This may come across as wierd to many of you. I'm a mentalist but have a few magic effects as well. I've never done any kind of resteraunt work before and want to do it. I don't need the money but would love the experience of doing it.

I have about 7 tricks or so that would be really good for this, I'm assuming that's more than I would ever need? There's one really high class resteraunt that hires a magician to do walk-around and I'd like to try it out for a while. I'm not sure how to get tips though. If you are going table to table you can't really just straight up ask them for a tip. If you had a bucket that said "magician tips" I'm not sure everyone would see it on the way out. Any advice?

Thanks

Jonathan Grant

NEVER assume 7 tricks will be enough. Always bring back up because if the customers food takes long or there's a problem in the kitchen, you're look at dead air time. People plain and simple get out their wallets and give you atip before you leave the table or the restuarant. Buy Jim Paces and Jeff McGregor's (spelling?) book on restaurant magic called The Restaurant Worker's Handbook. It has basicly everything you need to know about restaurant magic (although I don't agree with his method on getting a restaurant gig, I like Bill Malone's approach better).

Do yourself a favor and search for "tips" in this forum.

You will get more information than you could possibly read.

DON'T WORK FOR TIPS!!!

Don't ask for tips, and I wouldn't suggest a tip bucket either. While a it may be a creative idea, it seems a little up-front and pushy. You should do magic not for the money, but for the fun you get in doing it.

But if you are desparate, find a trick that requires the use of a specator's bill, he may just let you keep it in the end.

Good luck with you foray into the restaurant world.

Also, don't ever give those corney "jokes" (hints as I like to call them) like "Tipping isn't a city in China". To me that's just sort of a jerkish and selfish thing to do since tipping isn't necessary and it doesn't cost the costomers any money to see the house magician anyway.

Well I don't think it would ever be necessary to put on more than a 20 minute show for one customer (which 7 tricks would EASILY get me). If I run out can't I just move on to the next table???

I guess I could just make it clear my last trick is my last trick before I do it and then after it's over shake everyone's hand and thank them individually for allowing me to entertain them, tell them how nice it was to meet them, etc. If the salutation is long enough it will give them ample time to give a tip if they want to.

I'm not wanting to force a tip, I just want to make sure there is a way for them to know it's okay and when to do it if they feel it's worth it (which they will).

Jonathan Grant

You need to learn how to handle customers, especially if they want to see more tricks after you've done your final trick. Read the book I reccomended.

Just be great at what you do and people will be beg to tip you!

Jonathan, I am sorry to put it this way, but SEVEN (count 'em 7) tricks will get you nothing, nada. If you are going into teh restaurant entertaining area you need a minimum of 6 to 9 routines, each consisting of 3 to 4 tricks.

That is 18 tricks minimum. You do 2 to 4 tricks at table 1, then a different set of 2 or 3 tricks at table 2, then a third set at table 3. Why? Because the tables will be close enough that they all can see you perform so that by table 3, the people will have seen the same trick and may even be able to figure it out because the angles may have been bad.

Then at table 4 you can use a trick from the set at table 2 and a couple from the set at the first table. So the whole time is mix and match all your various tricks. The reason I say 2 to 4 tricks per table is you should only spend 3 to 5 minutes at each party.

Good luck.

Peter

Hmmmm. I do magic behind the bar, so it's a bit different. As far as seven effects goes, you may want more. some nights I redo the same 3 or 4 all night for differnt groups, other nights I couldn't possibly have brought enough. Those nights I usually just grab 4-6 silver halves and an English penny or two, and do straight sleight of hand for the rest of the night. Mix and match penetrations, vanishes, and transpos in different ways to give the appearance of fresh material.

As for tips... If I really entertained a person or a small group, they take very good care of me when the check comes, 9 times out of 10. If I flop, well I'll know it by the level of the old bowl on the bar.

Mike

I dither on the opinion of 7 trricks not being enough. I often go to perform with 5 and a few held in reserve, I never need them all and with it being mentalism, presentation can take a bit longer, taking up more time with each effect.

Are you planning on performing much mentalism or mainly magic?

I read an article about this before, but I don't remember where. Pretty much, if you do a walk around magic in a restaurant, you should meet with the owner or manager about your "tips". Sometimes the manager would place a card on on each table saying something like"Please kindly tip your entertainer if you enjoy it" Or something like that.

I have always worked on the idea that customer knows best. Putting a sign up makes people feel obligated to tip you, when it is really their choice. It's always best to avoid the tip subject whenever you can. I have said it before, and I will say it again: if you want to be successful, do magic for the love of it, not the money.

While Peter's intentions are good here, this is likely his very own experience.

You'll need to experiment for yourself. I've been doing two restaurants for the last 2 years.

I don't think I've used more than maybe 10 tricks in that ENTIRE time.

Restaurant magicians get completely stuck on the customers always wanting to see something new.

Let me tell you what - in my personal experience - more than 90% of the time repeat customers don't say, "Show us something new." Nope. 90% of the time they say, "Hey show my friend the thing you did with...(insert description here)"

18 tricks? Boy, the magic shops must love ya, Peter.

18 seems like way over kill to me. Again, my own experience and I'd encourage every restaurant worker to test out their own way to work.

Robert Bloor

Seven is not enough, and here's why...

You need to spend 5 to 10 minutes per table which is enough for roughly 3 effects.

You need to have an opener that is fairly quick, magical early and generally a bit flashy. Your closer should be your strongest of the set.

You need to avoid repeating sets in the same general area. 3 sets of 3, as a general rule works best.

If work a restaurant for any length of time, customers will come back. While they may want to see one trick again, as a rule the second time it's a puzzle and the surprise/magic is lessened. So you should likely do another set as who knows where you will be in your "set" rotation at that point.

If you work a restaurant for any length of time, you will get repeat customers that love magic and want to feel special. A special trick or two for these customers will keep them happy and ensure your job security.

Of the seven you have, are they done in the hands with little table space required?
Do they reset instantly (5-10 seconds)?
Are they compartmental, meaning if you have to stop one midstream, will there be any magic to them?
Do all three fit in the five to ten minute time frame you have for each table?

These are all considerations for working a restaurant.

As for tips, you should be well compensated by the hour for your services. My theory has always been not to seek out tips but to do great entertaining magic. If that happens and people want to tip, great! If one is offered, accept it graciously and move on.

A tip from me is don't work for tips

Quite simple, get paid enough so that you don't need to ask for tips. There's nothing worse than putting your guests under pressure to tip you. They simply won't be able to relax and enjoy the show for trying to work out how much to tip you etc.

And they already have the server/s to tip... I usually try to refuse every tip once, suggesting the servers are working, and I am having fun, but being taken care of by the restaurant.

The only time this doesn't go as smoothly as I'd like is when a child from a prior table shows up at a subsequent table (1-3 tables later, usually) with cash in hand.

The child won't understand the refusal as an adult might, and now this new table is thinking that it is expected, when actually it is the opposite.

JM

In my personally experience, I believe it is good to know as many effects as you can WELL. For many, this is 7 or 8 effects. For others, its 7 or 8 routines. For even more, its 7 or 8 hours. Whatever it is, as long as it works for you, it works.

I agree with Peter (and the magic shops rarely see me. I use props on hand. lol) about more than 7 or 8 because you never know WHAT situation you'll come into. I can, competantly and entertainingly, do over 2 hours with an ungaffed deck of cards. This supplements my other effects that are not card based such as my ring on string, spong ball, wicker man routine, professors nightmare and many others that I've attempted perfection (never totally there) doing.

(Side Note: For the magicians out there going "Two hours with a deck of cards? My audience would get BORED by just cards" and you are correct. YOUR audience probably would. Its all in the performer)

Everybody has their "A" material. The stuff they personally feel strongest about and enjoy doing the most. But there's always those effects that we do, when the same group comes back to the bar and asks "What else you got?" and its a slower time and you want to give a cool off moment between show-stoppers. A magic routine, like any routine, is textured. Ups and downs are part of that texture. Make sure, when you go to a restaurant or bar, bring both "A" material & the slower material because you'll never know when you'll need what.

-Daniel GreenWolf

Robert Bloor writes: "18 tricks? Boy, the magic shops must love ya,. . ."

"Love ya" with just 18 tricks? I seriously doubt it!

For example, in writing my Showtime column for the Linking Ring, I have to come up with 12 new tricks A YEAR, EVERY YEAR.

However, what works for one may not work for another.

If Jonathan is just starting restaurant work, I would suggest a MINIMUM of nine effects per night (for the reasons, see Kaliix's post, above).

But the key thing here is tips.

Simply put: DON'T!

If a tip is offered as a way of saying "thanks", accept it on the second offering; to do otherwise would be considered rude.

But under NO circumstances should you solicit tips; your doctor or lawyer doesn't do that -- because they are professionals and so should you be.

The customer is under enough pressure to tip the wait staff; don't add to the pressure.

Oh, sure; some performers may argue that they make their living from tips. But, then, some performers may argue that it's okay to use drugs or beat their spouses, too!

Decide on which you want to be.