When working out of clown costume I always identify myself as the restaurant's magician and then go into my set. I see you're from Israel, the political situation there should determine how you approach tables. Sounds stupid I know but with the tension over the homicide bombers people may be a little wary of just walking up to them at restaurant tables.

Hope that the situation is not that way where you live

thanks for the concern paddy, but it's like that all over the country... i live in a small village so the bombers won't come here. also, i think that if i'll dress nice and all and won't look like a palastian or an arabic bomber i'll do just fine.
people here love jokes, we even joke about our own situation here.
i think it dependse on who i approach to, like if it's some sort of a buisness meeting i may try to be more formal. but lets say it's a kids table i could be more funny and make jokes all the time, which would be fun for the kids and for their parents.
problem is that i'm afraid that adults won't take me seriously coz i'm young, i know ur about 50 years old so u won't have a problem with that, and i also know some people who r younger then me perform in restaurants.
another problem is that i'm not sure what to tell the manger now, coz restaurant walk-around was NEVER done in Israel, i asked a couple of magicians about it...
plz advise me if u can, tnx,

Tomer

When people see your magic they will take you seriously, don't worry.

Sell the managers on the idea that his customers wsill come to see you and fbe entertained. You are a DRAW for people. I always offer ONE, count them, ONE and ONLY ONE free night so he can see how I perform and work with people. Note that I stress only one night..

Shalom,

Peter

oh ok, tnx again paddy.
another question-did it ever happened to u that when the manager heard how much u want per hour he chickened out? i mean, maybe he thought u were asking for too much.
also, do u personally think it's better to go to a restaurant that is doing bad or a restaurant that is doing good? coz if u go to a restaurant that is doing bad u might not get hierd coz they won't have the money or u would get less money, but u may draw more people there and thats why they might hire u. on the other hand, if u go to a restaurant that is doing good u might get a higher salary, but u also might be less needed...
i personally think that opproaching a restaurant that is doing good is better, coz the manager can always use the crowde. also, if it has some weak nights u can work in those nights and draw more people to those days. coz if someone places an order to the restaurant, he can be told that there's a magician on monday nights and he would order for that night just to see u perform.
i would really like to hear ur opinion about this, and again, anyone that works at a restaurant or just wants to say he's opinion about this is welcome to. u can also responde to my other posts on this thread.
again, tnx for the great posts,

Tomer

I was hired by a restaurant for Monday nights because Mondays are the slowest night of the week. It took about 3 months and the restaurant did advertise us, but it worked! We built up Mondays so that the general manager was written up in the company newsletter for having the best Monday sales of the whole chain of over 200 restaurants. He gave us a NICE bonus after the write up.

My weekend restaurants have me in so that I can entertain the crowd while they are waiting. I go to the waiting areas and stroll, to the tables, all over the place. Sometimes a server will tell me that a table just had an order screwed up. So I go over and work the table for a while to help the time pass for them. The servers get bigger tips when this happens and they alway show their appreciation.

I am up front with the managers about my rates on the first visit so they don't have 2nd thoughts. Some have said I was too much and my reply is "yes there are others who are cheaper, but you will not buy a BMW for the price of a beater Ford. You get exactly what you pay for."

Sometimes they get cheaper, not my problem. I have turned down restaurants and even fired 3 of them because they did not meet my standards. Let the cut rate boys and girls take them.

Peter

tnx paddy!!!!! i have one more question that i wanted to ask...
what do u put on ur buisness card? i mean, i don' have one, and i think that this card is the thing that attracts the most shows from the people u've done magic for. i just don't know what to put on it... i don't have a nickname as a magician, any suggestions?

I have two business cards. I have found that if you list everything on one card you might as well add "revolutions fought and bars cleared." It makes as much sense. If people saw my card with;
Clown, magician, face painter, parties, corporate, children and adult shows.

This looks like the "jack of all trades but master of none" You can do it all poorly.

So one card says "Clowns, Magic, Face Painting with F.D.A. approved paints.

I have another that says Corporate presentations, Trade Shows a specialty.

This way I am covered in both areas, the party and restaurant scene see one card and when I am making a sales call on corporations I use the other. Remember presentation is what sells.

how about this then? just something i thought about:

I do magic for:
big shows, small shows, close-up, kids, adults

Tomer the proffesional magician

home: my number....
cell phone: my number....

hm, i don't knw how this is, i study graphic design at school, so i can also ask my teacher, and maybe she could even give it to print and it would be for free
tell me what u think

There has been a lot of news coverage in the last few years about these "Suicide Bombers". The term disgusts me. I see you refer to them more appropriately as "Homicide Bombers"

Well put Paddy! well put.

So Tomer...did you get a job?? and btw...how old are you??