Hello, My name is mark, I am 24 years old began in magic about 8 years ago, learning cards, quit for a while and then got back into it recently about a year and a half ago, I boight RRTCM back then, and learned various things besides just those sleights in this book, which most of them i already did know from previous study, I can do the overhand shuffle with ease, DL never been caught, I have my own false cuts i do in the hands, swivel cuts and so on, I can handle the cards pretty well, I've been doing walk around showing off tricks at a local club in my town, and the owner wants to offer me 40 bucks a night 4 nights a week to go and work for him doing this, am i ready? or do i need more material besides just cards?

Your doing walk around so just the cards will be good. The longer you stay at the one restaurant you will build up a following of people who come back to see you perform. That is when you will need addition effects.

Heck there are enough card effects so you can do shows with just cards for a long time without repeating. A friend of mine that works Magic Castle every 3 months has a 2 1/2 hour long show with just cards.

BREAK A LEG!!! and may you get enough jobs to go full time!

Peter

yeah i guess you're right paddy., well i guess i left out some stuff, i work in a bar and grill in the kitchen as a cook and the way my boss discovered my stuff was he heard from other people at the night club he also owns that im a kick a** guy with cards and it scared the edited outta some people the stuff i did, so he asked me to showhim stuff, i made him offer, 30 or 40 dollars a night to work at his night club and do walk around stuff, he said we'll have a meeting, i'll do demonstration of my stuff for him, and he'll go for it from there, well, i know all the stuff in royal road to card magic, and i use my own controls, usually a swing cut an dhold the break and bring the card back to the top, The main tricks i do is 2 card monte, do as i do (sold on here) fish sandwich (also sold on here) triumph, ambirtious card, and torn and restored card from le paul's old book. My ambitious card routine stinks because I can only do so many sleights to bring the card backj to the top, I need some help with it, if anyones willing to help me out, i'd sure pay you back in return some how.. add me to yahoo messenger my sn is cebuano31s or email me at themadmagician@hehe.com other than that i've learned some stuff here and there from on the net, i can do shapeshifter, snap change, blind swivel cut, i can do table shuffle very well controlling top or bottom stop, and running cut is my table false cut, i'd like to learn up the ladder, I can also do marlo's bottop change, which is very good change compared to top change or bottom change which can be done while spectators are watching. Other than that... I don't know much more...and don't have much money to buy magic stuff right now. But i do believe i'm good enough with the reactions i've gotten so far, I also do rapid transit from royal road, which uses the DL, very surprising effect. If anyone's willing to help.. just email me or talk to me on yahoo... thanks

well looks like everyones reading but not helping.....

IMHO

At some point you just have to go for it. So I say if you feel ready just do it. If people are fine with cards then great. If you end up with repeats and people ask you to do something else other than cards often then you should maybe look into a few other tricks. But Like Paddy alluded there are people that just do cards.

Good luck I hope this helps....

if you can, get the On the loose, with bill malone, it will ad alot to your rotine, and it gives tips to magicians that want to work.

Here some good advice (not that the other post werent), yes do more than cards. Learn some stuff that uses personal objects like a ring or money.

On the Spot series is great and anyone doing any type of close up should have this.

Also make sure you set a time period of how long your going to do magic for, as remember guys even just starting out make 50 bucks a half hour show.

Also take into consideration the type of place you work at and the time youll be working. By this I mean are you working later on at night when things are really happening and it's loud. If so you dont wanna do stuff with detailed patter ,as you dont wanna be yelling at them. In that type of place you'll do more visual stuff.


Also dont go into this blind, think of what routines or effects your going to do,around 5/6 and just practice those till your dreaming about doing them.

This is one of the most common mistake guys will make and think heck I'll just go and do some stuff with no set routines or effects.

Also make sure your opening routine is short but packs a huge punch you wanna get them right off the bat then you can go into longer routines.

Shoot I could talk all day about this subject, but I hope the few things here will help you.

No matter what have fun man! If your not there not and thats the whole point of magic is to make them have a fun experience.

Michal Mystic

I am interested in getting a job in a local pub, all my freinds say i can easily do it. how would i go about this. should i do some nights for free using my absolute top effects and get a reputution?

FREE is worth what you paid for it, NOTHING! If you were applying for any other job would you give the employer a week or even a day without pay to see how good you are?

ALWAYS repeat ALWAYS charge for your efforts or you will remain just a hobbiest.

Peter

this is for wishingforit

I am also just starting out in the restaurant Magic biz. I do a lot of cards but I find that people can get bored with cards. Hard to believe eh? But it's true. IF you say you are a magician then they will want to see you do something visual. And since EVERYONE has seen David Blaine they will wanna see you levitate or do something like that (i hate it when they ask me to levitate!). But some of the simple visual and devestating props i have in pockets are these:

Silk and TT....People love to see stuff disappear in front of their eyes.

At least 2 sponge balls....One goes in your hand, one goes in their hand snap your fingers and yours is gone and they have two. Gets em every time.

Coin bite....but be careful if you are surrounded

THE RAVEN!!! gotta love it man. Thankfully I'm in Canada dealing with Canadian coins. I make a little money making other peoples coins disappear....they rarely ask for it back.

AS for some other card stuff, I love the Invisible Deck. ANd if you're brave i dare you to try a UFO card trick. Risky if you are around a ton of people but the reactions are priceless.

Hope it helps....and good luck

Jason the Magic Guy

A little advice on walk around magic in a nightclub. Cards are okay, but take into consideration lighting and noise. I've worked in this environment before and found that highly visual effects work best. Some suggested tricks would be: a TT for doing silk and cigarette vanishes, a raven, the stealth pen, and a good card on the ceiling all are impressive, easy to learn and reset quickly. Stick with card tricks that do not require a lot of patter and flourishes are always impressive.
Don

So you saying your going to be paid $160 dollars for the week and tips.man go for it thats kool i think you can do it believe in your self and go for it.BUt add a few extra things besides cards.. oh and dont forget to do a business card trick that always your way out when your run out of material.....but yeah just a few other effects other than cards and you should be kool.

Always increase your arsenal. I would broaden your horizons as well...don't just do cards...but do coins and other stuff.

It is good to have variety.

Yup, Id agree with most of the above.

Don't just do cards, not everybody (esp. women) like cards.

Make sure you have good patter, your tricks might be great - but can you ENTERTAIN.

Make sure you dress appropriatly to the venue and type of clients you will work with. (i've worn everything from Tux to Jeans)

Be prepared for the unexpected. It's one thing doing stuff for your mates, but the real world is unpredictable.

Go for it!!

Try buing Jay Sankey's rev. Coin magic. That is great. Also try getting Jeff McBrides Art of card manipulation. Also some things that you can do with other peoples stuff like psycocinetic siverware or some other mentalism. PEOPLE GET BORED WITH CARDS