first b-day party

[Ang]

Hi guys
I got more info on my first gig. It will be July 7th for a kid's party (ages 10). I will be preforming "pool side" as the parents says. They want me to do a 20 min show at most. And my question to you is; how much should I charge for this party? Feel free to ask me for more info if you need it to answer my question.

 

[ReservoirRed]

How many kids will be at the party? Are your friends or relatives involved? Is it a well off area of town? Performing pool side makes me think that.

 

[Ang]

How many kids will be at the party? Are your friends or relatives involved? Is it a well off area of town? Performing pool side makes me think that.

they did not tell me how many kid will be there, and they are my neighbors.

 

[ReservoirRed]

Well it's your first gig, and you know them, so you're facing a tough choice. You either charge what you intend to charge in the future, or you give them a friends rate. I believe you should either charge what you intend to charge from now on, or do it for free and take the experience. If kids birthdays is a service you wish to provide, you will want to get a reference from these people, to use in your promotion, just a few words from them to put on a poster or website. They will spread word of mouth if you are good. You want them to say you were amazing, handled the party well and were very professional, and that the person they're talking to would need to contact you about pricing, as you did the show 'pro bono' as a neighbour. You dont want them saying, "he was amazing, and he was only 50 bucks!". You then run the risk of getting a call down the line for a 20 minutes kids show at a school for 100 kids, and that they heard you only charge $50.

 

[RickEverhart]

Reservoir is correct. I ran into this problem 2 years ago. I only charged "friends" and neighbors a $50.00 rate and that hurt me when many...many...more calls came and they wanted the same $50.00 price tag for a show that I now charge $125.00 for. I had to turn a few of them down and tell them that I cannot give them the $50.00 rate. Did I lose some gigs from it...yup.

However, it is tough to go do a show for free and know that you are worth more than that. You will learn from this experience. Pool parties are tricky because is you get one or two kids who do not want to see the magic...they try to get a few others to jump right back in the pool with them. I've had this happen one time and I felt horrible, like I must have been doing something wrong but it was out of my control. The parents made them get right back out and join the rest of the children.

Make sure you do a really good job, pass out business cards to EVERY set of adults attending afterwards, and the word of mouth will travel. As far as what you should do charging or not...hmmm...a 20 minute show is going to go quickly. That is roughly only 4 effects if you know how to patter and entertain the kids correctly. I don't think you should charge more than $50.00 being that is your first gig and a short one at that. You may want to explain to parents afterwards (if they start asking prices and such) that today was a trial run and that your show is going to grow from this point. The neighbors who hired you might want to keep the price under wraps.

Let me know if you have more specific questions and I'd be glad to help you with what experience I do have.

 

[RealityOne]

I think Red is on the right track. However, I want to ask a different question... what are you performing and how good is your show? I know some of your background (if you are hanging out at Denny's you are getting good advice), so this isn't necessarily aimed at you but more so to give everyone something to think about.

All magic isn't the same. Take a performer who shows up with two decks and a tattered book, wearing jeans and a t-shirt and then performs a pick a card trick, stigmata and a book test without any patter other than sportscasting what they are doing. If I was the customer and that was the birthday show, I would think that paying anything is too much. Somewhere in the middle is the performer who arrives wearing a blazer and slacks, with a close up case (or more) full of effect and puts on a show using a variety of props with some patter. Probably, that person could charge around $50 and maybe $75 per half hour. At the other end of the spectrum is the performer who shows up well dressed, with a microphone and music in their act, maybe with a backdrop and with large props that are used in an interactive show that has been thoroughly scripted and rehearsed. You are talking around $100 to $150 for a half hour show. Simply put, there is a difference between someone doing tricks, a good performer and someone who comes across as a professional.

Also, I think a 30 minute show would be better. It is hard to really do a good job with just 20 minutes.

Let me know if you need any help putting together your show.

 

[Ang]

thanks guys this really helps. I can't really change the amount of time I am doing since my neighbors think that their kids would become uninterested around 30 min, so they want me to do 20 instead. What I was planning on doing was I'd show up in kakis and some sort of polo shirt (because if I wear my normal a-tire it would look unprofessional). The effects I am going to preform are Paul Potassy's news paper tear, then a tarbel rising card from envelope, next a trick were you pour water in a news paper and unfold it over someones head to show there is no water (but you eventually pour it back; I don't know the name of it since it is in Japanese), then I would lastly end with the Nelson disappearing coke bottle. If I have time maybe some sponge balls would work. And I will be passing my business cards out to every adult I see there. Thanks again for all the help guys.