To all my magician friends and anyone else that will listen,

Some of you may know me as the guy who produces high end jumbo coins and help magicians get product made in China. In a nut shell I live in Shanghai for the last several years and manufacture magic products and perform magic.
I am mainly a close up magician. Recently, I was approached by a foreign company in china to do a trade show. I have always wanted to go this direction and for this reason and that it has not yet happened. I think the time has now come and there is a lot I need to learn.

Mainly what I am interested in is how to work the company¡¯s message into the magic. Is there any literature out there which covers this with actual examples? I have read Joel Bauer's book and a few others and they don't touch on this topic. I have only seen one trade show performer which did this kind of magic and at the time of course I was not interested in finding anything out, I was just observing as a spectator.

I have some ideas on how I think it is done or would be done. However, I would really love to see some examples of how people do it so I can start learning. Any help from you guys out there would be greatly appreciated! If you know any literature of any kind or could help me out in anyway I would be forever grateful. The company manufactures heavy equipment vehicles for doing construction and what not. I still have time as the event will not be until August.

Thanks again in advance for any help!

Todd

I recommend Docc Hilford's "The Star Tradeshow Act".

Willhunter

thanks very much for your info. do you know if this is just one act? what I am looking for is how to learn to work the message into the magic or scripting. do you know if he teaches this? I will go now and research him.

thanks again!

todd

It is just one act, but he explains some of the reasoning behind it. I will try to explain it a little better soon.

Thanks willhunter!

Hi Todd, good question!

In my opinion you can’t do trade show magic the way it was done 10, 20, or 30 years ago,
and be successful in the long run, the public is to savvy, too informed,
and too in control of their purchases with the world wide web at their fingertips,
and more competition on the expo floors for their attention and dollars.

To get an idea how much the world of branding, marketing, and sales has shifted with the impact of the Internet, I suggest:
“The Contrarian Effect” by Michael Port
http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle......902.html

Therefore I don’t think you “work the company’s message into magic” any longer.
There have been so many unqualified magicians doing this poorly,
the number of trade-show performers hired has cut by about two-thirds in the last decade.
Some conventions and expos are even starting to ban magicians from performing on trade-show floors.

What you need, is to work with a company who’s
--product and mission you are in agreement and sympathy with,
--work with the client to completely research their services and products,
--learn their long term strategies and goals, and what they want from your services,
--Then find ways to create in depth, carefully planned, written, and rehearsed,
routines which ORGANICALLY and with a natural easy flow,
BLEND their “mission and message” into your magical presentation.

To me this means you’re not providing a “message” you go deeper,
you’re providing “Meaning” to your magic and the client’s company.

You must fully engage and emotionally touch the potential customer (your spectator)
and willingly bring them in line with your client’s philosophy and purpose.

Though not a trade-show or business book, I’d say to start with learning how magic is intrinsically tied to meaning and get what I consider the bible of magic:
--“Magic and Meaning” by Robert E. Neale and Eugene Burger
a revised edition is available from the publisher Hermetic Press
http://www.hermeticpress.com/Books/MeaningExp.html

You are first and foremost an ENTERTAINER,
not a busker, not a frontman, not a salesman, not a novelty, not a spokesperson.
It’s YOU who your client hires to REPRESENT their company,
they already have a marketing and sales team.

Therefore you must be at your very best,
as you’re not only representing your magic,
(with your look, style, originality, creativity, performance, personality, and demeanor)
you’re also an “upfront” and very visible representation of your client’s business.

You should look and sound as good,
and appear as informed as that company’s CEO or President!
If you can build that kind of credibility and work with that level of integrity,
with your show segments, then your spectators will naturally be drawn to your clients show area and their expertise, and want to look into doing business with them,
make sense?

To learn how to get up to speed with a company’s products and then distill that message into a few concise sentences that can then be organically woven into a magical presentation I suggest:
“The Irresistible Offer” by Mark Joyner
http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle......948.html

I’ve also seen too many (way too many) trade show performers who to get attention, get laughs, and “play big” will bully, intimidate, tease, or make fun of a spectator or on stage assistant, at that person’s expense, sure it gets the laughs, but would YOU do business with a company that just made a fool of your coworker or colleague?

Remember to your audience you ARE the company!
Class, style, and everyone’s dignity must be present even in “comedy magic”.

So those are my thoughts on a topic that could fill several books.

There are not a lot of magicians who also have expertise in speaking, communication, customer care, and marketing to make this kind of gig work.
I’d say if you’re new to it, you’ll need a good year of preparation not to look like a newbie before your first gig.

Best of luck with your new direction!
Magically,
Walt

Walt,

It was also pleasure talking with you! You are an exceptional individual, and I am sure your performances reflect that!

I will take to heart every piece of advice you have given me. The only thing I won't be able to do is wait 1 year before I do this first show! ha ha ha... I will do my absolute best however to for myself and my customer. I can assure that I will do all the homework which is also required of me! If you do come across anything else which you think might be helpful to me, I am all ears!

I will keep you up to date and if you don't mind I may ask for some more of your advice before this is all said and done. I hope that I will be able to return the favor to you some day!

thanks,

Todd

Hi Walter. Good advice in the last post, however I must respectfully disagree with your advice here.
Clients hire me (and other trade show magicians) to deliver their product message. Yes, It's often done badly, but when it's done well, it's unbeatable. Just watch Paul Gertner, Mark Phillips and Scott Tokar, to name just a few and you'll see how seamlessly and professionally this can be done. Messaging, Branding, Lead Generation are the lifeblood of the trade show magician. You need to do all three to give value to your client.

I havent heard if this. Has anyone else?

Yes, I agree, of course you have to deliver the client's message,
but it's done with more meaning, subtlety, and grace than in decades past,
it is putting over your client's image, benefits, and mission,
it’s more today than doing three-card monte with their logo on it.

Magically, Walt

Absolutely. Sophisticated messaging is a must-- A cursory mention of the company name in between tricks won't cut it anymore. When your presentation is done, the client expects the attendees to know the name of the company and have a general idea of what the company does

Quote:


On 2010-03-17 12:13, SpellbinderEntertainment wrote:
Some conventions and expos are even starting to ban magicians from performing on trade-show floors.

I havent heard if this. Has anyone else?


Yes, this is not a new revelation, many trade events have rules or policies with regard to booth attractions or entertainment feeling they are a distraction or are a disturbance to other booth vendors. This is actually quite common and is aimed at magicians I feel more than other type of booth attractions or presentations.

It goes in cycles, and never really lasts long.