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mindfreak2.0 Regular user 106 Posts 
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Hey this is a pretty dumb question but what would it take to call your self a professional magician?
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ArthurZep New user Riga,Latvia 13 Posts
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I guess you can call your self a professional magician if you earn your self a living (hope I used the expression right
 ) by magic. ( when it your profession.)
My 2 cents 
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Yekrats Loyal user Dayton, Indiana 209 Posts
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I'd say it's a mindset and not necessarily how much you're paid. It costs you nothing to put the line "Professional Magician" on your business card, but then you need to back up the words with action, right? However, I think there are certain advantages to getting in the mindset of "professional" rather than "hobbyist".
(Not tax advice, so talk to your lawyer and all those folks >>>) It's my understanding that you can deduct expenses (at least here in the USA) as a business, if you treat your hobby as a business. Print up professional business cards. Actually do shows for cash. Go to magic conventions for education. That sort of thing. You can do the same sort of thing but treat it "as a hobby". The requirements are much less strict, but you can deduct stuff, but less than if you were running a business. One big requirement for a "business" is the IRS actually expects you to show a profit one day. (Go figure.) I have a sideline game-design, art-design 'professional' business, which doesn't get a lot of action, but I get steady work. I treat it as a business for the extra tax-related perks, like deducting the costs of going to game conventions. If you're serious about it, talk to your local tax expert who can show you the ropes.
--
Corporate or event magic & mentalism: http://WizardoftheWabash.com |
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JackScratch Inner circle 2151 Posts
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http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/professional
Tradition says that if you charge any substantial amount of money, you are a professional. |
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Payne Inner circle Seattle 4571 Posts
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When the people you are performing for stop asking what it is you really do for a living.
"America's Foremost Satirical Magician" -- Jeff McBride.
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sethb Inner circle The Jersey Shore 2719 Posts
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One measure that some folks use is this:
An amateur magician does different tricks for the same people all the time (because he never gets different audiences). A professional magician does the same tricks for different people all the time (and therefore has polished those few effects to perfection). And this isn't just a play on words. Professionals, whether they charge money or not, have lots of experience in performing before lots of people. You can't buy that kind of knowledge, you have to learn it and earn it yourself. And it's that experience, the ability to be smooth and graceful, to be at ease with and to connect with your audience, and to do it regardless of what might go wrong, that separates the amateur from the professional. As somebody else once said, "Anyone can do what I do, it just takes a few years of practice." So start practicing! SETH
"Watch the Professor!!" -- Al Flosso (1895-1976)
"The better you are, the closer they watch" -- Darwin Ortiz, STRONG MAGIC |
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mindfreak2.0 Regular user 106 Posts
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Thanks guys it helped a lot
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S_Myst New user 59 Posts
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Bill Palmer has a very well thought answer to this in the Wizard's Cave area at:
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......um=171&3
Professor Myst
Engineer, Inventor, Writer, Teacher, Wizard |
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cosmopop1 New user 85 Posts
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My dad said that it is when you get paid because he played his guitar on the street and earned money so he says he is a professional musician. He said that it applied to magic as well.
E.B. Nicholson |
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mmreed Inner circle Harrisburg, PA 1432 Posts
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SOme say you are a professional when you realize that all you will ever need has existed in the Tarbell books, but by then it is usually too late...
Mark Reed
Wedding and Event Entertainment |
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JackScratch Inner circle 2151 Posts
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I disagree with your father. Busking is not "getting paid".
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kcmagic New user 20 Posts
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Personally, I've always thought to myself...if you make MOST of your money from amgic, you pro. If you make a decent chunk from magic, your semi-pro, and if you make a little on the side, you amature.
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gaddy Inner circle Agent of Chaos 3528 Posts
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Quote:
On 2009-01-04 14:40, JackScratch wrote: It is if I'm doing it, mate...
*due to the editorial policies here, words on this site attributed to me cannot necessarily be held to be my own.*
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DanielCoyne Special user Western Massachussetts 544 Posts
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Quote:
On 2009-01-03 20:15, S_Myst wrote: Loved Bill Palmer's thoughts about this (as usual.) |
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hendoo New user 100 Posts
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Quote:
On 2009-01-04 14:40, JackScratch wrote: This from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/paid |
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gaddy Inner circle Agent of Chaos 3528 Posts
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Quote:
On 2009-01-06 17:13, hendoo wrote: Quote:
pay [pey] Not exactly what I look for in a performance, but... Sure! Why the heck not?
*due to the editorial policies here, words on this site attributed to me cannot necessarily be held to be my own.*
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JamesTong Eternal Order Malaysia 11213 Posts
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Quote:
On 2009-01-05 00:25, DanielCoyne wrote: Same here. I agree with Bill Palmer's thoughts too. |
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Eddie Torres Special user New York City 692 Posts
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When you can successfully earn enough money to pay for your food, bills and clothing through magic for an extended period of time. You learn a lot about magic when whether you get to eat that week depends on it.
Eddie
Eddie Ivan Torres
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nathanallen Special user Des Moines, Iowa, USA 522 Posts
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Quote:
On 2009-01-04 00:01, mmreed wrote: Yes yes yes! 
Nathan Allen, The Maniac of Magic
www.maniacofmagic.com To buy a prop is nothing. To write a good routine is something. To really entertain an audience is everything. |
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JackScratch Inner circle 2151 Posts
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Quote:
On 2009-01-06 23:19, MajikAbra wrote: That isn't Professional, that's "Full Time". It is quite possible to be a professional "Part Time" magician. I know because I am one. I am no less of a professional magician than the ones that make their full wage from it, in many cases, I am more professional than them. In the end, I can't imagine why people put as much stress into this subject as they do. In the end, who cares what title someone else gives you. Do the best you can, and quit worrying about these things. The big event planners in this town consider me a professional, what could make you more of a professional than the piers in the industry considering you one? |
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Posted: Dec 31, 2008 04:13 pm 
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