Wow. Magicians with managers and restaurant chain deals and club relationships behind it all and internal whoo haaa... It's not magic, it's a gang war.

Sounds a little complicated to me. How much is the managers take? And who needs one in the first place, unless ... Say, do you guys get snuffed for doing balloons off your turf? I can see the staff meetings now. "We had to take the clown out. He was pulling down $100 a week at the Grifty Grill with his juggling and wouldn't pay the rip. We are going to put Bob in there with a table hopping set and skim 60% of his take. He won't complain - he knows what happened to the clown. Plus, we need to get into the local clubs for a kid that can do a couple a tricks and put him up front as our big star. We tell him he gets a scholarship to the Magic Castle for a year if he works the entire season and we can pocket the entire wad. We'll blow him off when the time is right. Hey Dan, got anything on Break Dancers bustin our turf just down from our Svengali pitcher? I heard some rumors and maybe we need to break some legs ... Oh, and how is the Joke Teller Guy doing? If we need to pay off some City Hall dudes I can make a move. We don't need anyone telling jokes when he is around - it just cuts our profits."

Of the eleven full-time professional magicians who work in this local market, six have managers and/or agents. Why do the magicians use managers? Good question... I'm just glad they do!

In general, a manager take is 15%. The close-up magician I manage currently does eight restaurant appearances a week at $175 each for 90 minutes. That puts about $11,000 per year in my pocket; and that's just one of the 12 acts that I manage.

Do they need managers? Probably not, but it allows them the freedom to just perform and not deal with the business side of things. Also, this entire topic is the perfect example of the value of a manager. The magician doesn't have to deal with ANY of this. I do. And that's my job. He can throw his hands up and say, "Don't ask me... talk to Clinton"

Clinton W. Gray