How To Hire The Right Magician For Your Event:
It’s the last minute, and suddenly you realize that you forgot to hire a magician for your event. Not to worry, here are a few helpful hints for hiring a professional magician for your party or corporate event.
If your party is on a Friday or Saturday in December, magicians are really busy. You may be left with the table scraps of performers still available… the bottom of the magic barrel… a magician who probably wears a bright red suit with playing cards printed on his bowtie and whose day job fixing broken laptops doesn’t allow him human interaction, basic social skills, or sunlight. As you read his five star Yelp reviews, something doesn’t seem to add up. Here’s a guide to help:
- Most magicians for hire, at least here in LA, have five star Yelp ratings. Maybe that’s because it’s such a face to face experience when you hire a performer. Frankly it’s a mystery to me, because I can’t tell you how many awful magicians I know who have a five star Yelp rating. Some of them actually give invitations to the Magic Castle in exchange for five star reviews. When you look at a magician’s photos and website, use your intuition. It may be more accurate than Yelp.
- Look at the magician’s videos. Videos will tell you most of what you need to know about their magic performances. If you do nothing else… do this.
- When it comes to magic awards and peer accolades, take them all with a grain of salt. As someone who has won multiple international magic awards, I can tell you that they don’t really matter that much. It certainly doesn’t hurt if a performer has some awards to brag about, but it doesn’t NECESSARILY mean they are actually good. Trust me on this.
- Once you’re confident that they are a good magician, give them a call and do a quick gut check. Ask yourself if they have the social skills to interact positively with your guests.
- If the magician has a publicly ticketed show, that’s a good sign. Go see it, or, at least read the reviews. It’s much harder for someone to “game” Yelp or Tripadvisor when he is literally performing for thousands of paid attendees each year who then proceed to leave honest reviews about the magic show they just saw. And, the mere fact that a magician HAS thousands of paid attendees each year is also a very positive sign.
- Trust your gut over all else.
I hope this helps you find a top notch magician for hire. For recommendations in most major cities, feel free to drop me a message.
