I am about to start doing magic for a restaurant in my small town. I have a lot of tricks, but I worry I'm going to run out of tricks if I get people who come simply to watch my magic. During tourist season it's all different people all the time, but what do you do for the recurring guests? There's no possible way to learn tricks faster than they can see me perform them(if I have it end well at least.)

Have three sets or routines and cycle through them. Have three additional effects for special occasions or unique circumstances. If some customers see you so often that they end up observing all of your effects that is a good thing, especially for the restaurant that hired you. New effects may be added in every month. If one is entertaining they certainly won't mind seeing the same effects again. Think of some routines that you wouldn't get tired of seeing again and again as frequently as a customer visits. Story effects are good like Bill Malone's, Sam the Bell Hop.

There will be only so many people who end up viewing all of your effects and I wouldn't worry about it. Some people may go to see a magician more than once who has a set show.

Rather than finding more material for the same audience, maybe you should focus on finding more audiences? If people are coming back to see all your material, that is a good thing. However, learning more effects for the same audience is far more work than finding another audience. Is there perhaps another restaurant you can work?

Don't get me wrong, you shouldn't give up something that is working for you. I merely offer a simple solution to the problem, not necessarily a practical one.

-ArchAngel_G

I just got done with my restaurant book not too long ago and might tell more people about it but this is one of the topics I talked about...here is how you deal with repeat customers:

First, you can obviously show them new stuff but eventually you will run out of material to show them. Do not try to perfect new tricks every week just for repeat customers.

You don't want to have different "sets" for new customers because they will come in at a faster pace than you can master new tricks so you want to spread your tricks out. Do your normal set of tricks and when you notice they have seen you perform before, ask if they want to see something new. Show them one thing and thats all. Tell them next time you will show them something new.

The reason you don't want to show them a whole new "set" is because you will only get to perform for them 3 or 4 other times before you've finished showing them everything you've got. If you show them one trick at a time then it will last a lot longer. That is the first part...

You will still run out of tricks to show them and what do you do in this case?

Talk to them like they're you're close friends. You won't go up to a table of your friends and start showing them tons of tricks. You will go up to them and ask them what they've been up to, etc etc. You will simply have a conversation. This is what you want to lead up to and just build a relationship with the people rather than being "the guy who does tricks."

You will notice that repeat customers don't want you to show them something new every time. Each repeat customer is different. One group might want you to perform the same tricks for a new friend that hasn't seen you perform. Another group will want you to do something new. Another group will just be ok with chatting. And another group might not want to see you perform at all. Every repeat customer is different but once you run out of tricks...build a relationship with them but talking to them like you would friends.


That is the basics of working with regulars

Thanks for your ideas and your post Benji. I think some of these ideas are good. I hope your restaurant gigs continue to go well. What will be the title of your book?

I'm not sure what the title will be but the book will have all the knowledge of when I was performing in restaurants (started when I was 13 years old). I basically stopped doing restaurant gigs since I do corporate work now.

Working with regulars is part of the book.

Everyone must also understand what their main goal is when performing in a restaurant. Your goal is to book gigs. The restaurant's goal is something different but your goal is to book outside engagements. All your actions must be judged by their long term effects. When you keep this in mind, you start to do a lot of things differently.

For example...a regular customer comes in and sees you perform all the time (You've been at the restaurant for six months and you run out of tricks). Your goal is to find people to hire you for outside engagements.

If this regular customer has not hired you for a gig after seeing you for six months and has not even talked about hiring you then you can almost guarantee that it will never happen. So this regular customer is lower on your priority list than a new customer who says, "wow that was great. You would be great at our company party."

The new customer becomes more of a priority than the repeat customer because the new customer might book you whereas the repeat customer has become so accustomed to seeing free tricks from you that he has no need to pay you.

That is one example of seeing things on a larger scale. Always base your current actions by their future results.