I want money from card magic?

[slicksleights]

I live in Dubai and have worked for a few of the big hotels out here. Don't expect that one they will come to you asking you to perform and secondly don't expect them to take you on just by going up and asking. It was through a long period of working where ever I could to get noticed by the right people, getting a reputation and net working before I even got my chance to get my foot in the door. Once I did and proved myself to the right people the work came.

Look at Steve Cohen. He has a residency in one of the biggest hotels in New York, do you think that just dropped in his lap? No, that came through years of graft and hardship before he even got his foot in the door.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Look at Steve Cohen. He has a residency in one of the biggest hotels in New York, do you think that just dropped in his lap? No, that came through years of graft and hardship before he even got his foot in the door.

Not to mention sparkling reviews from the Rockefellers I believe.

 

[Steerpike]

Gaetan Bloom said in one of his lectures "Don't be a specialist. A specialist knows less and less about more and more on a little subject." Meaning, sure you know 400 card tricks, but you are lost if you loose your cards. Be curious about magic. All of magic. Be different. Take time to learn effects outside of your comfort zone.

I live in Dubai and have worked for a few of the big hotels out here. Don't expect that one they will come to you asking you to perform and secondly don't expect them to take you on just by going up and asking. It was through a long period of working where ever I could to get noticed by the right people, getting a reputation and net working before I even got my chance to get my foot in the door. Once I did and proved myself to the right people the work came.

I just want to say that it's a relief to know that Christopher, Craig and I aren't the only ones who understand the business side of magic. You guys have made my list of cool people.

 

[krab]

I just want to say that it's a relief to know that Christopher, Craig and I aren't the only ones who understand the business side of magic. You guys have made my list of cool people.

I love magic. I love that feeling I get when I see that look of joy on someone's face. That look where they are a kid again and for a while they believe in magic. While I make it a point to be very selective about which magicians I hang with in my private life, will give advice where I can to anyone asking or willing to listen. I will stand on the soap box and yell til i can no longer speak to help save magic from what it seems to heading towards for those trying not to hear.

 

[slicksleights]

I just want to say that it's a relief to know that Christopher, Craig and I aren't the only ones who understand the business side of magic. You guys have made my list of cool people.

I think that a lot of the younger generation of magicians think that by becoming a working magician they can avoid the 9 to 5 type of work. I think that it comes as a big surprise to many that being a magician isn't just about learning tricks and practicing moves, that there is a whole '9 to 5' aspect to it that needs to be taken care of if you want to have any hope to make it a career.

 

[krab]

I think that a lot of the younger generation of magicians think that by becoming a working magician they can avoid the 9 to 5 type of work. I think that it comes as a big surprise to many that being a magician isn't just about learning tricks and practicing moves, that there is a whole '9 to 5' aspect to it that needs to be taken care of if you want to have any hope to make it a career.

I wished it was only a nine to five job. On average it seems like I'm spending five hours of marketing and networking to get one hour of "work". When I was starting out that was on top of my day job. No There is more business to show business than show.

 

[Steerpike]

I wished it was only a nine to five job. On average it seems like I'm spending five hours of marketing and networking to get one hour of "work". When I was starting out that was on top of my day job. No There is more business to show business than show.

The trouble is that no one wants to work anymore. I'm not saying that in the crotchety old man/pseudo-intellectual libertarian/Donald Trump-esque douchebag way. Not even CEOs or entrepreneurs want to work anymore. They expect everything to be easy. They expect technology to give them a way to make millions just by talking a lot. People go on Facebook and think posting about the dump they just took is going to get them 50 new friend requests in an afternoon. They think that just having a YouTube channel and putting a handful of webcam videos up is going to get them enough subscribers to monetize their channel. They blow out their left ventricle in a panic attack if they lose two Twitter followers in a single week.

I'm currently spending about $60-80/week on gas, driving out to not just my gigs, but just to close my prospects because I'm sick and tired of all my emails and phone calls being ignored. I'm attending every networking meeting that will have me. And this is all while trying to work on new shows and workshops. You guys think posting card tricks on YouTube is going to get you corporate gigs at a Fortune 500 company, no marketing necessary? That you're just going to be "discovered?" Go ahead. Less competition for me.

 

[krab]

To add to what Steel is saying...

For the love of everything holy don't be a douche to other magicians who are working. You see a guy working the bar/restaurant/club/festival don't pull out your deck of cards. How would you like it if some clown did that to you? Don't tell people around you that you can do it better. There is a good chance you can't. You only know cards. That guy there just did a body load on the woman in the sleeveless dress. Do you even know what a body load is? We do.

Don't try to talk to the manager or booker trying to cut in on the action. The manager does tell us these things. We got this gig because we worked our butts off for years to get the skills, contacts, and learned effects to get where we are standing today. It gets out that you are trying to snake gigs from working guys and you will tick off all of the workers in your city. Talk to the magician after the show. Go to the Ring and Assembly meetings. Guys pass gigs to other magicians all the time. Either the money wasn't right, they already had a gig that night, something.

Read some books. This isn't a rant on learning magic from DVDs. This is a read some non-magic books that will help you become a better magician. Read Rock, Paper, Scissors: Game Theory in Everyday Life by Len Fisher and Game Theory: A Nontechnical Introduction by Morton D. Davis. Pick up Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking by Christopher Hadnagy and Paul Wilson or Kevin Mitnick's Art of Deception, an intro to social engineering.