Round and round in a magic circle!

It looks like I'm going to abandon both the expensive items I've seen recently.

Comments from business people on the rabbit costume have been pretty negative. The general opinion is that the initial reaction will be good but this will rapidly turn to 'oh, another kids entertainer'. When I'm working at a trade show, this is the last thing I want to happen! I'm supposed to be attracting adults to the stand I'm working on after all.

The shells and pea trick is getting a lot of negative feedback as well. Most people think it is too long and not intimate enough. Trade shows in the USA tend to attract large crowds around a stand quite happily but the English reserve dictates otherwise. The UK audience wants one-to-one magic tricks and doesn't want to get crushed into a large group. The other drawback is the space needed to do the trick. Most of the stands I work are pretty small and I have enough trouble finding a space for my 12inch cube tale which stands on a small tripod. There is no way I am going to get a space big enough for a table to move around three large 'walnut shells'.

Back to the drawing board for me.

May the magic be with you.

The End Of An Era - sort of

I'm feeling a bit low today as I've taken the decision to sell my disco and karaoke equipment.

The decision is purely financial as I really enjoy getting a room full of people off their bums and bopping about on the dance floor. The problem is something which every professional has to cope with - amateurs.

There are loads of mobile discos all over the country with equipment which isn't properly maintained and safety tested. On top of that, they don't carry public liability insurance. Some day soon this is going to give somebody a major headache. Take the scenario where you hire a hall for a family part and book a local DJ to play because he offers a cheaper price than anybody else. At the party, his equipment sets of a fire and damages or destroys the building. The owners of the building probably won't be able to claim on their insurance unless the DJ can prove his equipment was OK and tested regularly so they are going to try and claim from you. You won't get a lot out of the DJ as he doesn't have insurance. The end result is everybody loses. You make the DJ bankrupt, the owners of the building make you bankrupt, the building is useless until some money can be found to repair it. All because somebody tried to save a few pounds on the entertainment!

Although I'm using the disco as an example, this situation applies to any entertainer. Especially if they are using electrical equipment. How many times have you read in the papers about somebody in a band being killed by faulty electrical equipment?

Do yourself a favour when booking an entertainer. Find out if all the electrical equipment they use is PAT tested and find out if they have Public Liability Insurance. If they say no to either question, hire somebody else. If they say yes to both these questions - ASK TO SEE PROOF!

May the magic be with you.