The Business Side Of Magic Shows: Finding Your Gigs

If you’ve got the heart to perform, the desire to entertain and the will to succeed, then the magic business might be for you. The line of work isn’t considered conventional by most people, but unless you are like most people, this shouldn’t be a problem for you.

You’ve decided to embark on a career that involves connecting with audiences by entertaining them with magic and illusions. You’ve worked on your skills, your presentation and on your show. Now you’re ready to get out there and find people who will want to see you perform.

That can get tricky because with so much competition out there, being good at your show may not be the only requirement to get bookings. And unless you’re prepared to do some more work and to wait for the fruits of that work to pay off, you might be disappointed at the lack of gigs you can get for yourself. But if you’re prepared to go the distance, learning how to find and get performance gigs will eventually pay off with results you may never have initially imagined.

First thing you should know is what kind of audience you’d want to perform for. Are you more inclined to work with children? Or is a more mature, corporate environment more your liking? Don’t be concerned now with what is more financially rewarding. The idea is to get you performing at your best because this increases your chances of referrals and repeat bookings.

Once you’ve established your target audience and you’ve created the best show you can for it, you can go out soliciting bookings for your performance. But before you do, it will do you a world of good to have a video presentation of one of your performances (preferably with the target audience of your choice). This is so that as you approach potential clients, you will be able to demonstrate your skills and how your audience responded to your performance. For a prospective client, being given this kind of information is important as it answers their concern of your effectiveness as an entertainer. Once that has been settled, it greatly increases the chances of you getting awarded the project.

After creating your demo video, you will need to look at your calendar to see what times of the year does your target audience hold most of its events that will be needing your services. If you plan to perform for corporate audiences, it will be best to take note of a company’s annual conventions or sales rallies. Also note the organizers who will be planning such events and call to inform them of your services. This initial call is meant to introduce yourself. (Your demo video will be important here.)

However, that one call should be followed up by at least 2 more over the course of a quarter. Make sure that you’re within the organizer’s radar especially a month before the events you’re targeting take place. If you call too early and not follow up, they might forget about you. But if you call too late, you might miss the opportunity and someone else would have snapped up the gig.

If you are prepared to do some pro-bono work or for a very low fee, then participating in as many events as you can will get you exposed to as many people as possible. As more and more people get to know you and your show, interest may drum up and requests for better paying gigs may come in.

Finally, if you are truly committed to the profession of magic and illusion shows, it will help for you to be a member of magic guilds and societies such as the International Brotherhood of Magicians, the Society of American Magicians, or the Society of Young Magicians. These groups can help you not only with your magic skills but also in getting you recognized in the area you are based in.

With all these information in getting your next gigs, it cannot be stressed enough that you need to be dedicated to this kind of work. It is not the easiest and the rewards may leave much to be desired especially if you’re just starting out.

But if your desire to entertain and interact with your audience is genuine, they will be able to feel that and connect with you in turn. That is by far, the most effective basis of getting asked to perform again - the rewards for which aren’t simply measured in terms of money.