Where to look....

[Anthony Bass]

Hey, everybody! I've been performing street magic for about 10 years now, and i'm trying get on stage, but nobody seems to want to book a fifteen year old magician. I've prayed for a school talent show, but my school hasn't had one for two years. Any ideas of where I could start? Thanks!

 

[AceOfGears]

local fair/carnival thing, maybe?



eh?-Gears?

 

[Phreak]

If you are good enough to be on stage i don't think it's an issue of wanting to hire you but being able to hire a 15 year old. Many states prohibit hiring that young. As far as where to start, I'm sorry I have no idea. Maybe outside restaurants. Your age is going to hurt ya for at least until your next birthday. Goodluck man.

 

[BlueBackedBikes]

Your town's downtown area, at carnivals, fairs, outdoor concerts, on busy streets, while waiting in a doctor's office, while standing in line.

You'll find that wherever you go, very few people won't be interested in seeing your magic.

 

[Jack The Magician]

There's an excellent post by Steve Simmons, http://forums.theory11.com/showthread.php?t=943, here's a piece of it that might help:

So…how exactly do you get more events planned, and start booking more gigs? Well, you start finding them.

Well...how do you do that?

1. Sub-contracting. Call up some local places that could use a magician, or where people go to for parties. Maybe a party store, arts and crafts store, etc. Talk with the owner and try to get permission to put some business cards/flyers around their store. A party store would be perfect IMO. People going there to get some stuff for their son's b-day party, and bam! An advertisement for a magician right there. Perfect! It might be more last-minute gigs (as people pick that sort of stuff up only a couple days before), but still a gig none the less.

2. Schools. See if you can buy some advertisement in some local elementary school. I know some have flyers/papers that go home to the students monthly, with events and such coming up. I think at my elementary school they sold the space on there to help cover the cost of various events throughout the year. Ask around.

3. Grocery stores/Food chains (McDonalds, Burger king, etc) often have bulletin boards for you to post stuff on. Throw some flyers on there, and have some slips with your contact info on it. My local Baskin Robins also has something like this. Check with places like Coldstone, Toys R Us, KB Toys, etc.

Of course, this all comes back to picking a market, and selling yourself as the top magician for that market. The ideas above are for people looking to pick up more b-day gigs, but could work for other areas of magic. You just have to be creative, and give it some thought.

Cheers,
JTM

 

[Anthony Bass]

Thanks for the help guys! I'll take every word into consideration.

 

[Close-Up Expert]

I was going to respond, but Jack already beat me to it with my own advice! LOL!

Glad you got some use from that thread, and hope you give it a good read. It's all stuff I've learned within my first year of performing professionally, and has done me a lot of good.

Best.
Steve

P.S. I'm 17. You might have a hard time finding work in restaurants, etc, but fairs DO hire at young ages. I just performed at my fair recently. $250/2 hours. Not bad for a typical saturday night gig...

Good Luck!

 

[Anthony Bass]

Yeah, my town is about to have a fair, i'll run down there and talk around, and see what I can do. Another question would be, how do I go about booking a gig? I mean, for b-day parties it's easy, post flyers, hand out business cards, etc. But for a fair?

 

[-Ty]

You started street magic when you were 5?!

Ty

 

[Close-Up Expert]

Yeah, my town is about to have a fair, i'll run down there and talk around, and see what I can do. Another question would be, how do I go about booking a gig? I mean, for b-day parties it's easy, post flyers, hand out business cards, etc. But for a fair?

In my personal opinion, you're obviously not ready. This is not something you "run down there and see what you can do". If it's not planned months in advance, it ain't happening.

I should also note that you'll most likely need liability insurance. That can cost about $200 for 1 million dollars worth. My advice...just start out small. If you rush into something too soon, you'll regret it in the end, no doubt.

Best.
Steve

 

[TPA]

Hey,
Anthony you can do stage magic if you want to.
What I did at school was to write a petition to make a talent show ant the end of the year..I did not do stage magic but rather street magic and I interacted with the audience...

Theyre's always a way to get into stage magic.
Dont let nobody tell you that your ready or not..Just do it if you feel confortable.

 

[Close-Up Expert]

Hey,
Anthony you can do stage magic if you want to.
What I did at school was to write a petition to make a talent show ant the end of the year..I did not do stage magic but rather street magic and I interacted with the audience...

Theyre's always a way to get into stage magic.
Dont let nobody tell you that your ready or not..Just do it if you feel confortable.

If you're refering to me, then let me explain. I was telling him I doubt if he's ready to be performing at a fair. From my recent experience (and I am by no means an expert), this is the kind of event that if you're not prepared, you're going to get thrown on your ass relatively quickly.

As for a talent show, that'd be perfect in my opinion. A non-paid show where you can showcase your talents with no worries. Try doing that at a paid gig. I still get nervous from time to time. It's not as easy and fun as people make it out to be. Performing magic for money must be the greatest thing in the world! Wrong. While I do love my job, it's not all it's cracked up to be. There's a big difference between performing when you want to and having to because it's 6:30pm on a Friday...or you have a Saturday night gig lined up and can't hang out with friends. Big difference.

Best.
Steve

 

[cklam]

10 years of experiences... and you are 15 years old.... are you serious?

I envy you.

 

[Anthony Bass]

Sorry, let me correct myself. I've been doing magic for 10 years, street magic for 6. I started street magic when I was 9 years old. Anyways...

I think i'll stick with street magic for now (unless a talent show comes up), and i'll perform walk-around at the fair unpaid. Unless anybody else has another suggestion...

 

[Close-Up Expert]

Just something to think about...

You run a big risk performing at the fair when you're not scheduled too. Not only risk pissing people off, ubt just due to the fact your not covered by anything or anyone. If you get hurt, you're on your own. If someone else gets hurt from you or your show (and it's not that far-fetched in today's law-suit crazy world), that's even worse.

But, the ultimate decision is up to you, and you alone.

Best.
Steve

 

[Anthony Bass]

If you get hurt, you're on your own. If someone else gets hurt from you or your show (and it's not that far-fetched in today's law-suit crazy world), that's even worse.

Well it won't be a "show" really. I'll jsut be doing walk-around. Hang out with my friends for 10 mintues, perform for ten minutes, and alternate. So if I piss people off by doing walk-around magic......sorry. Haha.

 

[Ben Long]

Two words:

Bar-Mitzvah

 

[TPA]

Well,
you can do street magic and pass like your business card around.If you have one.You have to start somewhere in order to get a gig.