A lot of people comment on the high price of a Magician when they get a quote. So I thought I'd tell you FIVE reasons to explain why are magicians so expensive.
Time and Effort. It takes a long time to be able to practice and perfect a trick. Then even longer to be able to perform that and execute it at the same time as being entertaining. As a child, I spent hours everyday practising in front of a mirror, then heading downstairs to show my parents the new trick I had learned, then went back upstairs to practice more based on their feedback. Even as an adult, I spend a long time most days practising and perfecting routines to ensure that when I am hired to entertain guests at ANY event I am on top form. I have also involved myself in the magic community. I have spent lots of time and money on joining my local magic club and also The Magic Circle. This is obviously good fun to get to regularly meet up with other magicians, but it is also good for my level of skill to watch other magicians perform and get constructive feedback to improve my own performance. So, thats the first reason why magicians are so expensive. When you watch a Magician entertain a crowd, you are watching years and years of time sitting down and constantly practising the same move or routine over and over again until it is perfect.
Overheads. The cost of being a magician is quite high. Firstly, magic tricks are expensive. To be professional, we need good quality props. I use air cushioned playing cards so that they are smooth and of good quality, I can easily go through a few decks at each gig. Shirts and suits require regular dry cleaning, and through the summer I will often bring a spare shirt so I can change half way. All of this adds up which we need to factor into how much we charge and potentially come across as expensive.
Paid Hours vs Non Paid Hours. Personally, I will only do one gig per day, this is so that I can focus purely on my client and if there are any last minute time changes I can easily accommodate for that. This means I will generally get paid for working anything between 2 and 4 hours per day. Around that, I am travelling, sometimes quite far! I also spend a lot of time networking, marketing myself and speaking to potential clients. If I cut up a percentage of how much I spend performing magic compared to the amount of time I spend practising, networking and marketing, it is only 5-10% actually performing and the rest is everything else. This means that for the small amount of time you hire me as a magician I may appear so expensive, but everything else in the background that has made me the performer I am today has been done unpaid.
Magic is unique. In entertainment, you do not always get what you pay for. Click here to read my blog on why to not hire a magician on price alone. But magic is such a niche form of entertainment that most people haven't seen before, this makes it worth more money. Having a unique form of entertainment at your event will be expensive compared to a really common form of entertainment, but it pays off, because everyone will be talking about your event for years! Why are magicians so expensive? Because they are unique!
Some Magicians are not expensive. When I was 13 years old and started getting professional gigs, I used to charge £20 to £50 (which is cheap). This is because I was just starting out, and thats what I thought I was worth. I also didn't have bills to pay and I was lucky that my parents paid for my membership to magic clubs, and I used birthday and Christmas money to buy magic tricks and nice clothes to perform in. Unfortunately, Santa doesn't get me much these days, but I also have bills to pay and a family to look after, and that is why my prices are higher. When I was 13 years old, I couldn't guarantee a perfect performance, but now I can. I can guarantee that everyone will see some magic, and that every single person who I meet will be blown away and have the best time of their lives. This is because I have spent years perfecting my craft, my persona and my routine.
There you go! That is my answer to 'Why are Magicians so expensive?' I hope this gives you an understanding into why we charge what we do, but also why having unique entertainment is so important at an event, it will pay off, trust me!
Tommy Knight | Professional Magician | Guildford, Surrey, UK | 07760 654 647 | tommy@tommyknight.co.uk | www.tommyknight.co.uk
Comments