Would a Café where all the waiters are magicians work?

[The VIP Gentleman]

A while ago, I got an idea of something interesting. A Café where all the waiters are magicians.
I was thinking that the waiters could do small tricks while serving, nothing 3-phase or too long, as it would really suck if you were waiting to order, and all the waiters were doing magic tricks. Just some simple bottle productions and such, which while being simple, still makes an impact. And every Friday or so, there would be a Magic show.

This sounds like something I would like to do, as I am still uncertain about my future. I would like to do magic, but that can be pretty hard to live off. And owning my own Café seems interesting.

But my problem is: Would this even work?
While I have heard of Magicians who perform at Restaurants, I have never heard of a Café dedicated to magic. And there can be two reasons for this:
1. It is a very unique idea that no one has thought of. And if they thought of it, they would prefer to do something else with magic.
2. There are none (or very few, at least), because it simply doens't work.

So I would like to hear your opinion. Do you think this could work? And if it could work, what are some good ideas to make it better?

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

I think it could work, if the person who owned it were a smart businessman who understood how the hospitality industry worked.

The problem, of course, is that 50% or so of restaurants fail within the first year - mostly due to people not knowing how the industry works.

So, assuming you learned how to properly run a restaurant or found someone who could do that for you, there presents a new challenge: How do you find enough people to staff the front of house who care enough about magic not to bumble it?

Think about it. If your reputation is built around people doing magic tricks for patrons, you have to make sure everyone who will be doing those tricks is good enough to do them for patrons, while maintaining solid service, every day.

But! I think if you could find enough people with that interest, AND you had the resources (knowledge/money/solid cooks) to keep a restaurant in business, it could work quite well.

 

[Al e Cat Dabra]

I think it's a great idea! It's unique and I have never heard of any such cafe before. I had the honor of working as a magician for a few years at a bar/restaurant called "Malone's Magic Bar" at the Boca Raton Resort in Florida back in the 90's, but the magicians were not the waiters; they just performed magic table side and at the bar. It became a popular internationally-known spot, specifically because it was unique and dedicated exclusively to magic. And South Florida, and that hotel in particular, was a popular vacation destination, as well as a place where a lot of companies held conferences, retreats and special events.

Which brings us to the question of what the real estate sales people always say is the most important single factor: "Location, Location, Location." Since this would be a business, you will need customers to make it successful. So cities/cosmopolitan areas strike me as having the best potential for people who would appreciate the concept, and be likely to patronize such a unique venue. Of course, rents are not cheap in these areas, so you might need a partner or backer(s) with good cash flow and maybe experience in the food service industry if you do not already have such experience yourself. We are talking about a business, and a lot goes into making that successful. It sounds glamorous, but there's a lot of hard work and challenges involved.

Also, you would need to be very discriminating as to who the magician/waiters were. They would need to be classy, personable, polite, skilled magicians, and at least have a fairly good grasp on how to serve people. But you know what - nothing ventured nothing gained - I say go for it! I would be a customer....

 

[The VIP Gentleman]

@ChristopherT I'm about to be accepted into a business school (whether or not the Café would work, I still want to do business), so I am hoping I wil become such a smart business man. You are completely right about the waiters, and that is my biggest concern. I need to find someone who is good at magic, good at service and a good worker. Maybe I would need to have some waiters specialized in magic, and then some normal waiters? And the Magician waiters could at times just walk around and perform tricks? I would like to hear your opinion on this.

@Al e Cat Dabra Thank you. I intend to keep a strict policy, not only to make sure the customers have a good time, but also for the waiters to have a good experience. After all, if a few rude customers ruin a waiter's mood, no matter how hard they try to not let it affect them, it could have some influence on the other customers for the rest of the day.
And as I said before, the waiters are my biggest concern. Magic isn't really a huge and widespread hobby, so to find magicians who would also like to work as waiters could be difficult.
I live not too far from Copenhagen, so the location is in check.
You mentioned that you worked as a magician at a bar/restaurant. Do you know of any tricks that would be good in a restaurant setting? Or maybe some general tips on the matter?
If the Café ever becomes anything, I will be sure to notify you, and tell you how it went. Of course, I won't hang you up on the "I would be a customer" part, but I will tell you if it became a success.

 

[cgstorz]

Having all the wait staff be magicians--at least good magicians, not potzers--would be a tall order. I know that Michael Close has written about how hard it was to keep Illusions staffed with talent and there the table hoppers were just that, not wait staff.

Eugene Burger wrote a book and did a video dedicated to restaurant/bar work. Jim Sisti's books, The Restaurant Worker's Handbook by Jim Pace.

Definitely partner with someone who knows how to run a restaurant. It is a tough, low margin's business. You will be on the verge of going out of business, every day, for the first five years and after that you will be one bad week from going out of business. Good luck.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Maybe I would need to have some waiters specialized in magic, and then some normal waiters? And the Magician waiters could at times just walk around and perform tricks? I would like to hear your opinion on this.

I think it would be less confusing if you just had table hoppers who weren't really doing service, in that instance. The more people handling a table the more likely someone will make a mistake.

You could also create like, tiers. "Apprentice" "Journeyman" "Master". New wait staff who can only do sponge bunnies might be an apprentice. Then when they learn some solid card sleights, maybe they move to Journeyman with a pay bump as incentive. When they can do a solid performance on their own, slide them up to Master. This provides a reason to learn more skills, but also means you have to more or less actively audition them for each tier which is like interviewing the same person multiple times. That could work.

I like the idea of having a staff full of people who know at least some magic. Waiters, bar tenders, door men - each could learn their own style and create a really magical atmosphere. Years ago I was thinking of getting a bar and turning it into this kind of environment, but so far my finances have distinctly prevented this. I still have all the plans and such, though.

 

[The VIP Gentleman]

You could also create like, tiers. "Apprentice" "Journeyman" "Master". New wait staff who can only do sponge bunnies might be an apprentice. Then when they learn some solid card sleights, maybe they move to Journeyman with a pay bump as incentive. When they can do a solid performance on their own, slide them up to Master. This provides a reason to learn more skills, but also means you have to more or less actively audition them for each tier which is like interviewing the same person multiple times. That could work.

I think that is a really good idea. I will keep it in mind, thanks. I just wonder if there are any laws against this. I mean, they technically have the same position as waiters, so it could be illegal to pay some more than others?

 

[cgstorz]

^You would need to consult your county's/city's labor laws to answer that, but I can't imagine they have restrictions on having "levels" of the same position. A good example would be bricklayers. Apprentice, Journyman, and Master bricklayers are all bricklayers but the pay increases as the acknowledged skill increases.

Another point. When auditioning experienced magicians look for experience performing for real people, not club magicians who spend all their time performing for other magicians.

 

[Lord Magic]

But my problem is: Would this even work?
While I have heard of Magicians who perform at Restaurants, I have never heard of a Café dedicated to magic. And there can be two reasons for this:
1. It is a very unique idea that no one has thought of. And if they thought of it, they would prefer to do something else with magic.
2. There are none (or very few, at least), because it simply doens't work.

One can of course...everything is possible, and as cliche as that sounds, it's true.
(Other than pushing toothpaste back into the tube...that's impossible.)

However, I think the problem would be,
"Too much of something"

I cannot help feeling that after BOOMING business in the first few weeks, business would drop drastically. I guess the price should be relatively high for the interest to continue...I dunno, I maybe wrong, but...cool idea!

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Well, the basis of the place would have to be really good food/drinks and service. The magic would have to be just a cool bonus.

 

[Al e Cat Dabra]

@The VIP Gentleman asked: "Do you know of any tricks that would be good in a restaurant setting? Or maybe some general tips on the matter?"

I have found that objects that are already a part of the environment make for strong, natural and organic magic. Examples: (1) Turning sugar into a sugar cube using a TT; (2) Using a linen napkin for card through handkerchief; (3) a coffee cup or mug for an easy sleight of hand (F. Palm) version of the "chop cup" using olives, cherries or grapes as balls, a table knife as a "Wand" and lemons and/or limes as final loads; (4) the gag where a spoon or fork is bent in half; (5) matrix using the establishment's business cards instead of playing cards, or other tricks using the business card(s); (6) bill switches or mismate dollar done with customer's borrowed bill; (7) card under drink; (8) signed card to ceiling (kills!); (9) salt shaker through table (if sitting); (10) tricks with toothpicks, drinking straws or cocktail stirrers.

 

[CWhite]

There is a bar in Disneyworld called Abracadabar. I did a review on it over a year ago.
It was magic themed with magic memorabilia all over the place as well as magic themed cocktails.
I'm not sure if anyone actually performs magic there or not. When I went no one did from what I saw... being a Wednesday afternoon probably didn't help.
Great idea though!

 

[Mattxdfa]

I've never been but isn't the Magic Castle slightly similar? Aren't like the bartenders all magicians who do some work while also tending bar?

 

[cgstorz]

Well, the basis of the place would have to be really good food/drinks and service. The magic would have to be just a cool bonus.

THIS. Seriously it is something that a lot of theme-intensive restaurants forget and they end up going out of business.

 

[obrienmagic]

I think it could work, if the person who owned it were a smart businessman who understood how the hospitality industry worked.

The problem, of course, is that 50% or so of restaurants fail within the first year - mostly due to people not knowing how the industry works.

So, assuming you learned how to properly run a restaurant or found someone who could do that for you, there presents a new challenge: How do you find enough people to staff the front of house who care enough about magic not to bumble it?

Think about it. If your reputation is built around people doing magic tricks for patrons, you have to make sure everyone who will be doing those tricks is good enough to do them for patrons, while maintaining solid service, every day.

But! I think if you could find enough people with that interest, AND you had the resources (knowledge/money/solid cooks) to keep a restaurant in business, it could work quite well.

Maybe the owner or CEO would be someone well versed in restaurant operations in general and hite an outside consultant to handle the entertainment side of things? You would not nesessarily need to hire magicians, but you could hire enthusiastic people that are easy to teach and teach them some easy to do but visual pieces. Could even be as sinple as Dlites or TT.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Maybe the owner or CEO would be someone well versed in restaurant operations in general and hite an outside consultant to handle the entertainment side of things?

I agree that this would probably be the wise way to go, unless the person owning it happens to be versed in both the entertainment industry as well as the hospitality industry. That's a lot of knowledge, though. I think it would be better to have one person focusing on keeping the business operating optimally, and one person making sure the entertainment aspects are top quality - which I believe is what you're saying here.

[/quote]You would not nesessarily need to hire magicians, but you could hire enthusiastic people that are easy to teach and teach them some easy to do but visual pieces. Could even be as sinple as Dlites or TT.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I was kind of going for that with the "tier" idea. If someone just wants a job, fine, here' s a couple things you can do. If you want to get more into it - maybe that's when you get into something like bottle and glass productions and vanishes, cups and balls if there's a bar tender, TNR napkins - I dunno I'm just spitballing there.

 

[obrienmagic]

Yeah, I was kind of going for that with the "tier" idea. If someone just wants a job, fine, here' s a couple things you can do. If you want to get more into it - maybe that's when you get into something like bottle and glass productions and vanishes, cups and balls if there's a bar tender, TNR napkins - I dunno I'm just spitballing there.

You could always hire actual magicians as atmosphere entertainment (ie barback magician, strolling magicians, standup performances certain times a day, etc.) This way all the wait staff will be able to do something magic related and you won't have to worry about running out of magicians to hire as servers. The actual entertainment magicians can handle the working material. Damn I wanna open this cafe now. Where do I sign up?

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

First thing I'd recommend is marathoning "Kitchen Nightmares". Take special note of how most of the places he helps have more or less the exact same problems.