the gig. $80.00 is good money for a first time gig. When I think back to my first gig, it was a can of beer to settle my nerves and $5.00. I was performing for friends of my sister and it was a birthday party. I performed the chinese mat...the egg hanging behind the mat. I was told later that everyone could see the egg hanging due to the fact that I set up in front of a large picture window. Sounds like you did a great job.
Lou

Thanks guys

idl1017

OUCH, sounds bad

yeah, everything went well, I was nervous for one effect, someone asked why am I shaking, I said, "i learned this trick in Alaska." then I stopped shaking and finished the effect, it went B-E-A-UTIFULLY!!!

The next show ask more...$100.00 or $150.00, when is cheap the people think maybe not good.You need to be a good magician more business man!

Good luck

Paulo

Congrats and well done sir!

LOL at the line - GREAT ANSWER!