Lets say I was going to work at a birthday party for one hour. I would do a 15 minute stage act, and then do a walk around routine at the tables. What would be a reasonble price for this kind of service. I recently went to a party where a magician did the same thing i am going to do except he only worked for 45 minuets and he got paid $220. This seems like a lot of money to me.HELP!!!

Well where do you live? Your blurb says "in your refrigerator." This is totally useless information. The price you mention could be right, too high, or to low depending on where you are. New York city has one rate and Albany New York another.

Like Paddy said, the general price for hired entertainment varies from place to place, based on the general wealth of an area; magicians general charge more in affluent neighborhoods and suburbs.

If you truly are a class act, and can entertain someone's kids better than the next guy with genuinely unique, mind-blowing stuff, why should they pay you any less than the next guy, right?

Set your prices, don't get forced into charging a certain amount.

I'd go into the business aspect, but it's 4:20 a.m., and I'm exhausted. Just remember that people expect to get what they pay for. If $220 seems high for an entire show to you, you may want to rethink your presentations.

Have a good one bud, night.

I'm born to perform, wow! When did that happen!

Now I have the right to be utterly condescending to you because my forum rank is higher!

Scratch out what I said earlier

I CHARGE LIKE 500 BUX PER SHOW AND I ALWAYZ GET GREAT REACTIONS SO UR OBVIOUSLY DOIN SUMTHIN WRONG IF THAT SEEMS 2 HIGH FOR U MAYBE YOU SHOULD PRACTICE UNTIL YOU GET A GOOD ROUTINE AND STOP DOING UR LITTLE KIDDY MAGIC TRICKS I DID A PARTY THE OTHER DAY AND THEY LOVED IT SO U DONT KNOW WHAT UR TALKING ABOUT.

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Bah, I'm so sleep deprived.

The easiest way to figure out what you should charge is to call other magicians in your area. This way, you will see what they are charging, and you can find the going rate.

It sounds to me like he is doing it TOTTALY for the money, i wonder if he even likes magic that much.

C'mon man. Let's not start some huge argument off of your ignorant assuptions. Just because the guy was trying to make an informed decision about what he should charge doesn't mean he's in it only for the money. I've got news for you, PROFESSIONAL MAGICAINS PERFORM FOR MONEY! If you really love magic, and I mean REALLY love magic, then you will eventually want to at least try to make it a career.

Remember, when you Assume, you make and [edited] out of you and you.

no it doesnt. It sounds like he hasnt been booked before and needs to know a price to charge. The price is very expensive, it cant be too cheap or expensive or you dont get booked.

BM if you could give us an idea of where you live we'd be able to help you out more. I live in the south and I was able to get 100 dollars for a 45 minute stage show. I also taught the birthday kid a trick. That's another thing you should consider. Having a package deal. You teach the bday kid a trick or give him a svengali deck or something similiar, 20 minute show, and the n40 minutes of walk around.

I could tell you i charge £300/$600 for that with no travel. But then i live in central london so is probably not comparable to the prices in your area. It is location based.