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Potty the Pirate Inner circle 4632 Posts |
Exactly, Kyle. And it's nice to see a post from you that I can read in less than 5 minutes. (joking, of course!)
:pirate: |
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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
Potty: lol Too true my friend. What is hilarious is to be honest, I hate writing. It is why I became an artist. Being deaf, English was very hard for me to grasp. It's funny now that I write all the time as a featured columnist at several places. lol Oh wells. I enjoy it.
Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
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Leland Inner circle St Louis 1180 Posts |
Just finshed my busy month October. November will slow down and that's fine since I need down time before December starts up again.
Slowest is January and February. This year my February will be different thanks to Kyle and Scout shows!
Life of Magic!
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Jay Ward Veteran user Flowery Branch, GA 328 Posts |
For me, October is best, and August is always the worst. That's why I'm glad that the one convention I attend yearly, Kidabra, is in August. It almost never conflicts with anything.
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Red Shadow Inner circle 1788 Posts |
The year as I see it:
January - quiet during the week, about 3 two-hour birthday parties at the weekends. Feburary - the week is still quiet, but here we have a big magic convention that sees a rise in business in the later half of the month. This can be due to the lack of entertainers available that week with them all at the convention, and pushing clients to the weekends before and after. It can be very busy. About 3 two-hour birthdays, and 2 one-hour shows at the weekend. March - summer workshops and after school clubs. Kids are on half term and that means you get the occasional circus skills workshop and magic shows at these clubs. They are usually only 1 hour bookings, and you get about 2 a week during the weeks they are off (the dates change for different areas). Birthday parties at weekends are back to about 4 x 2-hours shows. April - Easter can bring in work at summer fairs, gala parties and park events. There are also seval bank holidays that can have the odd birthday party on them. Schools use to book me for my Easter show, but that's become rarer. I still do the odd nursery though. I would estimate in total, 5 shows during the week, for each week (including the weekends). Length of the show varies a lot. May - several bank holidays to have birthdays on. The is a religious holiday I think around this time which I get booked for as well. But I reckon were looking at weekends only again, 3 two-hour shows each weekend. But last year I was running a magic club at a school for 6 weeks during this month. That was during the week so quite a nice bonus. The work is their for this market, but usually only pays £50 a session. So it's a lower income, but regular work during a quiet time. June - end of school term is approaching and school shows are a possibility. It varies how busy you get depending on how much the schools have left in the potty at the end of the year and other factors. I still do about 2 shows during the week, and the usual 3 two-hour shows at weekend. This is also the start of the library season. It's very limited in my country and I usually only get 8 shows if I'm luckily over the entire summer. But in America, you can be doing 80 shows if I read the threads correctly, so this can be a very busy month if you market well. July - quiet month for me as most families are going on holiday, with school finishing. Some schools finish late, which can get you a school show. You also have lots of out-of-school clubs to market at. I usually get 1 of these during the week for each week. I could easily get more if I marketed myself, but don't do any of that anymore relying on word of mouth. Birthdays shows at weekend usually drop to just 2 two-hour shows. Again, because most families are on holiday. - I should also say that they might not be birthdays, but christenings or weddings. Again, library shows continue during the week. August - same as July. Last year I decided to work the cruise ships during these last two months as they are often my quietist time and I wanted the gigs with a free holiday. But I will say I had to turn an awful lot of work away because of it, which might have meant it was picking up. From the messages left on my answering machine, it sounded like a lot of shop openings or shopping centre attraction days they were wanting me for. I also did several big fun days in the park which were all days bookings during this month. September - the birthday month. 9 months have past since Christmas, which means lots of children are born this month. This often means I get 6 shows at the weekends. Mainly two-hour shows, but I allow the odd one-hour if it fits into the schedule. I also end up doing several after school on Friday night. October - after school clubs are back and this is the second run of classes I do at schools. Again, they only pay £50, but they are during the week and regular work. Birthdays are back to 4 two-hour shows a weekend. We also have Halloween, which is not big over here, but in other countries, can be very fruitful. It brings in about 2 extra shows during that week alone. November - here we have bonfire night, which use to be great for work. But this year I was completely free. The month is very quiet during the week, with just the odd school educational show which I do. I would say 1 midweek show each week. Then the usual 4 two-hour shows at weekend. December - christmas is here, and it gets hectic. Every single day I'm doing at least one show. During the last two weeks of term, I'm usually doing at least two a day. Prior to those two weeks is often nursery bookings in the mornings. At the weekends, I get about 3 two-hour shows each day. So 6 in total. During the entire month, I do on average 40 shows. Overall, I do about 250 shows a year, which puts me just shy of the big tax bracket so I get the most amount of income I can before it gets taken away. If I was to earn more money, at least half of it would be go to the tax man. So for that reason, I have decided not to work harder and do more marketing or shows, but instead stay at the level I am and relax during the week. I still earn more than enough to live a healthy and fun life, and that's how I like it. There is more work available, but it then becomes thinning out the people who always want the same time-slots (weekend afternoons) and you spend most of your time telling people your already booked up. You can start an agency like many entertainers have tried, but then your glued to the phone 24/7 and for a measly £10 commission, of which half goes to the tax man, it hardly seems worth it. I like the formula as it is and work only at keeping it at that same level. This does require quite a lot of work for my time, but thankfully most of it can be done at home, sat in front of a computer. So it's easy work and that's what I like. Hope that answers your question. Steve |
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Ken Northridge Inner circle Atlantic City, NJ 2392 Posts |
I focus on the birthday and school market, plus living near a resort town my summers are naturally busy. That leaves the last two weeks of June and the first two weeks of September as slow times. Also, the week between Christmas and New Years is usually slow. I long for these slow times and wouldn’t have it any other way.
"Love is the real magic." -Doug Henning
www.KenNorthridge.com |
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magicgeorge Inner circle Belfast 4299 Posts |
Quote:
On 2011-11-10 08:06, ku7uk3 wrote: Good point. You don't want the pay to be crap. Al, Chrimbo is what heathens call Christmas. |
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Dynamike Eternal Order FullTimer 24148 Posts |
My slowest months are November and January. In the winter time a lot of parents do not want a party in their house because of the space. That is one plus to why parents have more in the summer time, because the kids can be in the yard.
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MagiCol Special user Dargaville, New Zealand 929 Posts |
Kyle wrote: "I hate writing."
Well, Kyle, I very much enjoy your great information you share in posts on both on forum/s and via Alan Watsons ezine, so keep up the writing!
The presentation makes the magic.
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Beowulf Loyal user Thomas A. Lilly 284 Posts |
There's a lull after Halloween that lasts until the start of Breakfast w Santa mid-November, and then there's the quiet of January and February as bills arrive and folks around here live in fear of the White Death. Do still have Kids Clubs at the malls and Library Lovers Month.
I use January to do a new mailing and re-furbish props after the Holiday Season. Always say I'll attend the balloon jams, but I cannae ever seem to justify the expense at such a slow time. |
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