“Dedicated To Bringing Your Magic to the PAYING Public!!!”

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Hello <first>

Wow, a full-blown newsletter!  It’s been a while since I

published one of these and this is a keeper.

So many of you have asked me about what I actually do at

my shows that result in so many repeat bookings and I’ll

give you a peek today and the next few.

I am taking off some this week.  It is the perfect week for

re-building and going over goals, projects, etc.  In addition

to spending time with the kids, I’ll be going over my gratitude

list, checking my temperature and making sure I’m on track

to my goals.

However, that doesn’t mean that work will stop completely. 

Products will still be going out, email updates will go on and

our new Mastermind site will continue to build (more on that

in December).

The Mastermind bonuses are all shipping today.  We got a

little overwhelmed by the response and my poor assistant is

literally working overtime to get everything out.  I have to

give her some time to get ready for her Holidays though. 

Thanks for your patience.

Off to this month’s newsletter…

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Table of Contents:

1.      Quick Tip

2.      Feature article:  Get Busy – Quickly!

3.      Quotes of the Month

4.      Show BUSINESS:  The Paper Tear!

5.      Resources You Can Use

6.      Fun Stuff

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1.  Quick Tip:

Simply put, my friend, and I mean no disrespect by any of

this to anyone, if you sit around and wait for ads to bring

in gigs for you – you will starve!!!

Activity is the name of the game!  YOU need to create the

success you deserve.  Nobody’s course, nobody’s ad and

nobody’s act will do it for you.    

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2.  Feature Article:  Get Busy – Quickly!

I received a wonderful question yesterday that I thought was

a killer newsletter topic.  Here it is…

Eric, I am a part time magician trying to get a real start in the

biz. I have Dave Dee's stuff and your stuff and the new stuff

from jack on part time work. I am trying to figure out what

new system I need to get. Not having a lot of results with

any of the material because I am a part time guy not able to

do a lot of the back up stuff everyone is talking about full

time. (schools and daycare centers to get a high volume of

shows).

My focus is birthday parties on the weekends. I feel like a

lot of others out there most of the time I listen to a pitch fest

of money costing ideas, but for part timers a lot of things

don't really work like they do for the full timer. I.e. my AZ

parenting ad, word for word Dave Dee and it really only pulls

2-3 calls a month.

These are not my figures only, I have called other magicians

and advertisers in the mag and the results are the same.

what do you really suggest for the part timer? Jacks part

time manual that I purchased said the ad and ADword on

the internet are the only way to go for part time. what do

you think?

Ben "THE WIZ"

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Well Ben,

There are a ton of questions and answers in that one.

First off, listen to Jack.  He knows what he’s talking about. 

I agree with him on doing Parent mag ads and ad-words as

PART of your mix.  I’m sure he recommends a little more

than that too.

So here’s what I’d like to add…

What works full-time also works part-time, just so you know. 

There is no reason you cannot go out and do the exact

marketing that I do.  You would just do it on a smaller scale.

Here are some things you can do TODAY in addition to

ad-words and parent mag ads:

1)  Get a gig in a family restaurant.

This one technique netted me thousands of dollars when I

first went into the market.  You need to be visible and be “out

there” in order to get work.

Being seen regularly in a well-respected family restaurant and

being known as their magician will reap incredible benefits

in the birthday market.

2)  Proactively look for gigs.

This means that you should be using ALL of the tools you

can in promoting yourself at the gigs you do.  You should be

supplying goodie bags with all of your contact info in them.

You should have give-aways that you use at EVERY table

in your restaurant.

You should be collecting leads and following-up consistently

with all of them.

3)  Start being seen at all of the family events!

This is probably the biggest one for me and still remains my

staple means of getting business.

It ties in perfectly with the first two.  And it’s all about

positioning!

I am purposely seen at all of the festivals in my area.  I do a

ton of libraries, theaters, summer camps and schools.  I am

the magician.

That is what you need to be whether you are full-time or

part-time, it doesn’t matter one bit.

You should absolutely be doing libraries on the weekends

just as much as you are doing birthday parties.  Same with

festivals and more.

Mail out press releases.  Give out your promo materials. 

Look for contacts at EVERY event. 

Simply put, my friend, and I mean no disrespect by any of

this to anyone, if you sit around and wait for ads to bring in

gigs for you – you will starve!!!

Activity is the name of the game!  YOU need to create the

success you deserve.  Nobody’s course, nobody’s ad and

nobody’s act will do it for you. 

Yes, I believe you should get everything you can.  Use it. 

Learn from it all - in and out of the magic biz.  But it all

comes down to- “The one who works the most, works the

most!”  

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3.  Quotes of the Month:

“You do not want to be considered just the best of the best. 

You want to be considered the only one who does what you do.”

--Jerry Garcia

“Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. 

It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”

--Jeremy Kitson

“It only takes one person to change your life – you.”

--Ruth Casey

“You’ve got to get up every morning with a smile on your

face, and show the world all the love in your heart.  Then

people gonna treat you better.  You’re gonna find, yes, you

will, that you’re beautiful as you feel.”

--Carole King

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4.  Show BUSINESS:

Here’s a little sample of one of the routines I use in my shows. 

This is from my book, “The Successful Family Entertainer –

This is the one they talk about!

The Gene Anderson Paper Tear:

Very possibly the greatest trick in magic!

I absolutely love this trick!  This has been in every show

of mine for the past five years.  I won’t tip how to do it

here but many folks have asked for my patter.  I use two

different scripts depending on the age of the audience.

The positioning for this is at the beginning of the show and

really makes people sit-up and take notice.  They will be

much more attentive after seeing this!

If you don’t do Gene Anderson’s Paper Tear, I recommend

the new video on the subject available at your local dealer. 

Both of these sets of patter are delivered very “tongue-in-

cheek”.

For the younger set…

After having them release some energy by getting them

yelling and screaming, I go into Bob Markwood’s bit of

having them say, “Awww” when the trick is over and “yeah”,

when I say I have another trick.  (You can find this idea in

“Poof, You’re a Frog.”)

“Boy, you guys are awesome!  This is going to be fun!

Well, the next thing I brought to show you is actually

breaking a magician’s rule.  You see, magicians never tell

you how they do their tricks.  I never thought that was very

fair so I’m going to use this newspaper to teach you how

every trick in magic is done! (Believe me; you will have

their undivided attention at this point!)

 You see, every time you see me, or any other magician do

a trick, what you think you’re seeing is not actually happening. 

For instance, right here it looks as though I am ripping up

this newspaper. (Rip) 

Doesn’t it look like I ripped it?  Sure it does.

But this is what we call in magic, an illusion.  You see, I’m

only making you think that I am ripping it. (Rip)

What’s so cool about this is that it even sounds as though

I’m ripping it.  Listen, I’ll do it nice and loud. (Rip)  Isn’t

that amazing?

So I’m fooling your eyes as well as your ears into thinking

I’m tearing this up. (Rip)

But I’m not, it’s just an illusion!

Let me prove to you that I didn’t really rip this.  All I need

are the right magic words and we all know today that the

magic words are, __________.  Of course, and you can all

see that it really was just an illusion! (Restore)

That tricks over…  But I have another trick!!!”

For older kids and adults (based on James Lewis’ wonderful

Professor’s Nightmare Routine!)…

“Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Eric Paul,

and of course you all know yours. I am here to bring a little

magic to the evening.

Many of you will be asking yourself, ‘How is it done?’ 

And I’ll tell you right up front.  The illusions you will see

tonight are only happening by two means.  One is what we

prestidigitators call sleight-of-hand.  That’s when I do

something tricky with my fingers.  Similar to what you just

saw.

The other method is much more fascinating.  It’s what we

call misdirection, or I like to refer to it as mass hypnosis. 

And that’s what I’ll demonstrate using this newspaper.

On the count of three, you will believe that I am ripping this

newspaper.  But in reality, it will be an illusion.  It will not

actually be happening, you will be under a hypnotic trance.

One, (rip)

 two, (rip)

and three. (rip)

Doesn’t it appear as though I have ripped this newspaper?

(rip) 

Indeed it does.  And do you know what that means?  That

means you are all now—hypnotized!

You will enjoy my show!  You will have lot’s of fun here

tonight!

But I will now release you from the spell and you will not

remember a thing but you will want to applaud wildly!

And that will also happen on the count of one,

Two,

Three!!! (restore)

It’s all just an illusion!”

Take your bow!!!

Note that I only do four tears when presenting this instead

of the five tears the directions call for.  Making that third

long tear as described in the manuscript really leaves the

gimmick a little too open for me.

Many times I perform almost surrounded and I can’t risk

exposing any single bit of a trick this good.  I also bow the

paper inward as I’m ripping it to cover even more. 

Occasionally, I take the first sheet after making the first

tear and bring it to the back to cover up even more.

I realize none of this will make sense if you don’t already

do the trick or own the manuscript or video.  Honestly, that’s

the way it should be.  Mr. Anderson put a lot of time in this

one and he deserves the purchase!

One last tip, I use 3M spray glue to make my papers.  It’s

much, much faster than rubber cement and I find it holds better. 

Just be sure to keep your nozzle clean because it will stick to

areas you don’t want glued.  I typically have 10-20 pre-made

and in my car with the glue and I restock as needed on the

way to my next show.   

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5.  Resources You Can Use:

Are You a Member?

If you are reading this, you are a member already!

Find out what your benefits are here:

Theater Show Booking System

This is quickly becoming my favorite.  What I like the most

is the success folks are having by running it.  Not to mention,

it’s been my bread and butter:

Jack Turk – Master Marketer:

If you didn’t know, my friend, Jack Turk, took over Dave

Dee’s business.  He is doing a wonderful job and is an

incredible marketer and magician.  You should check out

his massive site:

Success Strategies for the Restaurant Performer:

It is no secret that most of us have done or are doing some

sort of restaurant work.  It is high profile and steady income

that is unbeatable in our industry.

My friend, DJ Ehlert, is a full-time pro that has completely

exploited this market to it’s fullest.  His course is by far the

most exhaustive study I’ve ever seen and I have seen most

of it because I still do a ton of restaurant work.

If you do it now or have any interest in it at all, you owe it

to yourself to check out:

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6.  Fun Stuff:

All those who believe in psychokinesis, raise my hand.

Ok, so what’s the speed of dark?

Why do psychics ask for your name?

A conclusion is the place where you get tired of thinking.

The problem with the gene pool is there is no lifeguard.

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That’s it for this month <first>. 

Don’t forget that if you are missing any back issues they

are available online at:

We’ll see you next year and keep your questions coming to

Give them more than they expect,

EP

P.S.  I’ll be sharing some more show tips throughout the week! 

Stay tuned…

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