Edited

lol, I hope this gets stickied(sp?)
thanks man!

I heard t hat you shouldnt perform for a table that has already eatin. That because if its a crowded night, the manager will want to clear some tables to be able to make other people sit.

QuickMagic

In my unexperianced thinking I would disagree overall about that advice. Depending on the night, most servers are too busy to sit there and watch you do a few tricks (and if they aren't I know that the manger would be). I mean thats just not the professional way to go about getting a job doing magic at a restaurant. Here's some intelligent thoughts:

call and see when would be a good time (when its not busy) to see/talk to the manager
go in during that time and ask for the manager, tell him/her who you are and how YOU CAN HELP THEIR BUSINESS
don't talk about it, be about it; show them some effects (lately i've become a fairly big fan of the hot rod I think its an awesome quick and magical effect) 2 of my other routines that I like a lot are:

1.
-Ambitous Card (a combo of my own and Bill Malone)
-Club Sandwich (Use their signed amb. card and the needed force card)
note: I leave the jokers in the jokers in the box and then pull them out to "find" the two selections
- To end this routine with customers I would say "let me show you something with my pen (pen thru nose and out mouth) does anyone have bill, the bigger the better" pen thru dollar
note: you have your tip in your hand

2.
-Scotch and Soda
-Ring Leader
-Invisible deck
(I know I know it doesn't seem to have an apparent flow, but S&S has a definite and clear ending so after it I would just be like, "can I borrow your ring" as the awe from the effect dies down.

Amaze them with Ring Leader and say, "I usually do a few card tricks at the tables and I haven't done any for you guys, would you like to see my best card trick before I go. Alright here's the deck...")

[quote="M_B"]Alright, lets say that you have a few routines that are perfected, but you are still sitting at home wondering what to actually do with your magic. Your friends and family are really getting tired of seeing the same things over and over again.[/quote] because you know people who go to a restaurant wont want to see new stuff

Mr. bradbury(sic), how many resaurants do you work and how long have you kept the gigs? Serious question. Thanks for the answer.

My apologies for the late responce.

I am not over 18 - just a note!

I have gotten a job 3 times at a restaurant and i had pretty good experiences with it. In one I performed at day light, and at the other at night.

I knew some people had a few problems and asked quetions constantaly so I thought posting this.

-Michael

There are a few points I disagree with in the initial post. There are A LOT of assumptions made about the reactions of the manager that cannot and should not be assumed. To say that after showing your waiter/waitress a few effects (that is assuming he/she will watch, in essence leaving the rest of the tables to rot), that he will either react strongly enough or ask others to come and form a crowd is a bad assumption. Most waitors and waitresses that work at my restaurant do everything in their power to avoid being caught by the manager away from their tables, ignoring their customers. Don't forget the priority of the restaurant is to SERVE FOOD.

I've seen the Bill Malone tapes, and if I'm not mistaken you've just misunderstood the advice given. When he was talking about building a small crowd to impress the manager, he was referring to working around the bar. This has a completely different dynamic and is more suitable for drawing a small crowd. Being under 18 however, would prevent you from being able to sit at the bar, order a drink and do what you want to do.

Even if you are able to bring a few stray waiters in, when the manager sees, he at the very least will not be in a very desirable mood. He's just caught a few workers lying down on the job. Not a good time to campaign for a position...

The next point is that you are saying you would perform during the meal. In my opinion, this is the absolute worst time to perform for the customers. The reason they are in the restaurant is NOT for magic. They are there because they are hungry. They want a hot meal. The ideal time to perform is technically after the meal, but this is almost impossible to convince a manager to allow. The reason being, you are doing nothing but slowing down the turning of the tables. Most magicians, myself included, perform immediately after ordering before the food arrives. In fact, as soon as the food arrives, I shut down what I'm doing as fast as possible, thank them for their time and tell them to enjoy the food and come back and see me again.

I've already posted my thoughts on ways to approach a restaurant, so if you're interested give it a quick read...
http://www.penguinmagic.com/discuss/viewtopic.php?t=59267&highlight=

I agree with Cardshark. I will add that the manager is not only going to be annoyed at his waiters if they are hanging around your table, he might well be annoyed with you. Managers at restaurants are always (or pretend to be) harried and rushed. I haven't met many that aren't busy. I would definitely call ahead of time and make an appointment. They might prefer to meet with you before opening hours.

And your statement to be coy and pretend that you don't do restaurant magic much has worked for you? Or are you guessing? For any job, you need to convince the person hiring you that this is the one job you are really looking for. You don't have to be a dweeb about it, but unless you have other offers, I would make sure that the manager knows that you are sitting there talking to him because you want a working relationship. It is only in the imagination of the young and inexperienced that a boss is turned off by your desire for a job. They want that desire.

If the manager asks you to work for 30 minutes to see how it goes I would be tempted to do it. Paddy can answer better, but why not. I had to do this for a teaching job. I was given the lesson and five minutes to prepare. I could have said no, but I am good a winging it as long as I know the lesson, so I went ahead and taught the lesson. Went great, got the job.

hhhmmm....I'm not so sure. I'm a big believer in the saying, "forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest." When I spoke with the manager at my restaurant, I think I didn't do much of either. I feel that it's, in a way, unprofessional to make the manager feel as though this is the one and only place that you have the prospect of working. On the other hand, if you schedule an appointment and act in a completely professional manor, the manager will already know that you're interested in working for him. To very, very casually put in the fact that you have other prospects, may give him a sense of urgency and force him to give you a prompt answer if not on the spot.

True, but there is a difference between looking needy and looking interested. If you are not interested, than don't apply. I think in many cases, the manager is the one who needs you less than you need him. You, obviously, should not head to either extreme--too needy and too blasé. I was commenting on the attitude, which I think is wrong, that once the manager is interested, you should treat the whole thing with a nonchalant attitude of, "Oh, well, maybe I am interested and maybe not. In any case I am sooooo busy." If you take up a manager's time you are saying you are interested and I think that you should treat that with respect. If he offers you employment than accept it or not. You can think about it for several days, but you should treat the offer with respect. If he asks you to work a trial day, that is up to you whether you accept it or not, but again be respectful.

It is somewhat different if it is the manger who looking for a magician. Then you can be a little more coy--but don't be surprised if some other hungrier magician gets the job.

Remember, in his example, you are approaching the manager, not the other way around. I think it borders of silly to try to pretend at the end of the interview that you are maybe too busy to take the job. You think a manager can't see through this?

In his example the manager is actually approaching him...In that case playing hard to get in some sense, may add to your hype and you better be able to live up to it. If the manager approaches you, I don't see it being a bad idea to make yourself a little harder to get. This may help in negotiating your salary if you can give him the impression other restaurants are ready to move in and pay you better. Again, in my opinion, this may only work ONLY if the manager approaches you as M_B is stating (highly improbable). As I stated above, if you are approaching him, then merely remaining professional, not playing hard to get or being too hungry as you put it, would put you in the most favorable position in the eyes of management. If you go in too eager to get the job, the manager will pick up on this and offer you very little salary.

Then we both agree. We mostly agree that the senario presented is somewhat farfetched.

To clarify that little refrence to Bill Malone's tape:

He was talking about stoling/close-up magic for like private parties and how usually the person who hired you and is running everything is too busy to get a chance to check you out; so by creating a crowd he doesn't have to see you to know that you're doing a good job. (the short)

I am reading " Jim Pace Restaurant Workers Handbook " and let me just say that it is AMAZING!!!! WOW!!!