|
|
Go to page [Previous] 1~2 | ||||||||||
Pete Biro 1933 - 2018 18558 Posts |
FREE FOOD!
STAY TOONED... @ www.pete-biro.com
|
|||||||||
jcigam Special user Bellevue, Nebraska 512 Posts |
I used to work a really nice hotel restraunt called, "La Paloma" in Tucson, Arizona, a few years ago and I asked for $25 an hour (3 hours a night/3 nights a week), dinner, plus tips; they didn't even bat an eye.
When I first started working there I would drive with this permanent grin on my face thinking, if they only knew, I would do this for free. I loved that job. (small sentimental tear rolling down my cheek) Jered
"The mind has exactly the same power as the hand, not merely to grasp the world, but to change it."
|
|||||||||
ldl1017 Elite user 476 Posts |
I'm curious about the posts that infer that a potential client will not hire you because they feel you are over priced in comparison to your restaurant gig. My restaurant employer and I are the only one's that know my hourly rate at the restaurant. He would not dream of divulging this info to a patron or the staff. So if you have said it, then you are to blame for the "money situation" you've created.
“I am, as I've said, merely competent. But in an age of incompetence, that makes me extraordinary.”
Billy Joel |
|||||||||
NJJ Inner circle 6437 Posts |
Surely most restaurants the would hire a magician (family etc.) wouldn't be a hotbed of amazing business contacts.
I do corporate functions, get paid good money AND I get fantastic business contacts. If you do a conference you'll find yourself entertaining executives from 200 companies. The way I see it is: If I do a $50 restaurant gig (which I would do for $275 minimum) which gets me 3 x $200 birthdays then REALLY I am getting paid $650 for $875 worth of work. |
|||||||||
Flec Special user UK 585 Posts |
For me, it is guaranteed, paid work that settles this argument. I can work (contracted if nessesary) 5 nights a week at £50 or I can wait for someone to book me for £200 which happens about once a month for me. Some people work restaurants 7 nights a week, and earn quite a healthy living of this.
Another point is the fact of increasing word of mouth about your person. The more people you meet, the more chances you have of getting the big money gigs, fact. I offered to do my first show at the restaurant for free, just to see if they liked what they saw. From that free show, I picked up one private booking of £200, so that's already cancelled that free show out. You don't have to rely on other people booking you, if you go through a dry period of business, then you've always got your weekly restaurant gig. It is also an ideal place to practice new moves and tricks, new bits of patter, etc. I strongly recommend you to get into restaurant magic, at least just for a month or so. |
|||||||||
NJJ Inner circle 6437 Posts |
I've been asked to do two months, three times a week at a local restaurant. I've said I'll do them a deal of $220 per night (two hours or so). The last three nights I worked a family restaurant for three hours and got $450 a night!
With the right marketing I think restaurant magicans can do better then $50-60 a night! |
|||||||||
radiantentertainment Regular user Donald Collins 112 Posts |
I perform in restaurants because it is a spring board for better work. I only work up scale restaurants and this leads to wedding receptions, private parties, and more private work. The restaurant is only one aspect of my marketing but it is important. I get paid to showcase and advertise.
A restaurant pays me for X amount of hours a week and X amount of weeks out of the year. This is why the restaurants do not pay the same price as someone wanting 3 hours of strolling magic. If I am working a resort resaurant and they have me for more than 10 hours a week they receive a lower price as well. I can not imagine only receiving 50 dollars a night though. In most restaurants I receive more tips than this in a hour and I am trying to turn them down.
Life is not a dress rehearsal!
Less is more. & Knock'em dead! |
|||||||||
MDS Special user USA 528 Posts |
The garanteed weekly income is deffinetly a plus and I agree with most everything else that was mentioned.
MDS |
|||||||||
NJJ Inner circle 6437 Posts |
I think the idea of 'guarenteed' income is what many business experts who describe as a worker attitude. The idea being that if you get a job, even if its pays low then you should stick with it because its reliable. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
However, by taking the time you spend at a restuarants and spending it working on your marketing you can begin to guarentee that you'll get regular high paid work from a variety of sources. I can guarentee that I will have at LEAST 4 kid's parties and 2 corporate functions per week and I'm not marketing genius. None of this is meant to be a criticism of people who work restaurants...just me trying to understand why people do it. |
|||||||||
Phil Thomas Inner circle Newark, Ohio 1117 Posts |
A friend of mine works a Max and Erma's and makes almost $200 a night plus tips. I think I need to try to get a gig like that. Right now, I am trying to bust my butt working a full time job to make ends meet and don't have time to do that, but I hope to soon. It sucks being broke!
"If we lose the sense of the mysterious, life is no more than a snuffed out candle."
Albert Einstein |
|||||||||
icentertainment Inner circle 1429 Posts |
Nicholas J. Johnson
Hi Fellow Aussie, Yes Tips are bad over hear but you are doing magic for the advertising and routining of new tricks Price for Bars + Restaurants is about $150 to $200 for 2 hours for week to week performances. In essence you get payed to promote your self. But you gotta pick a descent venue. Picking the local hotel won't get you many private gigs- but if you were to perform at say the establishment in Sydney where the customers are all more wealthy you would do better at getting private events. Tips in Australia the best tips you are going to get a at the kinda bars where wannabys go like the establishment It's a poser bar people go there to look like their important and usually flash the cash to seem important. Bar tenders can pick up up to $200 per night so a magician would be able to pick up a bit more. just watch out it can be very snoby in there. Cheers David Welzman |
|||||||||
MDS Special user USA 528 Posts |
Paid to promote yourself, I like that....
MDS |
|||||||||
radiantentertainment Regular user Donald Collins 112 Posts |
As I was looking for a few effects to string into a new routine for bar magic in The Magic Menu I came across an articel on this subject by Al The Only. It is in the July/August 1991 Vol. 1 Issue 6. The basic point was money, security, showcasing, networking, and a spring board into a magic career. I thought the article was worth mentioning even though the points have been made previously.
Life is not a dress rehearsal!
Less is more. & Knock'em dead! |
|||||||||
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Table hoppers & party strollers » » Why work restaurants? (0 Likes) | ||||||||||
Go to page [Previous] 1~2 |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.02 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |