Odd gigs

[Justin.Morris]

Hey all,

I thought I start this because I just had to share the call I got last night, and in light of Ricks interesting gig.

What is the strangest/oddest/funniest/most unique place you have ever performed (or been asked to perform)?

I have a new one. Last night I get a call from a guy who want's to book me. He starts off by asking my availability (Not a totally normal way of starting a conversation about these things, so I was a bit cautious. He was looking for three hours of walk around magic for about 250 people. I asked him if this was for a company and he said yes, but didn’t tell me what company. He was very good at dodging my questions (Red flags!). Little by little as I ask questions, I find out that it is at a hotel, and it’s for an upscale members only couples club (I didn’t know what that meant, but more red flags). As our conversation nears the end, he says “Some people don’t like working for us (red flags), so here’s our website so you can learn more about us – *website name* (alarm! alarm!). Sure enough I go to the website and see that it’s a full on swingers club! Ha ha! For those who don’t know, I’m a pastor as a day job, so needless to say I phoned this morning and declined. But what a funny call to get.

So what’s your weirdest place or situation?

 

[RickEverhart]

Holy Crap Justin...that is INSANE. Had you performed there, you would have won gig of the year. Oh wait, Theory 11 doesn't have gig of the year. I can not even begin to imagine, "Excuse me....excuse me....can I grab my card...it fell over there on that mattress.....oh wow..those are real...ha ha". Nice! As soon as I read upscale couples only, and at a hotel, I knew where this was headed.

 

[Randy]

Good thing you turned it down, chances are he would tried to weasel his way out paying you.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Good thing you turned it down, chances are he would tried to weasel his way out paying you.

What makes you think that?

The oddest gig I've done was for an old folk's home. Not terribly odd, really, but performing for a room of 30 people when only 3 to 6 of them were cognizant of what I was doing and could actually follow anything was very challenging for me. It's actually the moment that made me realize that traditional magic was not for me.

 

[Randy]

What makes you think that?

The oddest gig I've done was for an old folk's home. Not terribly odd, really, but performing for a room of 30 people when only 3 to 6 of them were cognizant of what I was doing and could actually follow anything was very challenging for me. It's actually the moment that made me realize that traditional magic was not for me.

Pretty much everything he said about the guy. How the person kept trying to dodge questions, how he mentioned that most people don't like working for him. Usually when somebody tries to dodge answering very basic questions, they are hiding something and will tend to be a weasel.

 

[Justin.Morris]

You're right Randy, you've got to be careful with people. This guy just sounded embarrassed(?) about what the club was about. I wish I had time to type out the whole conversation and my thought process. It was pretty funny.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Pretty much everything he said about the guy. How the person kept trying to dodge questions, how he mentioned that most people don't like working for him. Usually when somebody tries to dodge answering very basic questions, they are hiding something and will tend to be a weasel.

I'm willing to bet that the guy was expecting a judgmental reaction to the fact that he runs a swinger's club. Either that, or he's not actually in the swinger's community and doesn't really know how to bridge the gap.

Basically, before assuming that he's a weasel, I'm saying you should probably get more information. There's no reason to assume he wouldn't pay based on this information, and every reason to assume that if the gig went well, he would pay quite well. The reason for that being that he probably has trouble booking entertainers and so when he gets one that's good, he'll probably go out of his way to make them happy. Definitely worth a shot if it's something you're ok with. Obviously this isn't for Justin, but that's ok too.

 

[Mat La Vore]

...Last night I get a call from a guy who want's to book me. He starts off by asking my availability (Not a totally normal way of starting a conversation about these things, so I was a bit cautious...

When a potential client asks about your availability that's always a good thing. That means they're under the assumption you're busy with other gigs.

Good thing you turned it down, chances are he would tried to weasel his way out paying you.

That's why you take a 50% deposit and put in your contract that the other 50% is due before you perform. Simple solution for a simple problem.

Anyhow, that would have been an interesting gig. I would have loved to do have done it (although I understand why you didn't, Justin). No doubt that would have been a fun crowd to perform for.

 

[formula]

Being a 20 something single male I would of been all over that gig! Anyway, it's not strange or odd but Cy Endfield's daughter booked me for a private party later this year, which I think is quite a unique gig.

I also know a guy that runs a strip club. I go in occasionally and one night I showed him Pure Smoke....one of the dancers wanted to film me making her privates smoke....that was pretty weird.

 

[Mat La Vore]

...I also know a guy that runs a strip club. I go in occasionally and one night I showed him Pure Smoke....one of the dancers wanted to film me making her privates smoke....that was pretty weird.

That's hilarious! I did some magic at a strip club in Paris one time and had one of the French strippers buy me a drink after doing French Kiss (just released there was a pun in this now) with her card held in her cleavage.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Being a 20 something single male I would of been all over that gig!

And now we know why it's "couples only"

Side note: Some notables have honed their chops in strip clubs including Lance Burton and The Amazing Jonathan.

 

[formula]

I don't see what relevance couples only has to do with me thinking that would be a fun gig.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

I don't see what relevance couples only has to do with me thinking that would be a fun gig.

Swinger's clubs tend to be couples only because single guys tend to muck everything up. Your post gave me a "I'd be leering at all the ladies" vibe.

 

[formula]

I can leer at ladies in my own time. What I meant is that it would be a really fun gig with that kind of clientel, well I imagine it would be anyway.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

I can leer at ladies in my own time. What I meant is that it would be a really fun gig with that kind of clientel, well I imagine it would be anyway.

I see. Well, my mistake then.

In my experience swingers are just normal people. It probably wouldn't be much different than any other gig, other than the surety of what happens when four smiling people quietly wander off together.