One of the hardest parts of being a close up magician is working a room. It doesn't matter if the “room” is a restaurant, bar, house or a sidewalk or what ever location you are booked to perform what's commonly known as “Strolling Magic”. You'll have to approach and perform for total strangers. This is a scary place to be if you don't have much experience at it. So I hope this little article will make things a little easier for you to get past this issue.

Pre-Show Performance

For a moment, forget about the tricks you perform. It doesn't matter if you're performing the “Latest and Greatest” trick to hit the magic market. In fact the tricks you perform are actually the least important part of working a room. Don't get me wrong, you do want to show them some good and entertaining magic, but no matter how good the tricks are you still won't get the best reactions unless you know how to present yourself.

Let me ask you a question. When does your performance start? Does it start the moment you perform your first trick or maybe the moment your first trick is over and you get your first reaction? The answer is actually neither of the above. Your performance actually begins the moment your spectators see you. I'm not talking about the moment you approach them either. No, the performance begins the moment your potential spectators see you at all. In other words it begins the moment you arrive in the venue you are performing. This is what I call the “Pre-show Performance.”

Let me tell you the story of two different magicians. Let's call them Performer A and Performer B. They are both booked to perform magic in a restaurant.

Performer A enters the restaurant and pulls a deck of cards out of his pocket. He scans the room in search for a table to perform for. He can't decide which table to go to so he stands there for a moment and does some fancy shuffles and cuts with the cards in hopes that someone will recognize him and call him over to perform. After a while he finally builds up the nerve to go up to a table and say, “Would you like to see some magic?”

Performer B enters the restaurant. He walks through the restaurant with a slight smile on his face. Anyone who sees him will see a guy who's obviously in a good mood. He make eye contact people and when his eyes meet someone else's his smile widens slightly at them. He makes small comments to people as he walks by such as, “Hi, Nice evening!”, “How are you guys doing?” or “Hey, I like your suit.” He just makes small talk and as he passes people by. If you where sitting in the restaurant you'd have no doubt that he's there for a purpose. Perhaps he works there or maybe he even owns the place. He doesn't bother anyone but he seems to genuinely care that the people in the restaurant are enjoying themselves. He talks to the employees of the restaurant and they obviously know him so he's obviously no stranger there. He sees a family with two kids waiting for their meal to arrive. With his still-smiling face and energetic personality, he approaches the family and asks if they are having a good evening. The kids are coloring their pictures. The magician asks if he can see one of the crayons and shows the kids a trick with it. The kids laugh and at that of course the parents laugh. The people at near by tables laugh too. People on the other side of the room are curious as to what they are laughing at. He performs a couple more tricks for the family the tells them to have a good evening and to enjoy their meal.

Can you see the difference? I didn't mention any tricks he performed in the above story and yet one was a much more entertaining magician then the other. Performer A will have a hard time even if one group does agree to “let” him show them a trick. No matter how good the trick is and how well he performs it. The spectators feel they are doing the magician a favor by allowing them to do magic for them. Yet Performer B is giving the spectators the entertainment. Not because they are allowing him to - they are receiving his services as an entertainer. After that first table he needs only to turn and approach another table in much the same manner with the bonus that this next group would likely have witnessed the results of his performance with the last group. In other words, Performer B is truly “working the room.”

Keep in mind that this pre-show performance can last anywhere from a few moments to hours. As an example: I was once booked to perform a Super Bowl party. I was to put on a show during halftime. Of course you never know when half time will actually come so I had to arrive early to get ready then stick around and wait for the time to start the show. So I was there for about 3 hours before my show actually began. This means I had 3 hours to establish myself with my audience. By the time halftime came I had met just about everyone there and the show ended up being one of the best performances I've ever done. It was better for my audience because they had already established a positive opinion of me. It was better for me because they were no longer a group of complete strangers. I was just a guy they met, entertaining them with magic and enjoying their company. It’s a win/win situation.

Incidentally this pre-show performance is just as important in stage and parlor shows. Take for example a venue in which you enter the room from the rear when you are introduced and walk through the audience to the stage. Performer A would likely enter the room with his head angled to the floor and focus on nothing but getting to that stage and starting his act. While Performer B would enter the room with high energy, make eye contact and gestures with as many people as he can as he/she makes his way to the stage and when he finally gets there the applause will still be going. This is because Performer B understands that the show begins the moment they see him.

Tips on working the room: