I'm trying to break into full time magic and I'm working on advertising/marketing etc, and started wondering, what did others do? what made it for them? What was your big break?

Talent?

Mine was when I got booked on a riverboat casino. I did 2-3 shows a day, 5-6 days a week, for 6 months. I got good fast, and even though I wasn't paid a lot, I had a steady income and I was able to build up other business in the meantime.

I'm a firm believer that nothing happens without a great show. After that you create your own opportunities. You should not be focused on making $2,000.00 per night or seeking your big break. Consistency, personality, professionalism and experience lead to opportunities. Opportunities lead to bigger opportunities. An absolute must is a business plan for both your performance and your business, then market, network and maintain control of everything. Your first goal should be a polished, quality show, followed be getting experience and exposure and working regularly if you're serious about this as full-time. Then you can look on to bigger and better.

Every "big break" I've experienced (t.v., radio, performing nationally, touring, etc.) was as a result of my own efforts and planning. You create and control your own destiny.

Mindpro, I don't think Kameron was suggesting that it's a formula or a shortcut. I think he was just asking our of interest if there was a single thing that helped us to move into full time.

With that in mind, was there a pivotal event for you that helped you to cross over?

Thanks Starr... I know its not a quick thing. I JUST started paying for advertising (something I refused to do before) I was wondering if advertising or asking the right kind of people or what kind of gig started to oush you forward... I don't want to be stuck doing kids shows unless it's really steady...

There is no such thing as a big break. The best example I heard came from Will Smith. He said, "You don't focus on building a wall. You don't focus on building the biggest, baddest wall that ever existed. Instead, you focus on laying a brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid. And you do that every single day until you have a wall."

It is known as the compound effect. Little steps lead up to huge results. There is no such thing as getting to the huge result without the tiny steps. All you have to figure out is how to take the right steps in the right direction all the time. If you're performing at Old Chicago and want to charge $5,000 for gigs then it will never happen because your odds of meeting people at Old Chicago that can pay that much are very small. But if you're at a huge Gala for a Fortune 100 company then finding people to pay $5,000 will be the easiest thing in the world.

So instead of trying to get a big break it is best to focus on making tons of calls every day. Focus on going to hotels and crashing them. Focus on making your website look better day by day. Your business card. Getting more video testimonials. Better footage of live shows. Better phone skills. Etc. Rather than focusing on a big break, focus on little things every single day and do a lot of it.

Kameron
After 25 years of doing small parties in basements, living rooms, and back yards I'm waiting for my big break too. LOL

If you’re asking what was the big break into making magic a fulltime profession I’d like to contribute to this thread.

My show had progressed nicely and I was being booked consistently on the weekends. I also had a steady restaurant gig, but that still wasn’t enough to produce a respectable income. The final piece of the puzzle was writing and successfully marketing a school assembly program. When that show took off I quit my job and have never looked back.

Since then I enjoy a lot to ‘little breaks.’ For example, every time I work in a new routine that I know is going to be a winner and raise the quality of my show, that is a little break.

As far as a big break, I’m still waiting for Jay Leno to call.

I realize that is a joke Ken, but since you wrote it - TV exposure isn't as big a break as it used to be. At one time, most of the nation watched the same shows so TV exposure had the potential to help your career. Today, with the magnitude of channels, exposure is greatly diluted so it ends up being a nice tag line on your resume. Now if you get a series, or are on multiple shows for different networks within a short period of time...that could help.

Tom

My big break was when a promoter asked me to MC a kids show, and do a magic warm-up. I was a semi-pro at the time, just starting out. I was away for the weekend but I returned and did the gig. He was happy, and asked me to do the following afternoon, at the other end of the country. I had a day off, so I said yes.
From then on he gave me two to three gigs a week, all over the country, for over five years. By the end of the run (he moved on to become an internet millionaire) I was a seasoned pro.
For me the secret is saying yes to every gig, and developing a reputation of not letting people down. Promoters know that if there is a problem, I will find a solution. So I tend to get gigs ahead of guys with diva attitudes.

Big Break = "Getting off the elevator on the wrong floor at the right time ..."