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Foundations of an Effective Magic Business
by Jim Snack
In reflecting about the foundations of an effective magic
business, I come up with a few thoughts:
It starts with your show:
1) Be able to perform 30-60 minutes of solid entertainment, for any audience of
30-300 people,
under any performing conditions, with minimal set-up and strike. If you can do
that, you will have a
commercial act that will be easy to book. Ideally, be able to do it as a solo
performer.
If you are going to work with one or more partners, recognize that eventually
all partnerships will end
and you will be back to square one with your solo act. Make sure you have one.
Or marry your partner
and be ready for a new set of challenges.
Even if you goal is to be the next great illusionist, make sure you can work "in
one" and hold an audience
with a solo piece. If you don't know what it means to work "in one" you aren't
ready to do illusions. Get
some experience in the theater, either community theater or college. You'll need
it.
While you are at it, get some voice and movement training. Recently, I watched
the remake of the movie "The Producers.” Nathan Lane and Mathew Broderick can really move on
stage. How about you?
2) Polish your act in venues where you can make mistakes and it really doesn't
matter. Michael Ammar
once commented that everybody needs someplace to be bad; for him it was nursing
homes in West Virginia.
Broadway shows have out of town previews and are re-worked until they are ready
for Broadway.
Start locally, working every kind of venue and audience you can, polishing your
material so that it sparkles
in front of audiences. Discover what types of audiences are the best fit for
your act - children, adults,
college students, business people, etc. The road to the big time begins in
church basements and VFW halls.
3) Invest in the best costumes you can afford, even if you are wearing street
clothing. Once it is in your show,
it's a costume. Wear the best and keep it for the show. Make sure it is clean
and pressed for every show.
Polish your shoes. Get a haircut. Look your best when you step up in front of
people.
4) Invest in the best props you can afford. Don't cut corners buying cheap knock
offs. It's not ethical and
besides, they don't hold up under the rigors of professional performing
conditions. If you can't afford Wellington's
Origami Box, maybe you aren't ready for it. Work on your torn and restored
newspaper instead.
Your business:
1) Be honest, ethical and easy to do business with. Don't promise what you can't
deliver. Don't over hype your
accomplishments or act - do your best every time and let the audience decide how
great you are.
2) Put your client's needs first. Make sure you understand exactly what your
client wants and needs before
you accept a booking. Then deliver that.
3) Build a successful part-time business before you take the plunge to
full-time. Learn how to book and present
50-75 shows a year before you even begin to think about a full-time business. If
you can't reach that level, how
will you get to 150-200 dates a year?
4) Learn about the different markets for magic, as well as the career ladder.
Understand who hires magicians and
why, at every level.
5) Read everything you can find about running your own business, marketing and
promotion. Learn to write good
advertising copy (or hire someone to do it).
6) Get good publicity photographs.
7) Recognize that everybody in show business "goes up and then goes down."
Always treat people well and don't
burn bridges on the way up the career ladder, because eventually you will see
those people on the way down.
If I had to decide on a keystone for one's foundation, it would be a passion and
love for the art of magic. Building a
successful magic business can be a challenge and there will be difficult times.
You will need that passion and love to
see you through those difficult times.
When Dustin Hoffman was asked if he would have stayed in the acting business if
he hadn't hit it big with "The Graduate"
when he was in his 20s, he answered that he would still be an actor, even if it
was in a community theater production
somewhere, because that's what he is - an actor.
Are you passionate enough about performing magic to do it regardless where it
leads you? Without that level of passion, building a successful business will be impossible. Certainly, someone may make a
lot of money, but I for one, would not
call them successful if their passion was elsewhere. That's the foundation for
an effective magic business.
Best wishes for a Happy and Prosperous New Year.
Jim
Jim Snack Resource Site -
CLICK HERE
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