I am curious about those children's entertainers who post here in the Magic Café. How many of you are full time, how many part time, and how many hobbyists? This is not a judgement, but I am just curious. Your responses would be appreciated. Just for the record, I have been a full time entertainer for over 50 years. You are welcome to check out my website www.comicmagician.com
JR

Howz it going Roger? I'm Full time. My brain, however, is part time...

I understand about the brain Dan!! Great to hear from you. I am doing good.....busy as always. I hope the move to Pennsylvania worked out well for you. That is where you were going last time we communicated. I guess the last time I saw you was at KAX....or was it Kidabra? JR

I'm full-time. Over the past 30 years I've usually had three weekly restaurant gigs and the rest is parties and festivals.

Covid put me out of business for two years. It's coming back but I've only got one restaurant gig now so things are tight.

I understand about the brain Dan!! Great to hear from you. I am doing good.....busy as always. I hope the move to Pennsylvania worked out well for you. That is where you were going last time we communicated. I guess the last time I saw you was at KAX....or was it Kidabra? JR [/quote]

Yeah, it was KAX I think, we hung out at the Castle a bit. In PA since 2014. Great area, outer suburb of Philly.

Good luck my friend! Covid affected many of us, but now things slowly seem to be coming back to normal thank goodness. I feel the kids need us more than ever after what they have been through. JR

I am part time. Mostly weekend work. But I am getting fairly busy at this point.

Was full time but now 18 years as a hobbyist.

Part-time. Ever since I finally joined cyberspace marketing (Facebook & Website) I have picked up significantly. I always went by word of mouth and was happy the amount of gigs I was booking. Then, inflation went nuts and I decided to try and drum up more business and got the social media stuff up and running. Now I have to actually have a calendar to keep my head strait as to what I have coming up. First time I have had significant back-log bookings (booking gigs that are 6-7 months away).

I have 3 kids still playing ice hockey! It's crushing my wife and I financially but I am blessed they are wonderful boys so we do what we can for them. Not to mention my true passion lies with entertaining so another great reason to be happy about the increased bookings.

It would easy for me to check off the Full-time box here, but that really doesn’t tell the full story. For those interested, here is the full story. Hopefully, it will inspire someone.

1974-1980 Part-time-Decided to skip college to become David Copperfield.

1980 Sept-Nov Full-time-Booked 2 shows, failed miserably. Started working for JCPenney for close to minimum wage.

1981- 1994 Not doing any shows
-Learned to manage a business at JCPenney
-Attended college studying business management
-Learned to excel in sales as a salesman

1995-1999 Part time-Focused on restaurant magic and children’s birthday parties.

2000 to Present Full-time. Raised 5 children, contributed to their college education, paid off my home, and contributed to a retirement
account with my income as a magician.

God willing…
2028 (65 yrs. old) –Part-time-Semi retired.

A great inspiring story Ken.

Thank you for sharing!!

Bob