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sly2272 Loyal user 256 Posts |
Any advice on these types of gigs, add there products to show, have manager involved in act, etc. Thanks.
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rossmacrae Inner circle Arlington, Virginia 2475 Posts |
You'll have to get a better idea of eaxactly what purpose they want you to serve.
Your post makes it sound, to me, like you're planning on doing a show everybody watches. The grand openings I've been called for are very different. They want somebody to attract crowds, but not freeze them watching a show (which they won't do anyway) - they're there to shop, and that's what management wants. That's why I've always recommended a clown or face painter or balloon artist instead of a magician - there's utter confusion, you're lucky if you can find a spot to stand where they won't be reaching past your nose to grab a bargain, and even the kids won't be there very long before they're hustled back to the car. If the store called "a magician" thinking "yeah, that'll draw a crowd," the best you can plan for is walkaround or quick flashy novelty stuff - bring a bag of balloons, you're gonna need it. |
nucinud Inner circle New York, New York 1298 Posts |
Hopefully the store will advertise the grand opening better than the Stop and Shop in Islandia. They were in a great spot, the neighborhood really needed a supermarket. The little amount of people that did show up were grateful to have the store there. But the aisles were empty when it came to shoppers. They also hired a Face Painter and a Juggler besides me. Four hours of entertaining each other, with an occasional group of shoppers. But for the most part it was dead. Glad we were prepaid on this gig.
"We are what we pretend to be" Kurt Vonnegut, jr.
Now U C It Now U Don't Harry Mandel www.mandelmagic.com |
Jim Snack Inner circle 1338 Posts |
I've done these type of events in the past and have found that more often than not they can be rather tedious, particularly at supermarket openings. Shoppers are not going to a supermarket to be entertained and they certainly do not want to be distracted, lest they forget what they came for!
I used to charge $100 per hour and look at it a paid rehearsal for my close-up magic. Unfortunately, as Harry noted, sometimes it can be pretty dead. A four hour block of time goes really slowly when it's just you and a face painter! Take the booking if you don't mind dealing with that, but as Ross points out, don't get in the way of sales. Jim |
Father Photius Grammar Host El Paso, TX (Formerly Amarillo) 17161 Posts |
Mark Wilson has a lot of experience with these. Back in his Dallas Time For Magic days he agreed to do two supermarket shows a week for Dr. Pepper, his TV sponsor. He did a lot of new supermarket openings in that. In fact it was a Wyatts supermarket opening in Northeast Dallas where I got to see him in person the first time. He worked off a semi truck trailer converted to a stage and gave away a magic wand and magic kit (basically a wand and budha paper trick) for you carting out a 6 pack of Dr. Pepper and a package of Neuhauff Franks plus a receipt from the supermarket, so some type of give away with purchase from the store might help, or you could produce and distribute some sort of cupons for sale items in the store, etc. You can email mark (addy on his website) maybe he can put you onto some data. Doing a stolling job in such would be a nightmare. You need a stage area, either just in front of the store, like mark's on a trailer stage in front of the store in the parking lot, or just inside the store. Any other type of presentation would be a disaster. If there are sale products the store wants pushed, do productions with them, maybe give one out to the "assistant from the audience" and give a quick commercial for it, like " and we have these on sale today in ailse 4" etc. things like that.
"Now here's the man with the 25 cent hands, that two bit magician..."
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jlibby Inner circle 1044 Posts |
Ah, yes! Tommy Windsor wrote a book about marketing a magic show for special events at grocery stores. Lee Jacobs published it ... it may still be available. Actually, I think that makes much more sense than trying to do close up. My recommendation would be to keep the show short (no more than 15 minutes) and sell multiple performances for one day (perhaps one show on the hour for 4 hours).
See ya! Joe L.
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