We have all heard the admonition that, to sell our shows effectively, we must have a quality show to sell. However, a show that works in one setting may not necessarily work in another. For example, some magicians refuse to work for children, while others avoid teenagers.

I was hired to do a show for a local bicycle club awhile ago. I think some of the members may have resented the club president hiring entertainment that cost the club money (someone even made a joke about how much this was costing the club when I arrived). As a result, I found a very unresponsive audience and felt very awkward. (By the way, these were not teenagers; most of them were middle-aged or older.)

This made me think of what kind of groups I really want to market to. While I want to get gigs, I want to avoid feeling that I'm somehow imposing on those who hire me, and also save time and money by avoiding marketing to groups that wouldn't appreciate what I have to offer anyway.

What kind of venues do you personally avoid marketing to?

Brothels, biker gang club houses, meat packing factories, std clinics...

I'd like to say prisons, but I have worked for 3 of them!

Seriously though,

Did you target the gig in question? If they called you, there is not much you can do about it. You didn't know going in, and many clubs and civic orgs are great groups/venues to market to. I'd say shake it off as one of the occasional odd gigs and keep going after clubs if that's what you were doing. You can obviously get bookings out of them, and unless you unknowingly laid an egg with your act, the internal politics that may have led to your ho-hum audience was probably just a fluke.

Keith

I've performed at brothels, biker gang club houses AND std clinics! Never a meat packing factory....I did a butcher's shop once though.

Tim:

I think you brought up an excellent point which tends to get entirely overlooked by most magic marketing courses. To be honest, though, I think this comes down to personal preferances.

There are some markets that I just don't like, so I don't market to them. What I like and what you like, however, are two different things. Again, I think it comes down to personal preferances and whatever works or doesn't work for you. Years ago I used to perform stage illusions and for corporate clients. Even though I found success here, I just didn't like it. I found out it wasn't me so I switched to family entertainment and never looked back.

Now even with that there are still some clients I will not market to but again, these are personal preferances for me.

Also when I get calls it's not like I'm even willing to accept working for every client. If I don't think the booking sounds like it's a perfect match for what I do and what I enjoy, I'd rather walk away from the show. I don't perform magic for a living, so of course I can afford to do this. Even if you do perform magic for a living, I still feel you should walk away from shows that aren't a perfect match for what you like to do and your skills.

Hope that helps.

Gerry

Two rules:
1) Don't market to who won't like your show.
2) Don't market to those without enough dough.
Bonus: Don't market to those without the possibility of repeat work (either with that client or referrals) This is actually a sub-rule of rule 2.

BTW, I totally agree with Keith. Your story was just "one of the occasional odd gigs"

Best,

Doc

Yeah, it was kind of a soul-sapping experience, but I guess you just have to chalk it up to the process of growing as a performer. I guess historically, some of the best performers have worked for tough audiences starting out (and maybe still do).

There's an old adage that there is no such thing as a bad audience.
I mildly disagree, in that the right set of circumstances, outside the performer, can CREATE a bad audience. Fortunately, this is a relatively rare occurrance.

Halloween events that say they are going to give candy out BEFORE the show, in a darkened theater, with minimal to no adult supervision. OUCH!

Identify Your Talent: Stars are clear about what they excel in, whether it's fixing cars, taking photos, working with children, or arranging flowers

Summon Your Rage: Stars have a ferocious drive to succeed--they aim in one direction and run in that direction as hard as they can

Assemble a Team: All stars have supporters, mentors, advisers, and counselors

Learn to be Lucky: Stars concentrate their energy on managing elements of luck they can control

MAGICIANS - I wouldn't market to magicians.

Great post, Doc.

- Donald

I try not to marked to Taliban...

Sorry couldn't resist!

-Bryan

With the USA sending 70 ga-gillion dollars to countries that hate us - it may not be a bad market. as long as they pick up the milage. (lol)