Performing Magic In Restaurants - Make Sure You Do This As Soon As You Arrive

Restaurants are the most common venue for close-up magic. People are there to relax, have fun and be entertained. That makes restaurants busy places, so it’s vital to understand a few things about the structure of the evening, and how to approach performing where people are eating.

When you get to the venue, there are some important things to notice as soon as you arrive:

Are you the only magician?
It's a sort of blessing that being a magician is not the same as time travel. The universe won't explode if two inhabit the same space. You will usually be the only magician there, but if there are a lot of guests, the clients may have booked more than one magician. The perfect ratio tends to be one magician per 150 guests. Find out where the setup area is and go meet the other magicians. Now is the time to make sure you are not going to be doing the same tricks, and discuss how the tables will be split up.

The number of tables
You need to ensure that every table gets to see some magic during the evening. Take a moment to walk around the venue and count the tables. As a rule, you probably have a couple of hours through a meal. If there are ten tables to get around, you can expect to have half that time available to perform, as the other half of the time, your guests will be eating, SO.. 60 minutes for 10 tables. That's 10 minutes at each table.

When does the meal end?
Check to see if there is anything planned for when the coffee’s are served. Will there be speeches? Maybe dancing or an after dinner show will start... Do they have an after dinner speaker or awards? Knowing this is critical as you can then divide up your time for each table to make sure you don’t get caught at the end with tables still to do.

Anything going on between courses?
Some events have awards being presented between courses, or a speech will be given. Someone may want to run a quiz, or an auction might take place.. Find this out in advance, so you don’t get any surprises right in the middle of performing at a table.

What will the guests be eating?
It's important to understadn the structure of the meal being served; especially the number of courses.
Unless you really have too do so, don’t perform while your guests are eating. You'll be going head to head against the food, which is satisfying one of your guests primary drives.. don’t try to compete with that!

My experience: I was doing walk-around magic at the Dorchester, booked for a private room in their Chinese restaurant. All good.. but it presented me with a challenge. The room is tiny. Just the right size for one large round table, without any side rooms, and only one exit. The entrance to the room is a solid windowless wooden door leading to a very busy corridor used by the waiters to serve all the areas. Basically, I had nowhere to wait other than in the room with the guests thought the meal, which consisted of 9 courses. When a course ended, it was whisked away and another arrived. This can be a problem for magicians, as there are no defined start and end points for the magic to be presented. I ended up entertaining while the guests ate. They did not seem to mind at all, but it’s very hard to keep the group’s attention while they rolled aromatic crispy duck into pancakes.

Buffets and BBQ's
If it’s a buffet, there are a few issues that need to be tackled when doing magic tricks where people are eating:
People constantly getting up to leave the table.
Some people will have finished while others have only just begun eating.
Guests from other tables can visit the table right in the middle of a trick.
Courses tend to go on for much longer
With those types of meals, it’s often better to let the first course, go by, and wait for the guests to become more relaxed. After they have all visited the buffet at least once, they will be more relaxed and happy to focus on other things.

Knowing the format right from the start, lets you decide the amount of time you can spend at each table. Find this out right from the start, so you don’t have to rush the last few tables. Not fun at all.

DO THIS: When you arrive, visit the room before your guests arrive. Note the number of tables and look at the layout. There will be staff putting out the finishing touches to the tables. One of these people will be the event planner. That person can very quickly answer your questions so you are all set for the event.

I hope this helps you
Best wishes
@DominicReyes
www.dominicreyes.com