How to find a great local magician for your party or event:
If you’re planning a birthday, company picnic, wedding, or any type of local event or party for adults or children, here are some tips from an expert (that’s me!) on how to find the right magician. This article also applies to finding any kind of local performers, like clowns, bands, jugglers, face painters, you name it.
Obviously, you first have to find some wizards in your area to choose from. You might get a recommendation from a friend, and that can be a good start. Keep in mind that almost all wizards (even dreadfully boring and unreliable ones) have a few people who will recommend them. Why would they suggest someone bad? Well, it may be because they don’t know any better, they may not have seen a good local magician to compare with. Also, just because someone is good doesn’t mean he’s the right mage for your party. In any case, don’t just stick with a recommendation, check the guy out carefully and make sure he specializes in the right kind of magic for your event (more on that later).
Well, after the recommendations, you have 2 options. You can find and hire a magician directly, or you can go through some kind of entertainment agency. There are usually local agencies in your area (unless you’re in a small town) that book magicians and a wide variety of performers for any occasion (I used to have a business like that in Ohio). There are also national online agencies that have thousands of entertainers available for parties anywhere in the country, even for children’s birthdays.
If you find a good local agency, they tend to be very familiar with most of the local artists and can give you more personalized help and advice than you might get from a national online agency. However, not all local agents are good. Some are just looking to make a quick buck and aren’t picky about who they send. Sometimes local agents hire great people, but sometimes they have a hard time finding good people who are available when they are needed. Sometimes the best local artists don’t want to work for agents because the agents may not be able to pay them enough and still earn a decent commission. Sometimes local people get a lot of work on their own, so why bother with an agent? So agents can work fine, but check the agency carefully.
Now for the online agencies: some are just a listing service and don’t get involved in the booking process at all. They all allow you to sort artists by city so you can find someone nearby. They may just provide some names and contact information, but some show images, demo videos, links to the artist’s website, and have room for several paragraphs of information provided by the artist. Some even display ratings and reviews from customers who got the entertainer through their service. On most of these national sites, the quality of the performers is not evaluated; anyone can be included. Some seek out quality magicians as best they can, considering they haven’t seen most performers in person. There is usually no personalized help from the agency; they serve more like an online phone book. You’ll find these agencies effortlessly, just search wizards on a search engine, these agency listings will blend in with your local results. Some examples are Gigmasters, Gigsalad and Partypop.
Online phone directories (yp.com, Dexknows.com, etc.) can be a good way to find artists directly, as well as finding local entertainment booking agencies. There should be at least 2 or 3 good “phone books” online that have somewhat comprehensive local listings. Dexknows and Yellowbook are a few examples, but the selection of online directories varies depending on your location. Again some of these are much better and more complete with local listings. Often the one who is considered the “official” one from the main phone company is the best, but not always. Just do a Google search for online phone books. Categories to search include magicians, family and commercial entertainers, party planners, entertainment agencies, etc. Google itself does something akin to an online phone book, and you’ll often see those results when you do a local search for a business.
And of course, the sources that many people go to first are Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. To use them and find the largest selection of local wizards, run multiple searches, each search using a different set of words or phrases. Be very specific with some of your search phrases to get better results. For example, don’t just write magicians, try “West Chester PA birthday magicians” or “Chester County PA corporate event close up magicians”, etc. You will get different results depending on how you search. You’ll find individual sites for magicians, as well as some of those online and local agencies I talked about. Not all good magicians have websites, it’s hard to believe you know that. And some websites don’t show up unless you browse multiple search results pages. There are also the paid ads that wizards place: sometimes they have ads for very good people (on Google they appear on the right hand side and sometimes on the top).
Anyway, once you find some people, you can first narrow them down based on their specialty. For example, some magicians (like me) specialize in local children’s parties and events, so be sure to read their websites carefully so you don’t waste time contacting magicians who are not a good fit for your event. Some specialize in expensive illusion shows for big events, some just do close-up magic, some don’t do kids’ birthdays. Some do a mix of everything, but may not admit they’re not good at everything (although some are good at everything). Some are expensive and worth it, some are expensive and not worth it. Some will charge a very reasonable fee and give you a better show than you bargained for. The most important thing is to get the mage that seems to specialize in what you want if possible. Some magicians, like me, also do balloon twisting, face painting, game driving, juggling, etc. Multi-talented people can be a great fit because they can keep the party going by doing multiple things (if you want to).
Make sure you know exactly what they will do for you, make them specific so you can make the right decision. Also, if you’re paying $125 for a birthday show, don’t expect a big elaborate show – there’s a difference, they’re not all the same, and you tend to get what you pay for. Know what to expect and be realistic. Check out their demo videos if they have them. See reviews and comments on online phone books, etc. Get a contract if possible, with the program details listed on it. Make sure the entertainer knows the details of your party, make sure it has good lighting, enough space, a shaded area, a contact number for the day of the event, etc. Oh, and book as far in advance as possible, let me say this again, book as far in advance as possible (several months or even a year in advance if you can). Don’t procrastinate or your favorite person may not be available.