Magicians must have the biggest
egos of any profession. By virtue of how we
must appear (indeed, BE) confident and in
charge at all times, we must have a high degree
of self assurance. We need a big ego to be
successful. We need not be afraid of "tooting
our own horn" when selling our services ("Yes
ma'am, I'm the magician for your party. You
and your guests will really enjoy my show.
I'm the best you will ever see!").
You can't sell yourself as
if you were selling tires. You are a commodity
that is far more important than material things
and what you have to offer as an entertainer
has no price . . . well, maybe, but a high
one.
You should remember what
it was like when you were first dating and
you fell in love. You didn't have to force
yourself on anyone or try any selling tactics,
true love just happened. Don't try too hard
or seem too anxious. Don't try to make people
like you. When looking for a job, it should
be like looking for a bank loan. When you
don't appear to need it, that's when you will
probably get it. Successful people like to
associate with successful people.
Have all your arguments ready
along with your arsenal of references, promotional
material, and tricks, but be prepared to walk
away from an establishment rather than getting
your feathers ruffled and risking the loss
of any potential employment opportunities
there. After using your most persuasive arguments
why they should hire you and they are still
not interested in hiring you, then you should
leave them with your promotional material
and two business cards then politely leave.
Swallowing a little pride now may pay off
later in big dividends. They will remember
you as being persuasive rather than obtrusive.
After they have had time to think about it,
they may call you back for another engagement;
however, if you are obnoxious, then you can
forget about ever working for them or any
of their friends. Keep in mind that each person
has about 200 friends and bad news travels
faster than good news or recommendations.
Remember too that restaurant management and
philosophy changes fairly regularly, so don't
be forever discouraged from returning to try
again.
And when on stage, you cannot
lose control. That doesn't mean to put anyone
in an uncompromising position just to get
a laugh, but you should establish early in
your program that you are in control and stay
there. You should know your routine inside
out and where there are potential problems
in your show where something could go wrong
so you need to now plenty of "outs" in case
of an emergency.
However, egos sometime get
out of control as seen in those magicians
who exude a "better than thou" attitude in
their manner and performance. Their style
says "I'm cool, you're a fool." This is most
often found in magicians new to the art, but
unfortunately this attitude is also seen in
a few "seasoned" performers. These are the
ones who should never depend on earning a
living from their performances as they would
blaze a trail of disappointed audiences who
would vow never to see a "magician" again.
This is a fine line we walk
as magicians, bordering on the sarcastic and
obnoxious to the pleasant and friendly. Just
make sure that you're conscious of which side
of the line that your on at all times.
