magic business – MagicShow.Tips

Why Agents Like Me

There are many reasons why the agents I work with like me, but this is the secret to get any agent to like you. It’s really easy, pay your commissions on time! By the time you get to the gig, the agent has done all of their work (unless there’s a problem) weeks or months ago. The agent is the last person to get paid, and has to wait the longest to get paid for their work.

The week before gigs when I’m sending out conformations for gigs, I also mail out any commission checks. These are sent out before the gig and the agent usually gets paid before I do the show.

This may seem like a small thing, and it really is as usually I have somewhere between two weeks and 30 days to mail the check. I know I like it when shows are prepaid, and I’m sure agents are the same. I also personally know a lot of agents and if you ask them how many of their acts are pay late, or how many acts have owed them money for years, it’s remarkably high.

This one little thing, being reliable with payment goes a long way!

-Louie

You Can Say Something Nice!

Recently a booker of a gig send me a screenshot from a magician inquiring about performing at an event that I was already booked at.

This is where the magician who was trying to get a gig could have let it the conversation drop, asked for the gig next year, or talked bad about me, but here’s his reponse:

The guy called me a “legend” and that I was “top rank”. That was really cool of him to do! When everyone is out there being awesome and a good experience for bookers, it’s good for everyone!

-Louie

Video Showcasing…

I’m home now from a booking conference I was at earlier in the week. One of the things that happens at these are video showcases. These are up to three minute videos that play usually in between the live act showcases. There were a couple of good video showcases and a lot of bad ones.

The number one thing about a video showcase is to use still images sparingly and use them with purpose. One of the showcases I watched was of a musician who does a roving act and he does a lot of audience engagement and pulls around a wagon that looks really cool. His video was all still images with him singing a song played over. It didn’t really give any context to what he does or how a buyer would use it.

The next worst thing is to play a video of you playing a gig. One person played a video him that had bits of several songs, but they were all at the same venue. It was visually boring. At least have several venues…and record them from the soundboard, they audio will turn out much nicer and easier to listen to.

Another thing is that news footage is great…but trim out all the stuff that’s not you! One act had a nice news clip, but they kept in the intro of the two newscasters bantering about the weather or whatever at the beginning, essentially wasting the buyers time for 15 seconds. Then they left in the extro of the two newscasters banters about what was coming up next, once again wasting the buyers time.

The final thing is you don’t need to use the full 3 minutes (or whatever the max is) for your video. If you can tell the buyers what you need in 75 seconds, great…you don’t need to bore them with redundant info for the remaining time. Trimming out the fat is key!

Those are some tips if you are putting together a video showcase or making a sizzle reel!

-Louie

Gig To Gig…

When I was first starting out performing full time, I would have to hustle every gig individually. That’s a lot of work. One way my business has changed is that I book the majority of my gigs at showcases and trade shows and this is my preferred way to book.

If you don’t know what a showcase is, it’s where you do a short bit of your show for people who can book you. The goal is after they see your show, they’ll book you. The nice thing about the booker actually seeing your show is that they will have a better idea of whether or not your show will be right for their event.

The other way I love booking shows in trade shows. What I like is that I can talk about their event, but also do a short demo if needed. Also there’s a ton of people that can book, and you book a lot of shows in a short amount of time. Another bonus of booking this way is that you can do all of the office work (contracts, etc) in one sitting, instead of spread out over time.

I want to be clear that I do book single shows that come in, however the majority of what I book are at showcases or trade shows. Having multiple ways that shows come in is a good thing.