Are you looking to get stage shows? This can be tough because there are not many opportunities out there. You can book a local theatre and do a couple of shows over a weekend but then what? With the cost of gas what it is it can be hard to take your show on the road.

One solution is to become a concert promoter! This way you can become a magic emcee, do your full stage act in between bands or do walk around close up in between sets. By charging an admission fee at the door or working out a deal with the venue for a cut of drinks you can pay the bands and yourself.

The first thing you want to do is find a bar or club that can have live performances. If you require a stage you will want to look for this. Approach the owner or person in charge and tell them you want to book a music and magic night. Starting off you may want to pick an off night during the week. The owner should be happy for a chance to get more customers on a slow night. Pick a date and comfirm your stipulations. Do you get a cut of the alcohol sales, do you provide your own doorman?

Next find a couple of bands to play. Every city has it's own weekly events paper. Start going to some shows and introduce yourself to the bands. Buy them a drink or perform a few tricks. Tell them about your exciting new show coming up and invite them to play. Ask them to recommend bands. Exchange numbers and get them to confirm that they can play the gig. Remember that not every show has to be Woodstock, two or three bands will be plenty!


Now you need to promote your show so people will show up. Design a poster that has the bands names, your name, venue address, time, 21+ or all ages, date and a cool picture that will entice your audience. Put these up at the venue and all over town, any place that has board you pin one to or a window you can tape one up. Use a staple hammer and put them on telephone poles as well. Get it listed in the paper and spread the word online on Facebook and anywhere else. The cool thing is the bands will help you promote and bring many of their friends as well.


The night of the show, remember to entertain your audience but your number one job is to sell drinks. It's cheesy but go ahead and tell them to tip their bartender. If your bands get paid and you get paid you could turn this into a monthly or even weekly gig!

Yeah, in a perfect world. This is an over-simplified scenario in which you assume all the risk and the odds of your success are greatly against you. There are many other ways to do a self-promoted show with much less risk. The venues' "off-nights" are slow for a reason and more than likely your local act with local bands will not be enough to produce a draw, let alone profits.

Knowing the promoter segment of the industry quite well, I would venture to say this probably comes with a 98% failure rate, maybe greater on a weeknight. This is more of an amateur's or laymen's perspective of an approach to such an event. There are much better ways to do the same thing that can greatly reduce your risk and even guarantee profits, but this isn't it.

Have you done this yourself? If so what are your honest results? This is the type of thing, especially with magic and adults, that definitely looks better on paper than in reality. This is also the kind of thing you can learn the hard way by attempting to do it yourself, or learn from others with more experience.

You risk having a bum show where barely anybody turns out but a bad show is hardly the end of the world. At worst you get stuck with a ten dollar loss at Kinko's for your printing fees.

Yes I promoted a weekly concert called Punk Rock Terror. Some nights were awesome and I handed over a fistful of cash to bands after my cut, some nights were awful and the bands left thinking I was a total d-bag. Some nights not many people showed up but the bands I booked networked and offered future shows to each other and made the whole thing worth while. Every show made the club owner happy because even if there were few fans the bands themeslves racked up a good bar bill.

So yeah, you might lose ten bucks. If anybody wants a more complex vision of promoting a concert PM and I will shoot you a link to a cheap but thorough e-book.

There is almost no chance to make this work. If you are using ten bucks worth of flyers nd expecting to make big money that seems borderline delusional.

What can you lose? Time, money, reputation and a host of other things that can cost you huge.
Your answer is quite tellink. When asked if you had tried this and what the results were you tell us half baked band promotion stories. Instead of saying no you have not. Interesting.

You make this seem like the holy grail of stage promotion. It isn't even close. Not many of those local bands you speak of make much money.

I do have to agree with Mindpro and Dannny. However, I am interested in learning more regarding Mindpro's comment "There are much better ways to do the same thing that can greatly reduce your risk and even guarantee profit..." hopefully you are willing to expand on this.

Respectfully,
CNS

Notice the title of the article is "ONE way to get stage shows". I never said you would make a lot of money and I don't know how I made it sound like the holy grail. Why would I say I have not been a concert promoter when I have and it was probably the most fun job I have ever had? Here's a pic of me working the door at one of my shows.



If you are really worried about failing then maybe the stage isn't for you. Do tricks for your friends who you know will say nice things and not hurt your feelings.

Obviously you were very successful at promotion.

Yea the stage isn't for me or Mindpro. Glad you cleared that up for us. Yep you are the very picture of success.

At least this didn'ttake as long as it normally does. But why would one do shows if not to eventually at least make money?

Again I never said I was a "very successful" or "the very picture of success". I said it was the most it was the most fun job I ever had. I made 40$ and a few beers a night but it was show biz and it was good time.

This is article was not really intended for pros. Obiviously there are better methods to get stage shows. Everybody needs to pay their dues and if someone wants a chance to do a stage act this is one way they can get that experience.

Still, it seems like a great deal of effort, risk and time...for $40 and a few beers. This is why live entertainment is in the state it's in.

Also that's not a way to "get" a stage show, it a way to "create" a show. It would be sooooooo much easier just to seek a booking for $40 and a few beers. Talk about running when not being chased. If you are that desperate for a gig you shouldn't be performing, especially in a public place of business where people expect to see professionals.

I guess we have a different idea of what show biz is too. This is the business section of the community and I would not in any way consider this good, productive business.

This has my vote for the most non-productive post of the year.

Mindpro and Dannydoyle have probably been too busy selling out auditoriums to hear about this but there's this thing called Rock And Roll and many people enjoy it. Even though you may enjoy Rock And Roll it would be way easier to answer one of the hundreds of local want ads looking to hire you to perform on their stage.

Also promoting a concert involves talking to people which is very risky. Actually even leaving your house is too risky so I don't encourage you to try that either.

Another problem with promoting concerts is that you won't get rich doing it so there is no point. I suggest you follow Mindpro's advice and quit performing magic and immediately get into the business of selling timeshare because there is a ton in that.

It is fr more than non productive it is outright costly.

$40 and a few beers and it warrants a post about how to get more shows? $10 on flyers and you have lost 25% profit! This is not show business at all. Not by a long shot.

And your use of the word concert promoter is laughable. You attracting like you are promoting The Who. You are trying to get drunks into a bar and get them to buy drinks. Not even close to concert promoting.

This is a horrible idea for magic because a weekly gig like you claim it can turn into is a tough thing for a magician. Imagine them seeing the same tricks week after week. They don't mind the same music but after a couple weeks the same tricks get old. If you tell me to change up the tricks every week it will really tell us a lot.

Good luck with it. Let us know how it goes.

Jeez what was I thinking of when I said that?!

I figured out earlier in my life that not everything has to be pro quality to be legit. A person can dream about selling out stadiums or they can talk to a few people and get a real life show going. Something as small as this might be a laugh riot to a mega star like yourself but everybody needs to start somewhere.

As far as a weekly show, your are right it would be difficult to pull off a full stage show each week. I think a person could do it more as an emcee if they want a weekly show. Maybe even a vendor. Big cities can support a weekly concerts though, I know because I just interviewed someone who promotes one. One thing though is that each show will bring different people because each band you book will hopfully bring it's own crowd.

I may have posted this article in the wrong catagory but I'm guessing I would have come across negative Nancy's anywhere I post on the Café.

Yea those of us jerks who are grounded in reality and not fantasy land are a genuine pain in the hind parts huh?

Doesn't have to be pro quality? And it is still legit? God I hope that was a joke. If not then cool at least you have expressed yourself properly.

Yes, I have been promoting rock-n-roll concerts for I'm guessing longer than you've been alive working with literally every one from America to ZZ Top and hundreds of national and international rock acts in between (probably not your type of rock-n-roll). There is great money in promotion, when you are doing it properly. There is also great risk. What you're doing is not any type of real promotion or production. It is simply amateur level playing. There is more wrong and absolute incorrect information in the last post as I've ever seen here. You are talking through your a** about something you truly don't know.

Also I've been receiving PMs and emails from about a dozen friends and students telling me Mormo Zine is on another forum basing Danny and I, talking trash again about something you know nothing about. Here's a good one for you Danny...he's supposedly thinking of moving to Branson! Just a quick heads up. Watch out.

Seems even on the other forum he's not gaining much support as most there are telling him more stuff he doesn't want to hear about how it may be beneficial to him to listen to what we've said and the info that has been offered. I'm not a member there so I'm glad I haven't seen it.

Somehow because someone has called him on his nonsense, we are supposedly the ones that don't know what we're talking about. I'm just simply calling you out on your misinformation being offered and passed off as knowledge "to help" others, that many younger members here may not know to be BS and might actually attempt something like this. I have seem people lose their car, home and family due to following this kind of poor advice.

This is just another example of someone having no respect for the industry and those that have come before him and do have knowledge and experience. If you weren't talking so much (about a topic you obviously know little about) you might actually be able to learn something.

Don't try to dish it out if you can't take it. And don't run to others saying you were harshly or unfairly being treated when you were just simply called out on your own nonsense. This is the problem with the industry today and the online medium.

Mindpro and Danny,

I think he is speaking about dive bars and clubs. Which most pro's try to avoid.
I think it is a step up from being a carny... lol

Yes, there are many better ways of getting stage shows...

Didn't someone once mention going door to door? LOL

GUYS! Mormo pointed out in his first post and in following ones that this is ONE WAY to promote. Not THE way but one of the ways. Hey it worked for him. I'll tell you when my butt is against the wall and the hounds of the Baskervilles are coming for me I'll market my fingers to the bone to get some income.

I agree Paddy, he did say it was only one way.

Besides, it's hard to tell a man he can't do something when he has already done it.

Tom

$40 and a few beers. Is that really even a show?

Hey you guys do what you want. But don't tell me he has done anything when he seems to admit it is an idea. Curtis you are welcome to do this. If it fits your style or whatever paddy and Tom can do it. Playing stupid word games with one way not the way doesn't fly with me sorry. It does not turn a bad idea into good information.

I get trashed all the time by people on other forums. Mostly guys with horrible ideas that don't lime the truth. Oh well. Life moves along. Time to post that fake rip off report and tell me how bad I am at business.

And really neither of us told him he can't do it. We simply said it is a bad idea to do it.

Danny,
Retread what typed... I am not for this idea!

Curtis feel free to edit your name from my post sorry.