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Making Money With Magic
By Harlan Tarbell
Whether you use Magic as a Profession, as a Semi-Profession, or just as a Hobby, you can make it pay
you well.
The world is hungry for entertainment and is eager to pay for it. Amusement seekers spend millions every
year just to be entertained. You can get in on a share of these millions.
I want you to be a performer who is well paid for his services. I want you to be so clever with your work
and so successful that your services will be in demand at a high figure. I do not want you to be known as a
CHEAP entertainer. A few underpaid dates may be all right for a few performances while you are breaking in
or testing out your work, but if you continue playing them, people will associate you with cheap performing.
Be a Master
Success begets success. Charge good fees and cater to those who can afford to pay them. Assume the part
of a Master Magician. Arrange your programs to get miracle effects. See that your publicity paints the right
picture of you. You do not need extravagant material—all you need to do is to present everything at its best.
Believe in yourself--in your ability to do things. Feel in your very bones that you are a Master. Feel it
strongly yourself--and others will feel it, too. I do not mean by this that you should be conceited or a "know-itall."
People hate conceit and bragging. You can make yourself appear great and feel great without saying a
word. Merely surround yourself with an atmosphere of genuine and substantial confidence based on a real
knowledge. The Master does not have to go around telling people how much he knows. He just makes them
feel it. His every word and action, without conceit, are impressive. And so people get the thought that he is a
real artist.
Sell Yourself
Make your effects talk for you. Study every possible angle to get the most out of every effect. Strive
constantly to perfect everything you do. Watch for features that will make you stand out from the ordinary and
make people talk about your ability.
Then you are ready to sell yourself and sell every effect you perform. Remember that two men may be
given the same effect --one will build a reputation for himself with it—the other will fail utterly with it. It is
YOU that counts—your Salesmanship, your Showmanship.
You know best the tricks—little and big—in your own personality which can help you sell yourself to
your audience. Study them and capitalize on them. Bring them out to give you power.
Talk the language that your audience can understand—by that I mean "get under the skin" with them.
Show them that you are friendly and understand them and want to please them. You will then gain their
confidence, their friendship, and their admiration. And thus you sell yourself.
Be a Successful Showman
The Successful Showman has the great faculty of adaptability in his mental makeup. When in Rome, he is
a Roman; when in Greece, he is a Greek. By that I mean that he readily adapts himself to the situation in which
he finds himself, always keeping his poise and control.
Elbert Hubbard said, "Love the things that I love, and I will love you; but hate the things I love, and we
part company."
I cannot drive that home to you too strongly. People admire the man who is in sympathy with them and
understands them. Remember that you are being paid to entertain these people, and it is up to you to study and
understand what is entertainment to them. Learn what they like - what they are interested in - and with your
entertaining, enter into their very lives.
On your ability to do this will greatly depend whether you get $10 or $100 for a performance. Houdini
was paid as high as $1000 for a performance because he was Houdini. He started out as a poor boy, but he
studied and mastered SHOWMANSHIP. He adapted himself to his audience — he got their interest and
confidence. And in the end everyone rushed to see Houdini play and paid big money for it. You can rise to
success, too, if you hit out in the right direction and let nothing swerve you from the right road.
Make Your Magic Fit Your Audience
Right in line with the subject of adapting yourself to your audiences is the important consideration of
suiting your Magic to your audiences.
You will find that certain types of effects appeal to certain people. This brings to mind the salesman who
carried two lines - hymn books and playing cards. To those who would not buy playing cards, he sold hymn
books, and vice versa. You can do the same with Magic. Carry different "lines" to suit different people in your
audience.
Men, as a rule, like card tricks and sleight of hand manipulations, tricks with coins, cigarettes, cigars, and
other articles with which they are familiar. Women usually like silk handkerchief tricks, flashy silk productions
and vanishes, and effects filled with color. They like spiritualistic, psychic, and emotional effects. Children like
effects with live animals, candy productions, and effects with articles which they have occasion to know and
use. They go wild over the type of trick known to the Magician as a "Sucker" trick, in which they think they
have caught the performer and exposed his trick. That is one of the beauties of the Egg Bag Trick, in which the
audience thinks the performer placed the egg in his pocket. At a children's party, a rabbit or a guinea pig or
some other live animal adds great interest and spice to the occasion.
All this does not mean, however, that men do not like silk productions or women sleight of hand or work
with live animals. They do. But they tend to be particularly interested in things which are peculiar to
themselves. What you must do is remember to keep everything suited to the occasion and the audience and to
give enough variety to please everybody.
MAKE MONEY FOR OTHERS:
A big secret in making money is your ability to make money for others. In direct proportion to the money
you make for others is the amount of money you make for yourself. In performing, as you increase the
attendance to swell the box office receipts, up goes your value in dollars as a Magician. In the theatrical world
certain actors are a box office attraction. They have pulling power, and when they appear the theater is
crowded. In your work as a Magician I want you to study the various tricks used to draw crowds by creating the
proper impressions and suggestions. Remember that the attraction which pulls in $10, 000, of course, is always
worth many times more than the one which draws in only $50—and, naturally, the one that draws the crowds
and brings in the money is paid BIG MONEY.
HOW TO GET STARTED:
Start with a firm foundation, and build your structure step by step. Fly-by-night methods are too flimsy.
They don't hold up under pressure. Know your work thoroughly and you have a foundation which nothing can
destroy. You may make mistakes in the beginning, but let those mistakes spur you on to perfection. Everyone
makes mistakes, but wise is the man who profits by them and does not repeat them.
Experience will teach you a great deal. You will learn which tricks stand up for you. You must learn how
to present them in the best possible manner. You must learn the little details which it is impossible to teach you
— details which have much to do with your success. They arise as you perform and experience will teach you
how to turn them to your own good.
All Magicians must go through the process of testing — or, as the profession calls it, "Trying it on the
dog," or "Working out in the sticks." With each performance they learn something and gradually perfect their
work.
Feel your way along. Know
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your ground before you venture into big things. Keep your eyes and ears
open. Watch and learn. You must become thoroughly grounded first — before you will be the financial success
I want you to be.
WHERE TO START:
Do not try to jump into vaudeville or the theater right at the start. Train for it first. Then when the time
comes, you will already know the "ropes" and will know how to make good. The chances then of failure and
dreadful discouragement are minimized.
You need not go into the theaters to make money with Magic. You can make thousands of dollars without
ever entering the theatrical field. Even if vaudeville is your ultimate aim, get your start elsewhere. There are
unlimited opportunities to entertain for a good profit. Thousands of societies, clubs, schools, churches, are
constantly trying to raise money. Here is your chance to make money by making money for others. There are
thousands of other organizations always on the lookout for good entertainment merely to keep up interest in
their membership. Give them a good show, and they will pay you good money.
In your Tenth and Twentieth lessons, I gave you a few hints regarding the introduction of small programs
into clubs, schools, and churches. I hope that by this time you have presented a few programs with good
success.
Make appointments with the various noonday clubs as well as those which meet in the evening. Submit
your services to lodges, Y. M. C. A. 's, and other organizations. You are sure to get some engagements.
WHAT TO CHARGE:
After you have done enough test work to see that you are working right, begin by charging $15 for an
engagement. This is for a program running from fifteen minutes to half an hour. As you become more
proficient in Magic, step up your charges to $20, then $25, $35, $50, $100, and so on.
For out-of-town dates, be sure to add your expenses to your fee.
In the Profession of Magic, you will run across many people who will try to get your services for nothing.
Avoid them — except in the beginning for test work or just as a social favor to some friend. Make it known
that your Magic Is PROFESSIONAL, and that you charge a substantial fee for your services.
People oftentimes judge you by your fee, so keep it high enough. Strangers are a better field than close
acquaintances from whom to get engagements. Cater to those who do not know you too intimately.
Acquaintances are apt to discount your ability and the remuneration for your services. Strangers, on the other
hand, are willing to pay you well if you are worth it. Remember that high fees help you, and they boost the
Magic Profession.
We come now to the subject of a whole evening's show, lasting about an hour and a half.
You have been given some excellent material for an evening's performance, and you are ready to make up
a fine program which will be easy to carry and will cost little to produce.
A little farther on in this lesson, I give you two excellent program arrangements. You may use these as
they are or work up your own. Then as the Course progresses and you get more and more spectacular material,
you can add or subtract from your program which you are going to use now. You can continue this adding of
effects and rearranging until you reach your ideal program.
Now, with a full evening's program, you are ready to venture forth to help others make money and to
make good money for yourself.
WHAT TO CHARGE FOR FULL EVENING'S SHOW:
Here is a church that could well use the services of a good Magician. Go to the minister, the head of the
men's or women's organizations in the church, or the young people's society -- and show them how you can
make money for them.
Present your plan in this way: They are to furnish the hall or auditorium and you will furnish the show.
Admission is, of course, to be charged, and you will work on a percentage basis. Because of your initial
expense in putting on the show, you will charge the first $25 taken in for yourself. Then you will split fifty-fifty
on the rest of the proceeds. Or you may work on a straight percentage of two-thirds for yourself and one-third
for the church. Percentages vary according to conditions and may run from 60-40 to 75-25. You, of course,
always get the bigger end. On some occasions, a fifty-fifty percentage works out well. Many things must be
taken into consideration in determining this percentage -the size of the crowd expected, etc.
Some performers prefer to play for a flat rate of $50, $75, $100 or more. The percentage system, however,
is a good one to work on in some cases.
HOW TO GET BOOKINGS:
It is well to make your first bookings personally. In some cases a well written letter will serve the purpose,
but, of course, personal contact when possible is better.
Some Magicians prefer to hire an advance man to book for them. You may have a good friend who would
like to get dates for you on a percentage. Commissions vary all the way from 5% to 33 1/3%. The advance
man's commission is figured from the amount that you net from a performance. If playing clubs, schools,
churches, and other such single dates, the percentage is higher than if you play vaudeville where bookings are
made in lumps. In the case of single dates, the advance man has expenses and he must work on each date
individually. Commissions of 20% and 25% are permissible for this work.
Some Magicians find it profitable to work in this way. They travel in an automobile, and when playing a
certain town, they run over to nearby towns to book dates personally. Most of their performances are in the
evening, so that they have their afternoons to spend in booking future dates.
One student came up from Indiana to visit a friend in Chicago. He booked three dates on the way up and
played them on the way home, and booked four more dates on the way home for the future. That trip proved to
be a profitable one for him.
Some performers work independently. They go into a city and rent a hall or auditorium. Then they depend
on billing the town and advertising in the papers to bring in the crowd. It is better in the beginning, however, to
work under some organization such as a church or Kiwanis Club and get your bookings from them. This
organization then works to get a good attendance at your show and spreads publicity for you. They also sell
tickets in advance so that a good seat sale is assured ahead regardless of what the weather will be.
As your experience and finances grow, you can get in touch with theatrical managers and play their
theaters on a mutual commission or flat rate basis for each engagement. Before you reach this stage, however,
you must work up an unusual type of Magic show and must have an extensive line of advertising and publicity.
ADVERTISING AND PUBLICITY:
If you play under the auspices of some school or other organization and depend on public response for
your returns, it is necessary to carry your message to the public in such an interesting way that they will want to
see you. You must let the town or city know that you are coming -- and you must get the curiosity and interest
of the people aroused to the point where they feel they must see you perform.
Many Magicians have a publicity man or manager. This man studies the problem of presenting the
Magician to the public as an attraction of unusual interest. He can praise the Magician in no uncertain terms,
whereas the Magician would be considered conceited if he used such glowing language himself. Clever
publicity managers can absolutely "make" a performer. To begin with, however, you will probably have to
handle your own advertising.
Harlan Tarbell was the mentor of many gnerations of magicians through his famous correspondance course
The Original Tarbell Course In Magic
