All of the plans for your perfect South Wales wedding are falling into place. The venue is booked, the invites have been sent, the wedding photographer is paid (by the way I would recommend Clixx photography) and now you want to book a magician.
So your looking for a magician in your particular area and you google 'Pembroke magician' or 'Swansea magician' or even 'Cardiff wedding magician' and just like any other google search, you find a list of possibilities. You assume they will all be pretty much the same so after contacting a few, you opt for the cheapest......BIG MISTAKE!
Why? Let's compare this decision to that of buying a new home. You can google or use sites like rightmove to select houses that match all of your criteria, you have the option to select to list from cheapest to most expensive. Do you just place an offer on the cheapest property that matches your criteria? No! Just like buying a house, choosing a wedding magician or any other form of entertainment for your big day is or should be about more than the price!
Now you're thinking 'good point, but how will i know the difference in a magician', please read on!
There are are two distinct types of magic that you may see a magician perform at a wedding during their close-up magic performance.
1) The first is sleight of hand - using cards, coins and other every day objects to do tricks/or effects etc
2) Mentalism / Mind reading - Reading the minds of your guests, accessing images, guessing pin-codes, favourite holidays etc
The first thing to say is that both of these are absolutely incredible! Unfortunately, not many magicians perform both or at are accomplished at performing both, but many (including myself) do and are and there is often no or little difference in what you can expect to pay.
Tips on what to look out for ( & what to avoid)
1) Ask the magician if they perform both styles of magic and get a free demonstration so you can see first hand what your guests will experience
2) Look for the professional magician - Many magicians will state they are 'full time' like that requires acceptance from potential clients that they are professional...... It means nothing! You will encounter many magicians that state they are full time but do not have a website or even business cards. Look for magicians who at the very least have a real website & custom email addresses, it shows that at the very least, they have made an effort because their business ( & therefore you) is important to them. Oh and logo made on Microsoft paint is also not a good sign!
3) Look carefully at videos & testimonials - a lack of videos on youtube is not an issue, many performers do not want to place numerous videos with their material in the public domain for fear of being copied. It's the bad videos that should alarm you! If magicians are hoping to secure your services with videos of them doing a trick to a camera in their bedroom in their nightwear (believe me there are many ) or on their child, then it will tell you all you need to know about their professional attitude.
4) AWARD WINNING - An absolute classic marketing strategy for magicians!! It can sound extremely impressive but in reality it usually means they have won a competition at their local magic club against their friends (insert sad face here) .There are however awards which are worth taking note of, take BAFTA winning magician James Went (www.jameswent.co.uk), that is a real award worth taking note of! I also value Magic Circle membership, if someone is a certified member then they are usually competent
5) Final point - Speak with me!!!