Build and create magic to save money , go to dance classes to get friendly with people who can work as assistants and generally I help with load ins load outs for theatre to get friendly with them they can be a great help:)

"I second the motion and third it too. If you want to be a pilot, go to flying school. If you want to be a doctor, go to medical school and if you want to argue constantly about the right way to perform your show, keep posting here."

This might be the best thing which has ever been said on the Café.

Jay, I salute you!

And go to a university with a respected theatre program. I went to such a university and made friends among fellow students. As a result, I immediately got a job in a summer repertory theatre company, wound up with friends I could network with later--friends producing on Broadway, friends doing national and international television, friends writing, directing, producing and acting in major motion pictures. All from the university theatre department. I make my full living as a playwright, but I've made good money as an actor, director, performer...and the most lucrative stuff came from just having friends in the right places. You get to cut to the front of the line because the person in charge is an old friend. Also, from time to time, I've actually BEEN that old friend who gave an opportunity to someone else. Ya gotta give back.
Also: since you're still in high school, take advantage of all those courses you can take that are, virtually, free. I took a bookkeeping course in high school that came in handy when I was running a theatre later on. I took a drafting class that gave me the skills to design sets when one of those jobs opened up early in my career. Art classes gave me background in design. High school offers more than most people imagine. And it's free.

-Philip

Thanks for the helpful replies guys!

I disagree that college won't do you any good if you plan on going into business for yourself. Who knows, you might just become best friends with the person who will later underwrite your entire show.

Even though most of the courses in business, theater, etc., won't be tailored specifically to magic performance, you will still learn valuable lessons in movement, lighting, stagecraft, marketing, networking, accounting, and you could possibly end up with a degree in a field that will allow you to support yourself until you "make it". Oftentimes, the colleges will have co-op programs that will match you up with a theater, a lighting company, or some other theater-related job that will provide you with invaluable hands-on experience.

Of course parlour tricks work on in a small theater. I suggest you watch some of the videos on YouTube of the past greats in magic. They have all present smaller tricks while the big stage is being set for the next illusion.

Can't help you with trick selection, as your personality does not show through on the Café's text postings. Every trick a performer does is usually a very personal choice. I can suggest 50 tricks, and if you just say, I don't like this or that, what good is it to make suggestions. You have to find the tricks for yourself.

As far as routines, that is also your job to create and present the trick as you see it through your personality and character.

No one can do it for you or make your selections for you. You can only do that.

A routine such a Whit Haydn's Teleportation Device (or another Bill to Lemon routine) would work well in that size venue, and it will fill up an entertaining seven or eight minutes, if performed well.

I have always loved Larry Becker's Casino Royale.

A good, semi-original Linking Ring routine could be great in that situation.

Good Cut and Restored Rope routines work well for crowds of up to several hundred.

Gypsy Thread (or Gypsy Balloon) could be a good closer.

I once saw Jonathan Pendragon perform a multiple card selection routine that "filled" a five-hundred seat theater.

Just some ideas...

Thanks Clinton! That was the exact answer I was looking for. I didn't necessarily want someone to write out a set list, just was curious if my current set list would fit well with a small theater and it looks like it will.