Honestly, I dont expect to make too much at all. I was going to let them make an offer to me. This isn’t going to be my main source of income or any thing. I have another job as a Network Tech. at a high school. I wanted to do this for the experience, its just some thing I really enjoy doing. I was expecting around $50/night (not hour) and I would guess it would be for a few hours so... around $25/per hour.

Not bad, however your first sentence scares the edited out of me.


Sorry but if you don't expect to make too much, what I hear you saying is "I am not good enough to make very much."

CHANGE THAT ATTITUDE!! Success requires a successful attitude.

Peter

I feel any magic is worth a lot, you took A LOT of time and money to learn these tricks, its time you get a little back. I just meant I’m not trying to make a living off table magic at my local restaurant or any thing. I don’t expect them to pay me $50/hour at $100 a night for 2 hours of work (even if I feel my magic is that good), however I would'nt mind at all. I’m just trying to get started. I would say when I build up a little more experience I can start making my own expectations.. for now, I am going to let them decide what my magic is worth to them. I don’t want to walk in, do a trick and then tell them what I think my skills are worth. After all I’m not trying to entertain myself, I’m trying to entertain them and their customers. My magic may be worth $500/hour to me but what good is that if it’s not worth $5 to them?

This is for Peter,

I've been doing magic for about 5 surious years. I hope to start working at restauraunts and I was wondering if 1) you have any advice?
I'm very personable and outgoing, not scared to approach random strangers and ask to show them a trick, however my real question is what happens if I DO screw up. Now not like the last quotes I'm not saying I'm not good enough, I'm just implying that everyone makes mistakes and I hope not to but if I do, do you have any advice?
Lastly I have a pretty good routine, but if you have any effects that you really think might add a nice punch to my routine, please let me know.

Thanks for your time and advice,

Mike

OH YES!! I have had screw ups happen during walk around. Just act like it was planned. I do a routine with a 1.5" dia. rubber ball with appearances and vanishes. Well one day as I brought up the palmed ball it fell out of my hand, bounced on the table, hit the kid on the top of his head and I caught it in mid air. The kid started to laugh, his brother said "I saw how you did that!" I kept on going and just said "if you didn't see it you're blind."

Everybody thought it was part of the act. I couldn't have done that on purpose if my life depended of it.

Well put Paddy. That is one area that is often overlooked when it comes to being a good magician/entertainer, or if you're ready perform. You cannot be a perfect anything. Things will not always go as planned. It should be rare and it really sucks when it doesn't. A priceless ability is being able to recover from an unavoidable happening or just a mistake in general. It's easy to say, but you should somehow be comfortable enough to naturally throw in a gag or diversion whenever something goes wrong. You see, to the spectator, we magicians appear to mess up at times but somehow we always manage to recover. Those are the effects that are purposely messed up to create a better trick. So when you have a true "mess up", you should try and mimick something similar. For example, you have a spectator select a card and put it back and something goes wrong during your attempt to control that card. Now you don't know what it is. Attempt to find it and tell them that there card is gone. When you figure out what it was by them telling you, just do some sort of ACR. That's just an example, but it is things like that that can turn a botched trick into, possibly, a better trick. Additionally, that is sometimes how we come up with new ideas. Whatever you do, be confident, even when something goes wrong. Make the mistake part of the trick. Make it a running gag if appropriate. I once missed a strike vanish, twice, while peforming Recap. The cap went to the floor. So I told them that I was misdirecting them and to pretend like they didn't see or hear the cap go to the floor. The floor was dark and the top was nowhere to be found. I had several pens in my inside coat pocket. So I pulled out another one and continued. When it did it the second time, I just milked it..."Oh come on guys, you didn't hear that one hit the floor did you. Ok, you're not buying this one". I got it another pen and this time there was no sound. I said, "did you hear it". Of course they didn't, so I went on with the trick. I almost never miss the strike vanish, but no one is perfect and I just turned my off-day into a running gag. They loved it.

I'm sure there are countless threads on this so forgive me, I'm at the end of my work day and about out the door. But crgky127's post caught my attention. What would you, or anyone else, consider to be worthwhile reading on the subject of breaking into restaraunt work.

I was talking to Paul over the weekend, I met him at the Blackpool convention and in a Pub over there. He is a nice guy, give us a little review when you get this!

Mike

going rate in my area for close up walk arround is 150 for 3 hours. I dont really follow what others are paid. I charge 30 an hour weekdays and 150 on firdays and sat. The truth is I am ery happy with 30 an hour. And if they want to pay me for a fri or sat night...sweet!

If everybody else is $50 an hour and you are undercutting them, GOOD LUCK. Wait until you need help some day and see what undercutting does to you and your reputation.

Every year I find out what my competition charges. I then raise my rates to be higher than anyone else. I am always busy and turn down more work than some of them get. Not because I am better than my competition, but because I will tell peopel very bluntly "You can not by a Rolls Royce for the price of a Yugo." Quality cost money and you do get what you pay for. I also say "I made a deal with the others. I don't drop my price and they don't have my quality."

I do close over 80% of my presentations.

Peter

I do not see it as undercutting, I do think they are better than me, but i wont let the mgr at the resturant know that.

By undercutting your price, the manager already knows that they are all better than you. By lowballing yourself you are saying "I am not good enough." So you are not telling the managers that they are better, you are YELLING IT!

i see, well i have no problem making more, my rates will be going up

Ok, so here is what you do. Find another Restaurant gig and charge no less than $50 per hour. Then negotiate your fee with the current restaurant to match that price. If they take it, great! Now you have two restaurants. Maybe you can negotiate a little further by telling them that another restaurant wants you on the same night and is going to pay the going rate for magicians. Maybe tell them that your fee was an introductory rate and you don't feel right about undercutting the business.
I understand that finding one restaurant gig is hard enough, let alone two. But you should try.