Let Them See You…

At the showcase that I was at last week, one of the performers wore sunglasses while he performed. Personally I think in 99.7% of all instances there’s no reason for a performer to wear sunglasses. The only acceptable reason is for a character thing, like Rudy Coby and that character must be strong. Other than … Continue reading “Let Them See You…”

At the showcase that I was at last week, one of the performers wore sunglasses while he performed. Personally I think in 99.7% of all instances there’s no reason for a performer to wear sunglasses. The only acceptable reason is for a character thing, like Rudy Coby and that character must be strong. Other than that, you better be a huge celebrity like Metallica…and I’ve seen Metallica twice, they don’t wear sunglasses on stage.


The big thing is that sunglasses block your eyes. When the audience can’t see your eyes, it’s a lot harder for them to connect with the audience. You’ve essentially put up a wall between you and the audience, and you have to break that wall to connect.


If you are wearing sunglasses, take them off and look at your audience. Yes, even if you are outside with the sun in your face.

How to Be a Professional Magician…

Right now we’re deep into the corporate holiday party performing season. Tomorrow being the second Saturday of December which is the most requested day for holiday parties.   That means if you aren’t working tomorrow you should be.  The number one question I get from magicians starting out  is, “How do I get shows?”  The answer … Continue reading “How to Be a Professional Magician…”

Right now we’re deep into the corporate holiday party performing season. Tomorrow being the second Saturday of December which is the most requested day for holiday parties.   That means if you aren’t working tomorrow you should be. 

The number one question I get from magicians starting out  is, “How do I get shows?”  The answer for me was giving to me when I saw Rudy Coby lecture in the late 1990’s was to constantly be working. 

So how do you do that if you don’t have any work?  Simple, look for it and then take it.  Don’t worry about the money, just take the gig.  

I know this flies in the face of what every magician in facebook groups tell you when they say things like, “you must charge at least $xxx.xx”. You need stage time to get good before you can charge money.  

For me when I was about 19 or 20 I started performing in these late night “after hours” shows.  These would be after the bars closed.  You would work for maybe 10 bucks, however I was honing my craft, developing my style, and most importantly failing!

As a performing, especially when starting out, you need to take risks, you need to push some boundries and you need to fall flat on your face.  This is really hard to do at a $2,000 gig, but it’s easy to do for ten bucks.  

Another venue I started performing at when I was first starting out was retirement communities.  I learned that they had a monthly budget for entertainment.  These shows didn’t pay a ton, but there were a lot of them!  

I eventually wrote a book on doing shows at retirement communities. This book covers how to contact them, how to book them and even some tips on doing the gig. You can get more info on this at www.perform4seniors.com.

The key is to simply get out and perform.  When I was starting out the internet didn’t really exist.  Now it’s easier than ever to find an open mic.  A quick search on Craigslist shows several listings looking for performers.  

Go out and do perform!

Louie