Pictured: Dynamike, a children's magician, has some fun with his audience during the Arts, Beat and Eats festival in Royal Oak. Photo by: Kimberly P. Mitchell/Detroit Free Press

More photos: http://on.freep.com/17A5yDA


“It’s so much fun,” said Michael (Dynamike) Lackey, a 50-year-old magician who is scheduled to perform at AB&E at 4 p.m. Sunday and 2 p.m. Monday.

The Detroit resident also won Friday’s hot wing-eating contest and plans to defend his title at 3 p.m. Monday.

“It was hot and delicious — I can’t believe it. I’ll come back for more for sure,” he said.

And the win? “That wasn’t part of the act,” Lackey said. “Don’t worry.”
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013308300153

Congrats, Mike. Great festivals you are doing and great publicity as well. If you have info. to share that can help those wanting to do or are already doing festivals, please post.Thanks.

Kyle

We are just over half way thru our fair season. It wraps up around the first of November. We have had great press all summer...Newspaper, Radio, TV, topped off with feature story on NPR's All Things Considered & their Morning Show.
http://www.npr.org/2013/08/29/216858624/......andcuffs

Lady Houdini flirts with death at the Kittitas County Fair
http://www.dailyrecordnews.com/members/l......ent-area

By Eryn Akers staff intern

In front of a silent, wide-eyed crowd of about 350 people at the Kittitas County Fair on Saturday, Lady Houdini, also known as Kristen Johnson, pulls a bobby pin from her hair and methodically picks a lock and shackle that traps her inside a 141-gallon water tank.

As seconds tick by the audience watches in a panic as air bubbles float past her tangle of bright red hair and settle at the top of the torture cell.

“If I have a problem with a lock or shackle then I’ll say, ‘OK, I’ll try something else,’” she said Saturday. “I kind of give myself my own little pep talk.”

After roughly three minutes, Johnson pushes the top off the cell and emerges from what could have been her watery death, much to the approval of the crowd.

Although Saturday’s afternoon performance was her 1,108th successful escape from the water torture cell, she’s not always as lucky. Johnson’s husband and the show’s magician, Kevin Ridgeway, has had to pull her out of the cell twice, he said.

300 shows a year

The duo perform nearly 300 shows a year all across the nation and has performed in Canada, Australia and Turkey. The two were married barefoot on the beach in Australia in 2000, coinciding with a performance at the Summer Olympics. Indianapolis is home for the couple, and Ridgeway said they spend their winters in Arizona.

Romantics aside, Johnson said the escapes she performs take focus. In addition to the water escape, she also performs rope escapes, straightjacket escapes, handcuff escapes and more.

Johnson underwent a year of training to master the escape and worked with a dive master, or a specialist in scuba diving, to increase the time she could hold her breath. She said she uses shallow water free-diving techniques during the water escape to increase the oxygen in her lungs and give her a little more time to free herself.

After conditioning her breathing she also practiced working with the locks, handcuffs and shackles before combining the obstacles with water.

Tries not to worry

Ridgeway said because of this, he tries not to worry too much as he watches her escape from the water torture cell.

“I’m always concerned, but I know how hard she trains so that puts me at ease, and I know she can handle it,” he said.

Members of the crowd on Saturday were not as sure.

Sarah Nelson, 16, of Pullman said she was on her toes as she watched Johnson struggle from lock to lock.

“Although you’d probably think she’s done it many times before you have to think, ‘Is this the last time?’” she said. “You do kind of have to wonder.”

Julie Fischer of Ellensburg came to the fair Saturday largely to see Johnson’s performance and said afterward that it was amazing.

“I was very worried,” she said. “It was incredible, though.”

Alissa Lewis, 14, of Ellensburg and Nicholle Englert, 15, of Cle Elum watched Johnson’s performance Saturday and both said it was like something that might be on the popular show, “America’s Got Talent.”

“I feel like I could never do it,” Nicholle said. “It’s just crazy.”

Johnson doesn’t look at it that way.

“It’s what I do,” she said. “I hope through what I do I can encourage other people to find their passion and try things that they didn’t think were possible.”

Great stuff there my friend a d a great share. Please post and share some of tyour marketing thoughts or fairs tips and techniques if you get a chance to.

Kyle

Kyle, I looked thru this and didn't see it so I hope that I am not asking you to repeat anything. But how do you develop your lead list? Where do you find the fests to approach?

This is an older article but it still talks about leads AND LEAD GENERATION IN GENERAL:

In the process of finding your own success, the first step is always recognizing that you must get up off the couch and take direct action yourself to seek it. It is about setting long and short term goals every year and checking up on your progress often. Assuming you have done that, the next step that I often take is maintaining and finding new leads for the markets that my wife and I work. You can not market effectively unless you have leads to market to. So how do you find leads and establish leads? How can you create systems that work for you so that lead generation becomes a habit for you? Allow me to

Well, I would like to list a few of my own secrets that I use and have made habit for coming up with leads every day and all year around. For my wife and I, coming up with new leads and keeping track of them is an important step in the process we go through for the different markets we work each year.

- One of my biggest tips is to start what my wife and I call a "Leads Binder or Database". This is a binder or online ACT database (or other CRM style database) that is mainly used for anytime a new lead is spotted. I use a binder (or electronic filing like Evernote etc.) mainly and I have it set up by month and then by week. Each month has a tab on it so I can turn to that month easily. Each section is then set up according to date. This way I can find a lead for any month and any date that I might be trying to target.

Whenever we see or find a lead, we gather all information that we can and it gets placed into a plastic sleeve that then gets placed into the binder according to that month and date.

The idea behind the month and date is that if I have or see an opening in our calendar, I can immediately go to that section of our leads binder and find a lot of different potential suspects and leads to do a mailing to. It helps me to keep it all organized.

Now how do we find leads? Let me give some ides we have put into place.

- We are trained to always keep our eyes out for any poster or sign as we are driving to work or about town. Because one of our target markets is festivals and fairs, we always see signs and banners around. What we now do is have camera phones and we take pictures of these signs and banners as we pass them. This information can then be downloaded and recorded when we get home and entered into the leads binder. There is simply a wealth of information out there that you pass every day and may not even be aware of it. Daycare centers, malls, schools, theaters etc. are all things you pass every single day that could be directly related to the market you work. Get in the habit of spotting these and keeping track of them. Use them as new leads.

- Every Thursday we get the local papers from a lot of different areas in our performance area. We get these as many have a weekend section in the paper. This is a gold mine for potential leads that are perfect for us as we deal a lot in family crowds and shows. Many of these have sections in them for family events and things to do during the weekend etc. This is a wonderful way to acquire a lot of new leads.

- The Internet is also a wonderful tool for finding leads if you just have some patience. I have my favorites categorized and sites saved under different categories such as cub pack sites, festival sites, chambers of commerce sites, parks and recreation sites etc. This way they are categorized and always available and at my fingertips when I need the information for new leads. A little bit of research using search engines like Google.com and others, will land you a lot of great and useful sites you can use for lead generation.

- I also use my past clients as lead generators through a referral reward program. I always give them a thank you kit after every performance and part of that kit talks about referrals and encourages them to do so. We have received many leads simply by remembering NEVER to forget your past client and always staying in touch with them.

- Business cards. I always have them with me and on me and in every location and every car. It just becomes habit for me to have them and to use them. Having cards does you no good sitting in your box. You must be willing to not only give them out, but be active enough to get cards in return.

There are a lot of other tips, but I will leave it at this for now. I know some of these may not be unusual, but they are some of the things that have really worked wonderfully for my wife and I and the system we set into place. I hope they may be of help to you as you start to create ways to keep your lead generation ongoing year round.

Kyle

SEO. That is how I was contacted.

Kyle, do you have marketing material for getting festival gigs? I do have Keith Stickly's festival marketing material.

Mike: Yes I have an entire marketing material system and email system and campaign system =) This is what I use to get and land my festival gigs.

Kyle

While Kyle's advice is greatly appreciated and golden to many, I think it should be noted that it's wrong to think you can just use this information to start working festivals. Kyle, like many professionals, is offering advice based on his current level of proficiency and it is all based on some elements that can easily be overlooked in the great info he is offering.

Some of these elements are a given to some of us, but as we see time and time again when someone offers advice such as Kyle, he makes it look easy and simplified which often overshadows less talked about truths. Such as you must have a fair/festival-ready and fair/fest-appropriate show before even thinking of approaching this market. This is not just a "I will simply do my kids show " material and think it will have the desired results, Fairs & Festivals are a professional market, just as the corporate market, the education market, the college market, the amusement park market, the cruise ship market/industry, and so on.

These professional markets require some education and understanding of how they operate, the associations and governing bodies, the key players, the ins and outs of the specific market, their needs, interests and expectations.

Working any professional market requires a commitment and intelligence that you should have at least a basic understanding of BEFORE you even think of pursuing that market. While I enjoy Kyle's generosity, experience and the info he so willingly shares, he is offering it from a level where he has done many of these things required and is in a position to be a professional in this market.

I only mention this as a reminder as there are many here that will take it perhaps only at face value or the wrong way that "gee Kyle makes it quite easy and appealing, I could easily do that". Yes maybe you can once these elements are in place. These professional markets are not a place to "try to work it out and learn as you go" or "let's see what happens". Fairs and Festivals are big business. There are advisory boards, sponsors, politics and big money as part of every event. Boards work year-round on every aspect of the event. The local business community is involved which often gets into expectations, political correctness and positioning. There is a level of professionalism and expectancy for those claiming to work and serve this market.

With so many things in entertainment performers only want to see, learn and think about the show, but the show will never be without these other components in preparation. It is this combined with the great advice Kyle and others here offer tat will truly allow you to prepare for and work these markets.

I was using Keith Stickley's method with his emails and got NOTHING! His emails all look like SPAM and are treated as such. I consulted with Kyle about my letters and rewrote them with Kyle's advice. Well I (and I know it is not the right time to do it) sent out 70+ emails to fests that will happen in October & November. This time I got back 10 response saying they were booked but check in next year and 4 requests for my fee. Which is 20% response rate, a heck of a lot better than the 0% before. Talk to Kyle guys and have him coach you, IT WORKS!!

Peter

Mindpro: You are 100% correct and my point in that post was to just share one VERY small tidbit of information. Absolutely there is a LOT LOT more too it then what I just posted. This is just one small part of a larger marketing campaign. I hope folks realize that and take it for what it is. It is there to help you and to give just a little advice.

The information given is absolutely assuming you have a fair and festival show or strolling show that is fair or festival focused and ready. TIf you do not, no amount of marketing or lead generation is going to help you land anything. You simply have to have a show that works and a show that is of value to a fair or festival.

Mindpro is also right in that I also talk to folks who want to do this market is to do your homework first. GO to these festivals and look around and take it all in and observe. Do as much homework as you can. You got to know the market before you can do the market. =)

Ok folks I am not saying dive right into this. Please do not think that is my intentions. Not at all. there is much to learn before you do anything like this. This was an answer to a question. I have been doing festivals for years and yes I have the experience. But please do not think I am saying dive into this. There is a right way to go about it.

Now do I feel folks can work festivals, absolutely. I do. BUT you have to be willing to do a LOT of work upfront first before you ever even send anything out. I can and will discuss any of that with anyone who would like to know.

Kyle

Paddy: I am glad that it worked out for you. I certainly did not think you were going to send them out so soon. lol I thought you and I were going to work on them more so that when it was time, you would be prepared. At any rate, I am glad the ROI has been much better and that things are working for you. My pleasure.

I am here to help anyone who needs help or who has questions. I will answer them the best that I can or point you in the right direction.

But do NOT just dive in. do the homework upfront and let me and others assist you with it.

Kyle

Hey all. It is that time of year again where we need to start gearing up for the spring and summer festival season.

How is your festival bookings going for you?
What are you offering to the festivals that you personally are finding working well for you?
What questions do you have as you head into this season or are thinking of breaking into this market?

Festivals are a great source of increased income and can be performed 3/4 of the year and sometimes all year pending where you live.

Lets get a discussion going. Thanks.

Kyle

Sorry if this has already been addressed, but I didn't want to read through 15 pages of posts.

I've never worked fairs or festivals. My primary income comes from social and corporate events. What is the general pay scale for festivals? I realize fees can range dramatically from performer to performer and region, but a starting point on fees would be nice to know.

Respectfully,

Lou Serrano

Lou,

It's a great question and one in which I would be happy to address for you.

Well ultimately you are going to want to know what your income potential can really be from doing the festival
market. This is a tough question to answer because it really varies quite a lot depending upon different variables.
I will try and go over some of that for you.

One of the main reasons why I wanted to get into the festival market was because I wanted to be able to do fewer
shows and generate more income. This basically is exactly what the festival market can offer any performer who
wants to venture into it. The income potential for festival shows is vastly greater then many of the other markets
you might be doing. For me, it was the right step in the right direction for reaching my goals.

For example, in just the first year of putting my festival marketing plan together, I doubled my annual magic income
and did fewer shows overall then the previous year. I was amazed at the results and I know you will be as well. It
really can have a big impact on you if you are willing to apply the tips and techniques I will try to share with you.

Well, what do you charge? An acceptable rate really depends upon your own local area you live in and the cost
of living around there and the going rates. If you’re the only performer around there, you can pretty much set your
own price based upon your normal rates for shows you have already done.

As a general rule of thumb, I suggest you start your festival rate at around double your b-day party or standard show rate.
This would be for a standard 30 min magic show 2 times daily. (we will discuss packages in another section later on and how
best to offer them). This formula usually works great to acquire a base fee for which you can then test market and adjust
as you go.

When figuring out your price, you also must take into consideration extra outside costs that you may need in order
to bring the best show to the client. You may have to consider:

- Travel Fee: How far are you willing to travel to do your shows? If you travel farther, then you will use
up more gas and will need to factor that into your pricing. For my wife and I, we try to stay within a 100
mile radius of our home. This allows us to be able to sleep in our own beds at night and keep hotel costs
down. If we have to travel farther, we add in a travel fee as a part of the overall price we quote.

- Hotel Costs: If you do travel far way, then you may need to stay at a hotel overnight. If you plan on
doing shows long distances, this also must be taken into consideration in your daily rate.

- Vehicle Rental: If you do a large show, then your current vehicle may not be adequate enough to carry
the show equipment. If this is the case, you may have to rent a vehicle that will do the trick for you.
Factor in these costs if you plan on using rental services frequently.

- Baby Sitting Services: If you are married and with children, if you can not bring them to the festival
with you, you may have to pay someone to watch the kids while you are doing the performances. If this
is the case, then make sure to consider this as an outside cost.

- Equipment Rental: I own my own sound system and lighting effects and fog machines etc. I do not use
them all the time, but I have them for when I do need them and when the festival I work for calls for me
to bring my own. I keep my costs down this way through the initial investment of good systems of my
own. If you need to rent a sound system or lighting etc., then factor that in when thinking of your overall
price.

These are just some of the many factors you really must weigh when figuring out what your price should be for your
daily festival rate. You must consider what do you need to receive to make it worth your while to perform that day
and still stay within the average festival budget.

When first starting out in this market, I would use a general rule of thumb of keeping your day rate on the lower
side. You want to be able to get your foot in the door to these festivals and get some real world experience. You
can always raise your prices as your value increases in the eyes of the festival clients you are working for. This will
also give you the time and chance to talk and network with other entertainers as well as vendors. Learn to listen
and keep your ears open and you can often gain more incite as to what going rates are for your area and festival
you want to work.

Overall you can make quite a good deal of income working the festivals. I tend to average 2 30-minute shows at a
festival and make almost 3 times the amount if I did the same time for a birthday party or similar event. Festivals
are willing to pay you this money if you provide a great show, service and value to them.

It also is a chance, unlike some markets, that you can work the same festival year after year. This means steady
income flow yearly from repeat bookings at the same festivals you have already established yourself in.

Another great aspect of festivals is the ability to offer multiple package solutions. What I do is to offer them 3
packages. These 3 packages I know tend to highlight the 3 main needs that I find festivals are most looking for. I
will offer:

• Strolling Magic Package
• Stage Magic Package
• Combined Package (Pro Level) which includes strolling and stage shows

I will talk more about the specifics of the packages later on in the book. The thing to remember here is that by
offering these 3 packages, I am offering different price ranges that may fit better into their budget. Instead of them
seeing one package at one price, this gives me a much better possibility of getting in. It also shows them that my
pro package has added value to them because they get both strolling and stage shows without having to shop
around to find someone else to provide it for them.

I hope this is of help to you my friend. Please ask me any questions you may like as I would be happy to answer them for you.

Kyle

I share this post because I think it points out the vast spread in entertainment value. Pricing is all over the board.

Kyle - your pricing discussion fits my model quite closely, but Lou is coming at this from experience in different markets that pay a much higher scale than the birthday market. I would question if he could really earn more in the festival market. Perhaps in the fair market, if he was a headliner for many days.

Did you ever get a change to finish your book?

Charlie: It's getting there my friend. Pricing does vary for sure but I wanted to give a base for which people can go by. You have to start some place. Also, my concentration here is mainly festivals and not so much the larger fairs. if you do the larger fairs you can gain more income. Just as if you do a larger county festival they can and do have larger budgets as well.

Follow my advice above to get started and that will get you a good starting point from which to test the market. I also suggest folks to go to the festivals and to see the type of entertainment they have. this will give you a good idea and really help you to also see the needs that are there that YOU can supply an answer to.

Kyle

Kyle,

Thank you for that detailed response. It certainly gives anyone interested in pursuing this market a solid base on which to start.

Thanks for sharing.

Lou

Lou: You are most welcome my friend. That is the key is to arm yourself with enough information to have a base form which to start from. Then you test that base with a 2 or 3 package structure and that will allow you to start to see where clients are leaniong towards. If everyone is taking the higher end package, then that may mean you can raise your prices and test again. If everyone is taking the lower package only, then that may mean for your area, that your prices may be set too high. it is a great means in which to start.

Any questions ANYONE has on the market, ask me. Lets get a discussion going and help each other out.

Kyle

Well folks. you all have traveled the journey with me and so it is only fair that I tell you guys the exciting news first.

IT'S HERE: I am happy to announce that my newest book, "FESTIVAL MAGIC", is finished and is NOW available at http://www.kpmagicproducts.com/Festival_Magic.html. This 112pg book is filled with the most up to date information on how anyone can work and succeed in the festival and fair markets. I am really blessed and grateful to so many folks over 10 years who have helped make this book a reality.

Thanks to SO many of you. You guys have been amazing to me and I hope we will continue the discussion here on festivals and fairs. Thanks for allowing me to let my "family" know about this.

I owe a lot to each of you.

Kyle