The postcard is my primary means of promoting my appearance at the Boulder Fringe Festival. I hand them out; I mail them; I leave little piles scattered through the coffee houses of Boulder.

Wednesday I gave them out to 16 to some friends at lunch. At dinner I gave out a bunch more, including a stack of 30 to a friend who offered to give them to her friends.

“I measure out my life with postcards.”

Postcards are the ideal medium for a Fringe performer. The schedule for the Fringe Festival is inconsistent (one show is on Thursday at 8:30pm the next show is on Friday at 6:00pm), so it’s helpful to have a printed schedule that you can hand out to people. Anything you can do to help your friends say, “Yes, I can make it on Sunday,” will help boost attendance at your show. I even find room to put a little map on the postcard showing the location of the venue.

By the way, if you are reading this and live in Colorado, please come see the show. It’s a magic show unlike any other, a 55-minute theatrical magic show with storytelling and philosophy, and appropriate for all ages. Go here to see the schedule and buy tickets for Gregg Tobo’s Magic & Prestidigitation Show.

I intended to do my postcard mailing last Wednesday, but encountered a delay. A few months ago I had merged a couple of databases but hadn’t cleaned up the detritus. I didn’t realize how scattered my data had become. Two days later, the list is finally clean, the labels are printed, the postcards stamped, and we’re ready for a trip to the post office.

You should receive your postcard on Monday or Tuesday of next week assuming you are: 1) a friend or client of mine, 2) within striking distance of Boulder, and 3) I have your current address.

If you feel you qualify for a postcard but don’t receive on from me, drop me a line and I’ll make sure you get one for this show and any future shows I produce.

In case you’re in a big hurry to see the postcard, here’s what it looks like:

(The postcard was designed by Holly Crachee of Silverpoint Graphic Design. She designed my postcard last year, too, and I’m always pleased with her work.)

I’ve been crazy busy preparing for the Boulder International Fringe Festival. The show (Gregg Tobo’s Magic & Prestidigitation Show) opens in one month and I’m already feeling fatigued as each day is packed with things that must get done.

So I thought, just for posterity, I might use this opportunity to describe what I’m doing each day to prepare for the Fringe. It seems like an ideal blog project and might help me keep track of what I’ve completed and what still needs to be done.

Right now I’m staring at a stack of postcards I had designed to promote my show. They should have gone out in the mail on Monday, but they didn’t. They didn’t go out today either. So it’s a priority for tomorrow. I’ll send out about 300 postcards to my friends, families, colleagues, and acquaintances. I’ve already handed out about 100 to my friends. From now until the show closes you won’t catch me without a stack of postcards in my hand.

I spoke with my designer today about designing a program for the show. The program will serve three purposes: 1) Give proper credit to those involved in the production, 2) Use artwork and a brief blurb or quotation to set the mood for the show, and 3) Provide contact information to encourage people to connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, or web.

I’m keeping a small Moleskein journal to record thoughts and ideas for the show. Wording can be important and I spend a lot of time replaying my latest performance in my head, looking for opportunities to speak with greater clarity and precision. When I think a thought, the journal is there to capture it.

Also, I use the journal to keep a tally of how many times I perform each effect. Based on past experience, I need to log 37 performances in front of a live audience before I can say that I’ve mastered a piece of magic. Why 37? I’m not sure where the number came from, but it’s proven effective. After I’ve performed a piece of magic 37 times, I’ve learned the subtleties of the effect and I’ve been exposed to most of the possible dangers.

Much of the time between now and August 18 will be spent running off to small, inconsequential, venues where I can subject my magic to the only test that counts: performance for a live audience.

(Well that was easier and less time consuming than I thought it would be.)

from xxxxxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com
to
bcc greggastonishingproductionscom
date Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 5:12 AM
subject Magician Needed For My Daughter Weeding !!!

Hello,
Owner/Manager

Hi Good Morning, This is mr, xxxxx maxwell, i will like to know if you are very much available by 19th of March ? i want you to come and perform a magician in my Daughter wedding , and i will like you to email me the Necessary things i have to go through before booking and the Quote cost for 3hours performs show comedy magic show i will like you to make my daughter wedding event the most memorable possible! kindly go ahead and email me the necessary thing am going to do and the cost and the method of recieving Payment more so i will like to let you know that i don’t mind strolling magic, get back to me Asap..

Regard
Max.

And why must it always be a wedding (or a “weeding”)?

Why don’t they try impersonating a corporate meeting planner, or a theater owner, or a fund-raiser, or an association executive — just to keep me on my toes?

Worked an outdoor festival for Grant Family Farms in Wellington, CO this weekend (4 shows, over 2 days) and thought I’d share something of value for those who work these types of events.

For performers, festivals can be a bit of a wild card. Sometimes your stage is centrally located and receives lots of foot-traffic and sometimes your stage is on the outskirts. Sometimes attendees are highly attuned to the schedule of events and manage their time well, and sometimes attendees are content to wander about to see what opportunities will arise. And there’s the issue of timing. What other activities are happening concurrently with your performance? At what time does attendance peak? What time does it begin to wane?

As a result, sometimes the dynamics of the festival will drive large audiences to see your show, and sometimes the dynamics of the festival will not.

And yet, as a festival performer it is imperative that I draw a big audience every time.

When I’m hired to work a festival, the event planner wants to provide entertainment to as many of their attendees as possible. In fact, the only way they can justify paying my fee is by the number of people that I entertain.

If my magic is superlative, but my audiences are diminutive, then I’ve failed because the person who writes the check is only interested in one thing: How many people enjoyed the show? And if the audiences are small the event planner will conclude that: 1) People are not interested in magic (let’s not hire a magician next year), or 2) This magician isn’t very good (let’s hire someone else next year).

Given these circumstances, it’s good to have a few tricks up your sleeve to guarantee that you have a good audience no matter what. Here’s what I do:

About 30 minutes before show time, if it becomes clear that the dynamics of the festival will not automatically provide me with a bountiful audience, I go out and began to “buttonhole” as many families as I can with my “invisible ticket.”

The “invisible ticket” is a gambit that I either learned from another working pro or one that I invented myself. Unfortunately, my memory fails me so I cannot take credit, even though I think I invented it. The “invisible ticket” works best when I’m looking to gather a family audience of grown ups and their kids.

If you simply accost people and beg them to watch your show, you run the risk of creating animosity and ill-will because you are trying to sell your show, and some people would rather not be solicited. This is especially true, if you accidentally stop the same family twice and harangue them a second time about the merits of your magic (not an uncommon occurrence as your roam the festival grounds).

The “invisible ticket” works because it gives you a way to engage people playfully and entertainingly so that everyone has a fun time listening to your pitch and they don’t resent your intrusion. You give them a chance to have some fun playing along and if you inadvertently approach the same family twice, it’s still a lot of fun.

Here’s the pitch.

I approach a family with kids and I ask them, “Did you get your free tickets to the magic show?”

If I am speaking to them for the first time, the answer is no, but now I’ve informed them that there will be a show.

I begin digging through my pockets looking for the tickets (assuming that they are interested) and then say, “Ah, here they are…”

I pretend to withdraw a stack of tickets and mime handing them out saying, “The tickets are invisible, but don’t lose them, you’ll need them to see the show. The show will begin in 25 minutes at the tent at the top of the hill…”

I’ve given them all the pertinent information while giving them an opportunity to be a little goofy and have some fun with their invisible tickets.

As you can see there is potential for lots of business with the invisible tickets. Sometimes I drop a ticket and need help finding it. I always recommend that they put the ticket somewhere safe so they don’t lose it (invisible tickets are very easy to lose) which encourages them to be creative about how to keep their ticket safe. If I’m talking to a large family, I’ll give a stack of invisible tickets to the oldest sibling and let him or her distribute tickets to the rest of the family. Or I’ll hand out a few tickets and then lament that I’ve run out of tickets, so only half of the family can attend the show (luckily I find some extra tickets in another pocket).

Generally speaking, I give the invisible tickets to the grown ups first as they are quick to understand the game and the kids will take their parent’s lead. You only have to give people a small opening, and they will take the idea and run with it.

One woman told me she dropped her ticket in the water and asked me if I would still honor her ticket (I traded her for a fresh ticket just to be safe). Kids would walk past me showing off their invisible tickets. One man unlaced his shoe and stashed his invisible ticket under sole to keep it safe. One child bemoaned the fact that she didn’t have a pocket in her dress to store the ticket, but then proudly discovered an invisible pocket just large enough for her invisible ticket.

Very small children hold out their hand to receive their ticket and then stare at their hand, perplexed, when they can’t see anything. Their parents think this is REALLY funny and I let the kid off the hook by saying, “Don’t worry about it. It’s just silly.”

On occasion an older child might refuse to accept the reality of the invisible ticket insisting that, “There’s nothing in my hand.” To which I say, “Well, of course not. You dropped your ticket on the ground.” When I put the ticket back in their hand they’ll still insist that, “There’s nothing in my hand. It’s not a real ticket.” So I reply, “Next you’ll be telling me there’s no such thing as Santa Claus!” And I storm off in a feigned huff.

It doesn’t matter, I can make the premise fun whether they accept or deny the ticket, and they’ll still come to see the show.

And when I inadvertently approached the same family twice to ask, “Did you get your free tickets to the magic show?” Everyone stopped, reached into their pockets and proudly displayed their invisible tickets. So it’s even fun to be pitched twice.

You may ask why I don’t walk around performing magic to help build a crowd. My answer is that performing magic takes too long and while I’m performing a trick for one family, ten other families have walked by and I’ve missed the opportunity to tell them about the show. If traffic is heavy and there a lots of families in sight, I can do the “invisible ticket” spiel in less than 10 seconds and be off to play with the next family.

When it’s time to start the show, I begin by asking, “Does everyone have their tickets?” And those who are in the know will hold up their tickets for me to see. Now I can see how many seats I filled by my own initiative. Some days the audience is entirely due to my rainmaking and it’s a good feeling to know that I single-handedly averted a disaster armed with nothing more than an “invisible ticket.”

]]> http://astonishingproductions.com/blog/2010/09/15/the-invisible-ticket/feed/ 1 http://astonishingproductions.com/blog/2010/01/02/how-to-make-a-living-performing-magic/ http://astonishingproductions.com/blog/2010/01/02/how-to-make-a-living-performing-magic/#comments Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:03:08 +0000 Gregg Tobo http://astonishingproductions.com/blog/?p=256 Here’s a short post to kick off the new year.

Short because musician, Danny Barnes has done all the heavy lifting.

Danny Barnes plays a ferociously twangy banjo with nasal lyrics that draw heavily from folk music traditions, but he also ventures forth to fuse traditional roots with the progressive sound of rock, jazz, and electronic music.

To learn how to make a living performing magic, read his post: How to Make a Living Playing Music. (Just substitute the word “magician” for “musician” and you’ll realize his ideas still apply.) My thanks to Mr. Barnes for sharing his wisdom.

To Mr. Barnes’s 29 theses I would add this observation (this time from magician Billy McComb) that consistency is more important than brilliance. That is, no one wants to hire a performer who is brilliant one night but mediocre the next — because they can never be sure which performer is going to show up when they hire them, and furthermore erratic performances make it impossible to determine what fee would be fair compensation. Billy contends, and I concur, that you’ll have more success if you are consistent and you consistently deliver good value for the money.

And one more thought.

Before I launched into this business, I asked performers of all stripes if it was possible to make a living pursuing this decidedly off-beat profession. In exchange for my query, I receive a lot of quizzical looks and indeterminate answers.

I realize now that the question (as asked) was not one that could be answered, because I hadn’t thought through enough of the details.

To ask if it’s possible to make a living performing magic is akin to asking, “Do you think I could make a living selling some “thing” to some people?”

Of course there’s no way to answer to that question, except to ask a lot of other questions. What “thing” do you intend to sell? To whom will you sell it? How much does it cost to produce this “thing?” Of what value is this “thing” to your prospective clients? Do they have the money necessary to afford this “thing?” How many people are in the market for this “thing?” How will people find out about this “thing” you are offering?

Oh, and if you reply, “What I’m selling is a magic show,” then you need to dig much deeper. Remember the person who goes to the hardware store to buy a drill doesn’t want a drill — what they want are the holes.

Tis the season for the company holiday party. In general, December is the busiest month of the year for those magicians who perform grown-up magic in the corporate market. I usually see an exhilarating spike in business in the first half of December.

December of 2008, however, was spike-less. A combination of uncertainty (with regards to the economy) and an unjustified stigma against even the appearance of fun within a corporate entity conspired to make it an underwhelming close to 2008.

So what of 2009?

Well, I received more inquiries this year than last, but buyers seemed to be extremely price conscious. I am aware of some gigs lost to lower priced alternatives. And instead of booking their December events 3-6 months in advance, many planners waited until the last minute (unsure, perhaps, of how much money would be available).

I also had more requests than ever before for shorter performances to help accommodate smaller budgets. And more holiday parties were held on week nights rather than weekends (to qualify for non-peak pricing on venues, one assumes).

From where I sit, the economy has not yet begun to recover, there’s still a lot of uncertainty about how businesses will make their numbers in 2010. On the positive side, however, it is no longer optically anathema for a company to have fun and show some love and appreciation to their hard-working employees.

So for my industry, I’m calling the glass half-full for the end of 2009.

The basic rules of performance are that the magician must be seen and must be heard. And this applies whether I perform from the stage or up-close.

I learned to be sensitive to the light while acting in the theatre — to be aware of where the light was most intense and to position myself in the hotspot. The use of light for the close-up magician is often overlooked, but if you want your magic to have maximum impact, you need to be aware of how the light is falling and where the shadows are.

Before I do any startling transformations (a coin changing from copper to silver for example), I want to position the object in the best light. If I’m obstructing the light and casting a shadow over the area where the magic will happen, the magic will get a muted response.

The more light I can get, the more impact my magic will have.

(As a side note, check out the movie, “To Have and Have Not,” with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Whenever Bogart or Bacall would light a cigarette for each other, the director (Howard Hawks) would use a pin spot to illuminate their faces (in addition to the general lighting) to throw in some extra light, and to make sure we would focus on their faces during these intimate moments. Sure they had good chemistry, but Hawks wanted to ensure that we would see this chemistry, and so he literally highlighted these shots.)

The thing I saw in Las Vegas, which I immediately adapted for my work, was the practice of bringing your own light to the table. In a night club, the lighting is often poorly suited for the performance of magic, however, at the Wonderground, magicians brought their own portable light to the table.

Here’s a light that I’ve been using:

This is the Lumatec Everest Reading Light. It costs about $20, runs on 4 AAA batteries, uses 2 LEDs (so the batteries will last for years), it collapses to fit easily in my coat pocket (6-inches long), and is free-standing so I can set it on the table and go to work. When I bought it, it was white, but I spray painted it black so it wouldn’t draw too much focus. Naturally, there are many other lights that will do the job.

Shortly after my Vegas trip, I worked with an event planner who wanted me to do close-up magic at her event. The catch was that she wanted to do a Rave-like theme with glowing necklaces and bracelets, and flashing ice cubes, with everything else in the dark (aside from the DJs light show). While I had some magic that would work in the dark (using D’lites and glow-sticks), the portable light really saved the day.

And one of the venues where I regularly work has extremely poor lighting at many of the tables, so when I produce my own light, I look professional and I get credit for coming prepared. (“Master of my domain,” as Docc Hilford would say…). Plus, it’s also useful for those times when a sponge ball rolls under the table…

Just a little tip I picked up during my travels; hope someone finds it useful.

I’ve been told umpteen times (by other performers) that this is a tough age group to work for, but I’ve never found it so. To be clear, I would NEVER perform “children’s magic” for 13-year-olds. The young people get the same high-caliber magic that I would perform for my grown-up audiences. At this age, they’re more likely to have seen David Blaine or Criss Angel (or Cyril Takayama via YouTube) than their parents, so if you have to be able to deliver the goods.

What makes these gigs fun is that the young people give free rein to their emotions. If you fool them, they will laugh, they will scream, they will run out of the room (and come back with bunch of their friends in tow).

I do suspect that some of my success with young people stems from my age. I’m not a teenage magician (who wouldn’t be worthy of their respect), but I’m also usually younger than their parents (and therefore still able to wear the mantle of hipness). If you’re too close to their age they’ll take you down. Ditto if you’re too old. I happen to be at the right age where I can claim the role of Alpha dog and assert order on what could become a wild pack.

One thing you need to be prepared for is to think on your feet. Unlike the more polite adult audience, young people (giving free reign to their emotions) will call on you to “do it again!” or “roll up your sleeves!” or “let me shuffle the cards!”

So only bring your strongest rock-solid material to these gigs. If you’re working on a new bit and you’re the slightest bit uncertain, they’ll smell your fear and (unlike their parents) they won’t hesitate to call you out.

Hmm. I started off this post by saying that this is not a tough age group to work for, but after reading my own advise, perhaps I should amend that.

Yes, Mitzvah-aged kid are tough to work for. But if you come prepared, if you earn their respect, if you have the confidence to take charge, it’s a fun and rewarding age group to work for.

The host has invited his or her friends for an evening of food and drink, and I have been hired as the entertainment. Sometimes I am asked to give a single stage performance and other times I provide “mix & mingle” magic.

I enjoy this type of performance because in this environment I can have a tremendous impact on the evening, and it’s up to me to steer the event to a successful conclusion.

That being said, home parties can also be one of the most challenging environments, and demands a good deal of flexibility and quick thinking from the performer. This venue is not for the faint-of-heart. You’ll need to be able to take charge and also go with the flow — and know when to do either.

Because the host is not a professional event planner, they may only have a general idea that they’d like some magic at their party. You’ll need to ask them whether they envision a structured event (“Everyone please join us in the living room, the show is about to begin!”) or a more informal event (“Drinks are out on the porch, grab a plate whenever your hungry…”).

But even when I perform from the stage (at a more structured event), there can still be a lot of unresolved issues when I arrive. Be prepared to take charge. Sometimes the host will have a performance space set up with seating for everyone, but many times they’ve asked me, “Where do you think would be best?” So be prepared to render your professional assessment, ask some polite questions (“Would it be possible to move the dining table back about 3 feet?”), and do whatever is necessary to ensure that you can give a great performance.

You and the host may have agreed that the show will start at 7:00, but the host may not have considered how to make that happen. Who will announce that the show is about to begin? Who will round up the stragglers and get them in their seats? Will anyone introduce you?

And once the show is over, who will tell the guests what happens next? Would the host like YOU to announce that everyone should go to the dinning room for dinner? Or hould you reintroduce your host and allow them to take over the proceedings? Or do you get to lead everyone in a rousing chorus of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow,” as they wheel in the 5 foot tall cake?

Don’t assume that your host will have thought out all these details. So be prepared to take charge and orchestrate a great event. And also make sure you communicate with all of the hosts. Sometimes you are working for more than one host, and if so, they WILL have different ideas about how the evening should go.

Performing “mix & mingle” magic (aka strolling, close-up, table-hopping) can be even more daunting.

True, you can go in and entertain small groups of people for your allotted time, but I prefer to work towards a bigger goal.

The ideal show for me would be to start the evening by working for small groups, and then towards the end of the evening, begin pulling together a larger group by button-holing some people I’ve already worked for. My vision is to finally draw everyone’s attention for one final piece of magic. And then I do a larger bit of magic (stand-up or cabaret, really) that’s a real show-stopper…and I take my bow and leave.

I find that to be more satisfying than just entertaining small groups all night, and then (at my appointed time) stopping and leaving.

So I always come prepared with a larger piece. Upon arrival, I scope out which room will be the best suited for the grand finale, and work knowing that this is where I want to end up.

Sometimes the party will attempt to gravitate too early with the crowd growing larger before I want it to, so I try to work the periphery and pace myself before diving into the center of the party.

Also, because groups will disperse and reform, I make sure that I have 3 or 4 sets of close-up material at my disposal. Early on, I do the same set of magic for every group that I meet. Then later, if I approach a group and find 3 new people and 1 person that I’ve already worked for, I can switch to my second set, and know that everyone is seeing something new.

Again, I’ve just managed to scratch the surface, but if you understand what it takes to make a great evening, and can take charge to make it happen, and contrariwise, if you’re flexible and know when to go with the flow, home parties can be a very rewarding venue.

If you’re sensitive to what happens after you finish your performance, you’ll know that people will say things like, “Wow!” and “That was great!” and “That was amazing!”

And then, if you’re not prepared, there’s a pause — which can grow to become an awkward silence — as your guests run out of superlatives and fall mute.

If you think about it, it’s quite natural that your audience be at a loss for words. If you’ve done your job well, they’ve probably never experienced the level of astonishment that you’ve just given them. You have seized the spotlight and amazed them, and nothing in their social experience tells them what to do next.

I mean, imagine you were at a cocktail party and you met someone and they said, “Look what I can do…” And then they spun their head around 360 degrees ala Linda Blair.

After you say, “Wow!” what do you say next?

It’s a conversation stopper.

And magic can do the same effect, so it’s up to us (as good entertainers) to help people out by assisting them in restarting the conversation.

Of course you can just say thanks and walk away, but it is not my preferred route. True, sometimes the situation dictates that you not spend time visiting with the guests. Once I was hired to perform for a reception of 300 people for 1 hour. I told the event planner that in order to ensure good coverage (to allow a majority of the attendees to see some magic), I recommended either extending the duration of my performance for a couple hours, or hiring a couple other magicians. Budget constraints, however, would not allow it. So I performed a very short piece of magic for each group, and without pausing to converse with my guests, I would make a speedy departure to find another group to work for.

It was not an optimal situation however, as I’ve found that most guests enjoy interacting with and talking to the magician (how often do they get to do that?). For many people the highlight of the event will be “I got to meet the magician.” And not “…and then my card turned over in the deck!”

But as I mentioned above, sometimes, especially after witnessing great magic, they don’t know how to proceed with the conversation. (In my experience, only 1-in-12 people are skilled enough in conversation that they can ask, “So how did you learn magic?” or “How long have you been performing?” or “Who are your favorite magicians?” or “Where else do you perform?”)

So one thing I do to help them out is to turn the subject of the conversation back to them.

If they’ve indicated that they enjoy seeing magic, I like to ask, “Do you do any magic yourself?”

I’ve met a number of amateur magicians this way, and even if they don’t currently perform, they will often tell me that they used to do magic when they were younger or that they used to have a deck of magic cards, etc. At any rate, I’ve restarted the conversation and I’ve given them a path for us to move the discussion beyond, “Wow, that was great…”

Another conversation starter for someone who has indicated that they like magic is “Who’s your favorite magician?” Or “Who else have you seen perform?” Now they can talk about who they saw on their trip to Vegas and you can tell them which shows are worth seeing next time they go, etc.

When working restaurants, at the end of my performance I say, “So are you here for a special occasion?” It’s not always a “special” occasion, but they usually have some story to tell about why they chose to come here tonight. And of course, if it’s a birthday or anniversary, well, I have a special trick up my sleeve to commemorate the occasion.

In my opinion, it’s you’re ability to interact with people in a social situation that will get you booked back. If you’re a magician who is a master of sleight-of-hand, but you lack the social skills to put people at ease, it’s going to hurt your ability to get bookings.