Do you want to be a Wealthy Magician?

One of Roy’s main arguments is that a magician should be properly valued. So much of the first section of the book is a sustained plea to ask for higher fees, not lower, and to hold out for better quality gigs rather than being involved in a race for the bottom.

In fact, the first section is a little repetitive, and a significant amount of it could be summed up in the following two sentences. Richy Roy thinks a magician is worth $2000 (Canadian Dollars – for my UK audience – that is about £1100) for a gig. And if you want to earn that, you have to ask for it!

Much of that section is about self-belief – and actually asking for what you think you should be worth – rather than what you think they might be prepared to pay.

If you read any good books on business (negotiating, marketing, advertising etc.) then many of the concepts here will be familiar to you. What Roy so helpfully does is apply the principles specifically to the context of the performing magician.

Realistic and (mainly) up to date

It is filled with illustrations from his own experience which brings the book to life and eloquently make the points.

Part 1 – then – is about Price Tag. Part 2 is about Marketing and Part 3 is about Sales. Some of the ideas will need a little contextualisation for a UK audience – but most I would say are broadly applicable.

I found The Wealthy Magician  easy to read and full of helpful advice. There are some brilliant ideas here for diversifying and for building your brand.

It is ‘up to date’ in the sense that it does have an awareness of Social Media and the impact that is having on advertising and marketing. However, perhaps inevitably with a book, it already feels slightly out of date in that regard. Since I would say that the dominance of Facebook is already reducing – no doubt there will be another big thing before long.

With this small caveat notwithstanding, I would suggest this is compulsory reading for anyone contemplating the move to being a full time professional magician. If that is one of your aspirations then this book would greatly help you take the right approach from a business point of view.

I would recommend reading it alongside a book which might help you think through the more performance related side of things – and my top recommendation there would be The Approach (you can read our review here).

You can pick up a copy of the Wealthy Magician from the Merchant of Magic for £38.50 (at the time of writing).

Or possibly ever so slightly cheaper at Amazon.

Review copy kindly provided by Murphys Magic to whom dealer enquiries should be directed.

Richy Roy – The Wealthy Magician – review

4.3 / 5 Reviewer

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The post Richy Roy – The Wealthy Magician – review appeared first on Bicycle Cards.

Unlike most of our reviews, The Approach isn’t brand new – it was published last year – but as I have written elsewhere I feel that it deserves a wider audience since it is such a unique and practical book. It styles itself “a complete guide to becoming a working magician” and it fulfils that brief very well.

The book is divided into 102 chapters – but don’t think chapters in a novel – think entries on a blog – since most are only a couple of pages long. It is incredibly practical covering nitty-gritty details from what tricks to use, how to structure a set, what to wear, what to charge (some real wisdom here), how to prepare, how to get gigs, how to respond to enquiries, how to ‘work the room’ – the list could go on and on. It includes questions that you feel too obvious that you could never ask anyone, and others that I would never have thought about – until you hit them yourself – for example there is a chapter on one-handed spectators!

Much of the information is anecdotal – in other words – you’re learning from Jamie’s mistakes (and successes). The book is also interactive – in the sense that there are practical exercises for you to fill out – which makes sure you are engaging with the material and taking it on board.

There is so much I liked about this book. But for balance I need to record a couple of downs. I may be too shy and retiring and British (actually, I’m not that shy and retiring!) – but some of the ideas and techniques feel that they fit Jamie’s incredibly positive personality, but might not fit everyone’s. That may just be the reality of needing to sell yourself – but you will have to evaluate this to see what it looks like for your particular personality. And on a similar note, bear in mind he is writing from a Canadian context. Whilst we share much cultural heritage with Canada, some things may not transpose directly.

That being said, these are in no way deal breakers – if you are worth your salt you are always going to evaluate this kind of content in the light of your own personality and context. So I have no hesitation in unreservedly recommending this book. Jamie seems to have a knack for putting out quality magic items (see our review of his Industrial Revelation for more evidence of this).

You can get your copy direct from Jamie (who kindly supplied my review copy) for $75 complete with free shipping (as I write).

If you’d prefer to buy from the UK, then you can buy it from Merchant of Magic.

The post The Approach – review appeared first on Bicycle Cards.