Yes I did and you said,



You clearly admit that you never confirmed with him the time change. You simply stuck it into a contract, no doubt a contract that looked exactly like the other contract you had sent him the previous year and expected him to contact you if it didn't meet his needs. I for one think it a bit presumptuous to take on the responsibility of changing the time of ones performance without verbally confirming it with the client. You are after all working for them, not the other way around.
You should have at least called them as a followup after sending them the contract confirming that the time change was acceptable.



Nothing wrong with wanting to spend more time with your family. But if this is your major priority, so much so that you take it upon yourself to reschedule your performances without double checking it with your clients then perhaps you need to put performing on the back burner for a while. At least until your kids are old enough to start helping out in the show. Bunnies and cute kid assistants are an almost unbeatable combination.

Are you for real "dude"? I get it, you want me to stop performing. Good for you. And what's with all of the ridiculous comments alluding to me believing I am "royalty" or some big shot? You don't know me - you only know you don't like me.

But I guess proposing a time for my performance, and having it agreed to in a contract, makes me narcisisstic? No, maybe it was me being understanding and accomodating to the customer - yeah, I can see how you would believe I was full of myself and believed I was royalty by that.

Thanks for your infinite wisdom "dude".

Danny,

Waiting 45 minutes was what I would have done (and have done before with my doves). Everything you did was good customer service as long as it didn't conflict with your next show.

What I have done to prevent this from happening in the future is this. A couple of days before each show, I call on the phone and re-confirm the time by emphasizing the date and time to them and making sure they hear it and letting them know I will be there whatever minutes early to setup.


Good luck!

Mike

WOW!

This thread has taken a huge curve ball. For the record I am a full time performer who does not travel much. My reasons are the same as Danny D's. My family. I try to be home every evening for dinner and make ball games, school functions, etc.

Having strong family values DOES NOT mean you should not be a performer. It ABSOLUTELY defines what markets you are going to choose to perform in. Some users have decided to use this as a club to smack Danny around with and it is not only unfair it is pure flaming and has nothing to do with the topic at hand, let it go.

I also think if I am not mistaken, Danny got and in the future will apply some great advice. When you are changing a contract with a repeat customer, talk with them about it as well as just sending it to them. Many customers will not read it properly so if you have something that is important to you in it, give them a call and go over it. I think that point has been made perfectly clear at this point.

Should customers read the contract? Yes. Do they? Not always. I am reminded of the now famous David Lee Roth story about the "green M&Ms". If any of you have ever read his autobiography it turns out he had a point. The green m&ms were a signpost that the rider was not read carefully and upon seeing that he went and checked the other equipment including a wire rig that carried him out over the audience 50 feet up in the air. None of it was installed properly and might have injured him or even killed him.

I know in the future if I have something in a contract that is important to me I am going to not only have the customer sign off on it (as I have done in the past) but I will call and go over it. If Danny didn't ask the original question I would not have this information. So for that, thanks Danny, and don't let the trolls get you down.

Finally, as I said before his actions on the day of the event were the same as what most of us would have done, he did his best to meet the customers needs by being flexible. As Mike pointed out, if you don't have a show to get to after you can always go the extra mile. That is part of being a pro.
Best,

Dan-

That is fascinating about the reasoning behind the green M&Ms. Like most, I had only heard the other unexplained version.

Rereading the thread, I do think Danny D 'got' it about confirming it verbally long before we all stopped telling him!!

George

Dan is right on the money, as most of you, if not all, are!
Danny, the bunny is a cute guy to bring, and I know you know the look kids (and some parents) get and the reactions they have to seeing a little bunny like that. It's great.
However, and I DO have a rabbit and have him "perform" (sit and look handsome) once in a while. No, I don't think only hacks have rabbits to "upsell" and make up for talent. That's a load. If Blackstone (the first) were around I'd tattle on you, and have him make a few calls and make whoever said that go "poof".
However, there was a time that I just decided he's become a really big hastle to bring, and not to mention overnights were bad (just as you're dozing off, the rabbit wakes up...and yes, I did put his cage in the bathroom, where it intensified the sound...and I'm a borderline insomniac.), that I simply dropped him from the act. He's now my daughters, but we all love him, he's our pet.
With that said, I think that unless the gig's inside in the cool you should nix him from any show that's not guaranteed indoors. Explain to the client your health issue with him. At the same time, how do you feel about keeping him home?
I'm betting your audience won't even notice with your talent!
Magic Santa,
I have to ask you why would you bring up Danny's family?


Keep up the great work, Danny!!

He brought up his family before that he doesn't accept shows during certain times on certain days because he wants to spend time with wife and children. As I said I think that is a wonderful thing since he works a regular job and only has weekends since little kids should be in bed early. He brought up his reasoning was going home to his family in this thread. I didn't bring up his family, Danny did. My point, which some seem to be missing is, IF he CHOOSES to do a show during that period the HE decided to do so and HE made the decision to do a show rather than spending time with his family. Because it was his choice he shouldn't complain about it. The alternative is not to do shows during that period. Common sense if you aske me. If he is standing next to a pool and wants to stay dry then jumps in should he then complain that he is wet? No he shouldn't. Again, for those who may have trouble keeping up, family more important then no do shows at time you want spend with family. Simple isn't it? Dan, in this case, seems to have wanted it both ways, he wanted to do the show and get paid but didn't want it to interfere with his schedule. He put in the change w/out talking about it with the person hiring him and then he got upset they didn't comply with his change. He shouldn't have taken the show if it would cause such problems and let MAKmagic do it.

Here is what I said cut and pasted:
Go, spend time with your family, that is a wonderful thing, just don't do magic because it disrupts that which is more important.

Hmmmm....family, wonderful thing, don't do magic if it disrupts that which is more important, yup, seems like I'm anti family. I think it is solid advice.

If anyone isn't clear then I'm afraid I can't help you and you'll have to struggle with your own demons.

I'll let you all continue with this derailed thread, but I am done with it. I am going to spend time with my family now.

Take care.

Why don't we all just bash DAnny on the head next time?
Some of you guys suck...

Try showing up for a dentist appointment and telling them you'll be back later because you want to do something else first. I'm sure they'll tell you to find another dentist.

While I don't think I'd FORCE the customer to adhere to the SIGNED contract, I do think I'd have it with me (and I always do when I show up for a gig, just in case there's a problem) and show it to him.

Steve

ROFLMBO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tell them we said, "hi".

Best,

Dan-

What happened to Oliver?

Don’t stop yet Danny. We need to tell you again.

Sorry had to say that. Just joking.

But seriously, and this is just talk in general now. Would a separate contract for the bunny be a good way to get their attention. A preprinted one sheet info sheet explaining that the bunny must be protected against the weather, etc. Maybe a little general information about rabbits. The whole thing could be done in a humorous way, but it would be a good way to get a couple of serious points across. Demand lodging with food for any layovers. Have a paw print at the bottom for the rabbits signature. Things like that.

If you making him the star of the show, may as well go all the way. Wouldn’t really require a signature from the client, but you could always ask if they read it. A good lead in to the conservation about the starting and finishing time etc.

Just and idea for the rabbit people, and it’s been done before.

Tom

I like the bunny contract! Tom, others have said it and I didn't believe it until now but you are on the ball! If the rabbit has a contract they likely will read that one and from a protection stand point you could wave it at them w/out real worry because it is important to protect the lil' guy.

Just something to make them aware that a tight schedule would be in order for the rabbits sake. Also a good conversation starter about the times and all the real contract details. I see a contract as an agreement to do the things that have been decided on. Unless they have been discussed it’s not really an agreement.

Rabbit autographs for all the kids might be a good thing too. Have the kids line up, use a small ink pad, and make the rabbit earn his keep.

Tom

Tom, you are a stud! I'm changing my name to Tomini.

Ok, but let’s do the contract with all the fine print first.

I really did do it with a dove a few times. Let him walk around on a piece of paper just writing all kinds of stuff. Preschoolers couldn’t read it anyway. I often wondered how they explained it to the parents.

Tom

Love your idea Tom!

.

Drive your bulldozer on over baby - just hold off until your state starts sinking.

Look. In my other life I am a lawyer.

I will tell you right now that a contract is NOT a good way to convey information. A contract is for arguing or suing AFTER it has been violated.

So what would I have done in Danny's case? I would have gone over the schedule with the organizer in person at every opportunity I had. I would have explained how sensitive rabbits were to heat to underscore the importance. I would have told the organizer I had to make special arrangements to have someone pick up the rabbit immediately after its appearance. (Most people's experience with animals are limited to dogs and cats which do not have the same issues as rabbits -- you have to make the organizer understand the reasons for the time sensitivity.)

Even with all this, I would have planned on slippage. Faced with the same situation as Danny, I would have rescheduled the children's show and stricken the rabbit trick. I would have handed off the rabbit to my wife as originally planned. I would have done walk around for the first hour. I might have brought the rabbit around with me as my "magical consultant" as I did the walk around if the rabbit could stand the heat (at least he wouldn't be cooped up in a production box). I may even have worked an extra hour to make sure the organizer was satisfied.

0pus