Help!

I recently was reading an older thread about an 18 year old who wanted to get into corporate magic bookings, and he was told that he needed to practice more, as he couldn't possibly be ready (I'm paraphrasing here). So, today's question is: what materials are out there to help some one with the required knowledge of breaking into *specifically* the corporate market? There are courses for kids shows, school shows, restaurant shows, birthday shows, hall shows, etc., but nothing comes to mind about corporate work. You know, the details about how to structure your act, how to choose your material, who to contact and how to find them, etc. Any guidance in this would certainly be appreciated.

Lee

I did corporate shows (one nighters that were booked for corporate functions) for years. It's a tough question. In short... you need to develop a strong polished show that can captivate an audience of 1000 or more for 45 minutes. I personally started out developing my skills with a 15 minute set... making it tight and work for any audience, learning the best magical techniques as well as audience/applause management skills to command the stage an dominate the props. This was a few years. Then I slowly moved up to the 20 - 25 minute length by rounding out the shows with effects that filled in the missing elements... adding more pieces that shifted the act from being character driven to personality driven. An "act" needs a polished magician but a show "needs" a charismatic star. After years of developing and polishing the 30 minute set, I set my sights on 45 minutes.

I've seen MANY magicians doing 45 minutes... and some are good but many are painful. It seems that most people just assume the difference in 30 and 45 is just to add more talk tricks. The real answer is that you must add elements that round out your show and take the audience on a more spectacular journey creating a richer and more interesting relationship with them that they will remember for years to come.

Can you do that at 18? I think it is theoretically possible but when you're dealing with top executives of fortune 500 companies, they might not feel that you have anything to offer them at that age. They must feel that you are at the very least a "peer" and then feel that you are enough of a master in your field that they can allow themselves to actually learn something from you.

I'm reminded of a big magic awards show where the big honor was being given out to a young up and coming "Gen X" magician that had received some exposure. He was appearing in front of an audience of top performers in their fields as well as top corporate executives and leaders of industry. He came out and started explaining to us that if we believe in ourselves, we can do anything. It was like me lecturing Stephen Hawking on string theory. It was laughable to many present for it's simplicity, lack of insight and knowledge.

In corporate shows, maybe you should think of it as lecturing on life with magic as the medium. Yes, you're an entertainer but you have to ask yourself if you really have anything you're saying that the audience really feels a need to hear... a different perspective on life, a fresh approach to thinking, etc. Now when you combine that approach with spectacular magic, you have a good potential for success!

Fascinating! And eye opening! Thanks, Ray!

Anyone else have anything to add?

Lee

There is more than one way to skin a coperate cat. Why not acquire a little joint, where one can perform magic at ones leisure for corporation executives and the like? Even if one is an amateur card guy such as I one can do that, whether they like it or not. Or so it seems to me. Something similar to this might fit the bill and should not cost a fortune in today’s financial climate. http://www.stirlingsbar.co.uk/index.html