Hey guys, First off Happy Thanksgiving! I am putting together a mindreading show that is influenced by Banachek's material. Any ideas as to how long such a show should be for the corporate market? I was thinking about 1 1/2 hrs. Also, any ideas as to how to seperate myself from all the other cheesy magicians trying to do corporate shows when they shouldn't be any where near them. I know this is my second post, but I've been doing corporate shows for sony, lexmark, toshiba, etc. for over 5 years, but decided that I want to become a paramedic for the benefits and I think I just got burned out from magic. But now I'm back. I'll be having a website up and running in a few weeks, so please be nice! Thanks guys and it's a pleasure to be back!

Hi Josh,

Welcome back. I perform corporate mentalism shows (with a smidget of magic) and my shows go from 30-45 minutes which is the time that suits most if not all I get asked to perform. Usually if they have a 2 hour spot to fill it is strictly strolling or stage/strolling combined.

I have done a one hour show mentalism and it was for teens (tough market). They wanted that time as a filler I imagine.

WIsh you the best and I understand about having a job for benefits, Im in the same boat.

Candini

Thanks Candini, If you don't mind my asking, what do you close with? I used to close with a Bank Night effect from TA Walters book, but I'm thinking of something else.

Honestly----I think allot of these cheesy magicians are copying Banachek's material.---so if you want to stand out- I would suggest learning more---the corporate market is not the place for the newbie

30-45 minutes is correct for a stage show- you'll also want to break your show into piecs to perform as breaks in Conferences.

I doubt you'll get calls for 1.5 hours.

Closing with a Bank Night ----UM are you sure you know what your doing????


The grand finale of a Corporate show and you do Bank Night



aaaaah uuuuuum ooooh I don't feeeeeel your experienced enough as yet.

Interesting comment. Speaking of cheesy I notice you copy Joel Bauers guarantee word for word on your website. and the layout. and the title. I assume you asked him, but wow, I thought you would have come up with something original . lol

http://www.infotainer.com/
http://www.icentertainment.com/newermenu.html

bb

Be nice everyone here. Got to start somewheres. I certainly am not an expert and always learning.

I would not suggest bank night for a closer. Sometimes I open with Bank Night which I think is excellent btw. I think my opener is just as important if not more important then my closer. If I haven't won the audience by the close of my show, not much will sway them by the finish. Not that the finish is not important mind you, just all of the show has to blend and win IMO.

My show is not ever set in stone. I always pack more then I will use. This is in case I arrive (which is always early) and need to tweek my show according to the mood of the audience. I use a script but have fillers just in case.

Anyways, just my take there Josh. I think its a real blessing to get a corporate gig. Where I live, there are tons and tons of magicians and very few mentalists. I didn't go into mentalism because of this but that is just the case. I love mentalism and it suits my performance style. I can use comedy when need be which I feel gives me an extra edge. Getting off topic but there are plenty of threads Im sure on the Café that you can weed through at your leisure concerning the performance.

Candini

If you do not already have this book, I would recommend reading Mentalism Incorporated by Chuck Hickok which is about performing mentalism for corporate audiences.

I do have Chuck's book, and it is awesome! I just want a different feel for my show. I want to to be a mix of Mind Reading/NLP/Hypnosis/etc. Luke Jermay, Banachek, Derren Brown type of material with my own personality of course. And icentertainment, I am not a newbie, I just haven't done a corporate show (or any show) in over a year. Now I finally have time to spend on getting back into it because I missed it. And I think it is ironic that bubbleburst2004 posted that comment.

Josh, you'll always get a lot of advice on the Café. Trouble is a lot of people "Talk the talk", but they don't actualy "walk the walk". that's the first hurdle you need to get over.

bb

p.s I would suggest Ken Webers Maximum Entertainment is a much more important book for you to read and study. It doesn't really matter what you perform and when in your program you do it. Heck, 90% of the magicians on this forum open with magic square, do a version of Liors "touches", ramp up with smash and stab and have just spent their hard earned bucks on Kohlers Human Phone number and are about to add it into their "unique" act. sigh.

Thanks Bubbleburst. It just frustrates me when people talk and talk like you said. I've been here before many,many time and know all the talk that goes on, and I wish it would stop, but oh well, I guess it won't. I'll check oit touches...thanks!