JesterMan
Does that mean if I moved to England I will get better tips, because of my South Philly accent?
Al

Al,

No.

Best,
James

I think I read somewhere about putting something in your confirmation letter about tipping. i.e. that it is not expected, but feel free to do so!

I don't do this, but I do accept a tip when it is offered. Most people pay me by check and they either add it on to the check or give it separately as cash.

I used to accept payment by credit card, but stopped because I never got a tip when they paid by credit card.

Best,
James

Al,

I lived in Darby (borough) for a couple years, so know that accent all too well. (Oddly enough, my last place of residence in PA was also near you, in Fairview Village). I can assure you that the purported accent of Rocky, Adrian and the gang will NOT increase tips, unless you can find a place where it sounds 'classy'. Good luck with that!

JM

So sounding like Sylvester Stallone only made him rich?
Al

Last weekend I was driving out and scratched some fancy car on my way to the show. This was disheartneing because it was a lower paying job I got through an agency.
As I approached the house and saw that it was a very fancy house I had to suppress all negative thoughts about how much more these people could afford. I remembered the words of Anton Zellmann "I decided that every performance I do will be the best performance I can possibly do." Or something to that effect. He of course was saying that in context of getting word of mouth referrals.
So I put on a very high energy performance. This was a crowd of very active 5 to 7 year olds, and I could see that the mom was already exhausted even though the party had only started half an hour earlier.
After the show she told me she was extremely pleased and I also had noticed that she was able to sit down and relax while I took on the demanding crowd of kids. She took out her cheque book and asked how much it was, I said "$160. ..Not including the tip," with a wink. She said of course there'd be a tip! She started filling out the cheque, seemed to change her mind and then crupled it up and re-wrote it for $200.
I must say that was the biggest tip I've gotten so far. (mind you I usually charge about that much for my show).
If you think that's brazen, I'd think it just as brazen as mentioning tips in a booking letter. Which I might start doing too.
Anyway that was also the first time I got a tip when being paid by cheque.

I don’t ask for tips when doing a party or event. But if I am working a restaurant doing balloons and table hopping, when I set up the contract with the manager I offer two packages 1) The restaurant pays me X-amount of dollars and I don’t except tips or 2) They pay me an appearance fee (a little less then package 1) and I wear my little badge that says tips accepted. Now I now that a lot of you are going to have mixed feelings on this but believe it or not most managers go for package 2) Now there are a few that say they want the first one because this is a service to there customers.

Pizzazz, What percentage or $$ difference is there between package 1) and 2)?