Hi Shawn,

Would you mine sharing how life was on a Cruise Ship? Were you doing a platform act or stolling magic? Curious
about what effects you used for stolling..
I can see that this type of enviroment would keep you away from family for a few weeks at a time. That can
be hard on a person. How long did you do it and is the Money there?

Thank you,
TopChange

I too have often wondered about doing the cruiseship thing but it seems like it's for the younger magicians who doesn't have kids and a family. It also seems that in less you have a big glitzy illusion show that cruise ships have no interest in you at least from what I've heard. Is there any truth to that?

Hi Guys,

Recently things have been changing in the cruise industry. I used to travel with my whole family and in fact lived on one ship for many years and we raised our daughter until she was school age. I had eleven cases of illusions for a 45 minute set that I did twice on a single evening. One other day I did a close up show using cameras for about 1200 people. The rest of the week I ate, slept, sightseeing and basically cruised. Now days I fly out for a week with two suitcases, do two different 30 minutes shows once and a 15 minute show twice at the start or end of a cruise. Really lots of fun and my family can come whenever they wish. I understand there are even a few lines asking for close up workers. I've never seen this and I never did strolling but apparently there is now a market emerging...

Let me also set the record straight. I have never worked on a boat. Boats are what fishermen use, I work on a ship. Ships have Captains and boats have frustrated husbands! It is probably my biggest pet peeve in regards to this industry. I used to tell passengers that they were on a ship and to tell the difference was easy. If the ship was sinking they would be getting into boats.

My story is not like most others. I had never intended to enter the world of cruising. I was working a shopping centre in Williams Lake, BC in May of 1983 when I got a call from an agent asking if I could do a week on a ship. It seem the magician was doing the broom suspension and it broke and hurt his assistant and they were leaving the ship and a replacement was necessary. I was to be on for just one week until one of the cruise lines regular acts could be flown to join the vessel. During that cruise a very influential executive of Cunard Cruise line saw my act and I was invited to stay for as long as I wished. That ended up being four years. I later performed on Holland America and Royal Caribbean, but soon settled on Norwegian Cruise line where I stayed for nearly a decade. Ron Wilson was also responsible for my contract with NCL and I have been deeply indebted to him for all his faith in me and my show. I have always had long contracts. Most of them were ten and a half months in duration. When I first started signing these kind of deals it was unheard of in the industry but now other acts are signing them too.

Using an agent to get on ships is a great idea. Once you are at sea it is hard to stay in touch and to have someone you trust to negotiate future contracts is a must. There are plenty of agencies that specialize in booking magicians. Some are better than others. A quick Google search will help you find them and a little reading will tell you which ones to avoid.

Before you decide to approach the agency make sure you have the best possible product to offer. These agents and the cruise line executives that make the final decision all talk to each other and it only takes one negative to destroy any chances you may have. You have to have at least 60 minutes of “A” material. You will most likely be expected to do either an opening or closing show as well as a full evening show during a standard seven day cruise. Don't use fire or live stock. Fire is the most frightening thing at sea and the hassles of having animals on the ship is not worth the trouble. When you do have the necessary material. Have the best DVD you can possible make. That goes for your photo's too. In fact you should have a bunch of press clippings and testimonials to accompany the package. Working on ships is a high paying gig and there are hundreds of magicians looking for that same single spot on the ship. Like Greg said, be different.

If you choose to go directly you will want to locate the Entertainment Director of the cruise line. I did a quick Google and found that the information is still accurate for lines such as Cunard, Norwegian, Holland America and Royal Caribbean.

Once you're booked on the ship it's just getting started. I have always said “it's easy to get booked on a ship and even easier to get fired!”. Your show is only a part of your job on the vessel. You are an ambassador of the cruise line. A star in the eyes of the passengers and they want to meet you and get to know you better. They will interrupt you private time, take photo's of you when your laying pool side and even ask you questions while you dine. Why? Because you are basically in a giant fishbowl on display. If you don't like attention, this is not the gig for you.

The interaction with the passengers is just the start. You also have to navigate your interactions with the Officers and crew of the vessel. They too are ambassadors of the cruise line and if you choose to over shadow them you will find their wrath to be quite extreme.

We haven't even begun to discuss your living arrangements. On several vessels I had a first class balcony suite with an open bar while on other lines I had a deck one cabin which is below sea level and I had to stuff wet towels around the door sill to keep out the smell of the clove cigarettes the crew smoke! Most cabins are very small. Space is limited on a ship and since your aren't a revenue making item your space will be very small. Think closet with a bed and perhaps a small chair or couch. The showers are always special. I once had a shower curtain that I was so fond of me it wanted to be a part of me! If you're the type of person that like lots of personal space .. cruising is probably not for you.

Who then is right for cruising? You have to be a great act, who genuinely likes people, works well with others, knows when to be “on” and when to be “off”. You have to be able to deal with confined spaces and be able to keep yourself occupied during the long days at sea. You have to love to travel and are up to the challenge of presenting several shows in a week to an international audience who will see the best the world has to offer. Now cruise line guests are treated to shows like Blue Man Group, Second City Comedy and production show from people like Andrew Loyd Webber's “Real Useful Group”. If you have what it takes ... it's a great life.

-shawn

Now that I think about it..
I don't recall ever seeing any magicians on any episodes of The Love Boat.

I should have thought of this when I was younger. I could of became famous,
written a book about the subject, and made Millions..
"Dream On"

Ahhh, to live the American Dream.

TopChange

Shawn,

You say you travel with two case of magic, so you are not perfroming big illusions?
What does your act consist of?
Thanks

Magicjoe,

In the past I had as many as six illusions in the show. These days I do a more comedy based act for cruise ships. Most of my current contracts are for Disney Cruise line where I work a small beautiful theatre that seats maybe 300 guests. This means I get to do such effects as Card Sword, Miser's Dream, Tipsy Turvy Bottles, Shape of my Heart, etc. Here's a link to a clip from the show last week on the Disney Magic.

http://youtu.be/dV4_dbj_k2M

-shawn

Great!!! thanks for showing!!

I loved that clip! Thanks Shawn...both for the clip and the great info!