If you got booked for a birthday party IN a restaurant, would it be a restaurant or a birthday gig.

Birthday (Im guessing) since your not going to table to table for 2-3 minuets now. Now its a 30-45 minuete routine for a lot of younger spectators.

Thats what I thought, my Dad got me thinking.

Yep, right reply. The only people that you entertain will be the birthday party. You don't go to any other tables because the b'day family is paying for your undivided attention.

this depends actually. say its a birthday party where all the people are sitting at different tables. then it would be table hopping, but only to those tables. i think the right place to go is not to this forum, but ask your "clients"

In order to answer this question properly, I need a little more information. Does the client simply have a small room set aside for the party, or is the entire restaurant booked for the event? If you have to perform for the entire restaurant, you will likely need larger props and a good sound system so everyone can see and hear what you are doing. You may even need a raised platform so everyone can see you from across the room.

Some cultures really believe in these types of large celebrations. Friends, family, extended family and even business associates turn out for these types of parties. Although its a huge crowd, it's also a double edged sword. You see, once you have performed for this group, EVERYONE has seen your birthday show. So, what happens if another parent wants to book you for another party? Will you have any material to perform? If not, you may need to charge a premium for the show you are doing.

In those circumstances I charge for a modified stage show.

Kent

restaurant and birthday are types of event. Strolling is a type of magic, you cant compare them.

If the restaurant has hired you to entertain the general public entering their restaurant on behalf of the restaurant, and there is no private bookin or special event, it is a restaurant job.

If it is a private booking, special event (birthday), but just in a restaurant, it is a birthday job and NOT a restaurant job, as the restaurant is simply the venue.

This kid's good!

Some people are way over analyzing this. It doesn't matter if he's table hopping, or if the whole restaurant is rented out. What he is doing is simply a birthday gig. No more, no less. He's being hired to do a birthday party, not to work in a restaurant.

To simplify this more, if I did a birthday party at a park, it's not consider a park gig. It's a birthday gig. If I did a birthday part at a house, it's not a house gig, it's a birthday gig. It's quite simple.

Although I understand what you are saying, I must respectfully disagree. Not all birthday parties can/should be treated the same. For instance, the average children's birthday party will typically have about 12 kids and a few parents. On the odd occasion, there may be a few more, but generally, the performance and the audience will fit into an average living room or family room.

The props for this type of a show don't have to be extremely large in order to be seen. Indeed, the audience is only 5 or 6 feet away. You also don't tend to need a sound system (unless an effect in your show happens to require music or a voice over) since normal voice projection shouldn't be a problem in a room that size.

BUT, if you now move the party to a restaurant where the ENTIRE RESTAURANT has been booked for the event, you have a completely different performing situation. The audience may now be over 100 people, sitting at distances up to 50 feet away from you (or more). As a result, you will need much larger visible props, a sound system and perhaps even a raised platform. Your set-up and tear down times become much more extensive, and you may even need to rent a larger vehicle to get everything to and from the venue.

If you treated this simply as a "birthday show" and charged your normal birthday show rate, it really wouldn't be worth your time and effort. If you are performing in an evironment like this, it really is more akin to a small stage show.

Kent

It's still a birthday gig. Size doesn't matter. Someone could hire me to perform magic at a birthday party with a million people, and it's still a birthday gig. Yes, it may be different then performing for 5 people, but it's still a birthday gig. Because you are being hired to perform at a birthday.

You can have birthday gigs that are also stage shows. You can have birthday gigs that are also close-up shows. You can have birthday shows that are also comedy shows. However, they are all birthday shows, as that is the occasion why the magician was hired. They were hired to do a magic show for a birthday, meaning it's a birthday gig. Doesn't matter what type of magic you perform, where you perform, how long you perform, what you perform, or anything else like that. Because simply, it's still a birthday gig.

I know it's still a birthday, but you're not performing your normal birthday show. For instance, are you saying you're going to charge your standard birthday rate for that type of a larger show? I doubt it. You're likely going to upcharge the show and justify the increased rate based on EXACTLY the rationale of my previous post.

Kent

That's true, but you are going into a whole different subject now. The question was is what he was doing a birthday gig, or restaurant gig. The answer to that is that it is a birthday gig. Now, it may not be a standard birthday gig, but a birthday gig none the less.

O.K., I agree with you there. The difference is that I don't tend to characterize my gigs strictly by the type of event. I also characterize them by the type of show I am performing. So, in the example I gave above, I would call it a mini-stage show for a birthday party.

Kent

WHO CARES! A gig is a gig as long as you're paid for it who cares what you call it.