Hi,

I've been doing magic for 3 years now and I will start to do shows this summer. I have two clients, one that wats me to do 6 days of magic at a camp and one just for a birthday party. I'm a bit confused about how to do a contract and how to procede. I would really appreciate some help.

Thanks,

Bao

Contracts don't need to be complicated documents full of legalese.

1. Always include what you offer exactly and for how long. Examples could be "a 45 minutes show each night for each of the 6 days you're at the camp" or "a 1 hour illusion show".
2. Tell the client what you expect from them, not only in regard to payment but also telling you about the estimated number of spectators, the size of the stage and the available technology in the venue -- doing vanishing bandana when neither you nor the client arranged for a CD player can be quite hard.
3. No matter how well planned things are, things don't always go according to plan. The contract should also say what happens when you cannot perform due to an accident or illness and how you are compensated if they cancel on you (make sure they do so well in advance so you don't find out when you arrive).

I'm sure other people can chime in with more advice.

Hi folks, I'm going to chime in here because as a new performer myself, who's beginning by doing magic for "free" at charity events, seniors homes, etc., I'm curious about insurance. Can a magician be held liable, say for instance, if he's performing at a senior assisted living facility and a spectator suddenly has a heart attack and dies? I know that sounds crazy, but I'm sure stranger things have happened in this litigious world we live in and so in my mind, I'd like to be prepared for the worst. Carrying that further, once I start performing for money, how do you handle insurance then? I know this post should probably be in the forum where the business side of magic is discussed, but this is a new thread and thought I'd jump in too. Thanks, Bob

I agree with MacGyver Keep it pretty simple. I have not had a incident yet that my simple contract did not cover.

Basically I try to cover all bases for both parties(Myself and Client). I am no Lawyer and have been lucky to not have any incident that need to go to court. However I am pretty confident that The way my contracts are worded it would hold up.

Within my contract I try to cover these points (in no particular order):

- Describe the services that will be performed in a receipt fashion.
- Bind both parties into the previously agreed Time slot(s)
- Bind both parties to the Agreed pay rate
- either hourly rates, or Fee for show
- I also include extra expenses in this area as needed. Like Gas, special Themed show, ext

- I also have a area for those times when Life happens and you have to cancel the show.
- I also state the deposit money and how that is handled if they cancel the show.


The way I work my shows is at the time of booking and the contract signed I require a deposit. This deposit locks the time frame down while also adding job security (HA)

If the show goes off well then a predetermined part of the deposit goes towards the total of the show cost. However if they cancel the show within the 24 hours of show time then the deposit is mine.

I should also mention that part of my contract states what will happen if there is a emergency during the show either to me or the audience and how the money will be refunded per time I was on stage. Also something I found very important part of my contract is if there is some sort of disagreement while I am on site or performing how that is handled.
For example one particular performance I had a hardware malfunction and a trap door grabbed my pants leg and ripped my pants slightly up the leg. Well no big deal you say. On of the audience members for some reason did not like this and started heckling. I of course just continued with the show.
Instead of this just playing off this particular person continued to hassle to the point the show could not go on. (For a better understanding this guy was drunk and a VIP of sales for the Firm) So needles to say it got so bad I could not go on. The other audience members were on my side and were trying stop him. However he continued and I stopped the show.

AT the end the paying members did not have a problem paying me for the full show however if there had been a problem it was documented in the contract for this situation.

Wow I was going to just going to give a brief comment- but I hope this helps you in making up your own contract.

I would recommend buying "Highway to Success"

http://www.happymediumbooks.com/

all the information you need!

Thanks for the tip. The book sounds like something that experienced professionals would also enjoy.

I would also be interested in hearing from performers their opinions about carrying liability insurance.