Restaurant Residencies: Magicians Playbook

Are you looking for a great way to market yourself to potential clients while also booking in guaranteed weekly performance time?

Let’s talk about residencies.

Over the past few years, I’ve held residencies at restaurants in London, France, and even at a mini-golf spot in Australia!

Some of the biggest names in magic started with a residency, such as Fay Presto at Langan’s in London or Chris Kenner at Illusions Restaurant in Indiana.

In fact, I owe most of what I learned about residencies to Fay. She is responsible for practically inventing the concept of magic residencies in London.

Watching Fay perform at London institution Langan’s Brasserie on a Thursday night teaches you all there is to know about performing in that environment.

When lockdown struck, and many of London’s restaurants closed their doors, Fay was the first person I called for advice. Following her guidance of just working for tips, I was presented an offer to the restaurant that they couldn’t refuse and managed to hang on to that weekly performance time.

Why Perform Magic at a Restaurant?

Residencies are guaranteed performance time. While the fee may be nominal (or non-existent if you’re working for tips), the benefit comes from the frequency and ability to put yourself in front of prospective clients.

Residencies will also make you a stronger performer. If you can handle the often noisy, cramped, slightly chaotic conditions that come with a restaurant at peak time, then you can handle most private gigs, which will seem a breeze in comparison!

Both table space and time are limited. Be prepared only to have time for one trick, so make it a great one.

How to Get a Residency as a Magician?

Restaurants do not need magic.

Whilst that’s probably an odd thing to say, think about the last time you went to a restaurant. Was it to try a new dessert? Or because it was a local place you knew would have a table? Entertainment rarely comes into the question.

So, to secure a residency, you need to be offering a solution to the restaurant owner.

The solution, entertaining their clientele, may solve many problems.

For example, at peak times (usually Friday or Saturday nights), there might be longer waiting times for food to arrive, and lots of young families or parties may have booked a private dining room for a special occasion.

If you can distract a table of five from realizing their food is fifteen minutes late, then you have done your job. Servers will often send you to that table as soon as they know there’s a problem in the kitchen.

So get on their side and know that’s precisely why you’re there - to make their job easier. In turn, they are usually happy to help you with loading duplicate cards under plates and secrets, placing borrowed rings in desserts, etc.

Finding that first residency may be a numbers game. Before reaching out to every restaurant in your neighborhood, consider which sort of venues might work best for you. Ask yourself: Which gigs are you looking to book? Family shows? Higher-end corporate work? Find the restaurants these clients dine at.

Before approaching, get a feel for the restaurant. Take a walk around your local area on a Friday or Saturday night and see which restaurants are lively.

Do you see queues out the door? What’s the clientele like? Do they already have a DJ? A pianist? Will you be competing with a lot of noise if you were to perform there? What’s the layout of the restaurant? Cramped tables or roomy booths?

All of these questions will help you narrow down a prospective list of target restaurants. It’s these venues that you should focus your attention on.

Your first point of contact ideally needs to be the restaurant owner. While this may be easy at a non-franchised, local spot, it may be trickier with a larger operation.

See if you can find some contact information and pitch yourself directly. There is no conventional path to booking your first residency. Whether it’s hand-delivering professionally printed flyers featuring high-res promo pics or calling ahead to set up a meeting with the manager, keep it brief. Restaurants have a million priorities, and the magician is rarely one of them.

Fay once mentioned that you need to be brought in at the top. If you’re approaching a restaurant via a server, then that is the status you will be given. If you approach the manager or owner and secure your residency through them, then it’s not as easy for them to throw you out on the rubbish heap.

To emphasize this, consider how Fay landed her gig at the prestigious Ned Hotel in London (part of Nick Jones’ Soho House empire).

Fay sat at The Ned every day, waiting for Nick to show up. When he eventually did, she strolled up to him, proclaiming, "I’ve got good news for you, Nick!"

"What’s that?" he replies.

"You’ve just found your new resident magician."

Whilst perhaps not a method that will work for everyone, consider off-the-wall approaches when trying to catch the attention of the top dog.

How Much Should You Charge?

Rarely is it good advice to work for free. But at a restaurant, you may find yourself working solely for tips or being paid a minimal fee by the restaurant after offering them a free trial night.

This trial doesn’t need to be long; an hour or two at most may be enough to give them an idea of the added value you can provide for their clients. On the trial night, I usually invite family or friends to come and watch, acting as regular customers.

A few kind words about your act to the manager as they leave can work wonders. I recommend waiting till after the trial night to discuss a possible fee and schedule.

You won’t be charging the same amount you would for a private gig, trading the fee in return for the frequency of the engagement. Two or three nights a week would be a sweet spot. Often, the restaurant will request that you perform on weekends; however, this may conflict with gigs you’ve booked. It’s a good idea to know a few magicians you can call to cover your residency.

How to Get Gigs From a Residency?

A residency is low-cost, high-reward marketing. There’s no better way to advertise yourself than to perform in person for prospective clients. With limited time at each table, you’ve only got time for your best material.

I’ve performed for couples with an upcoming wedding and families with a birthday party in the diary (none of whom had previously considered booking a magician).

Stock up on business cards, and be sure to ask if the table is celebrating a special occasion. You may find yourself with a newly engaged couple out for a celebratory dinner, or a stag-do, maybe even the start of a week-long birthday party.

I recommend picking up a copy of David Stone’s book Close Up: The Real Secrets of Magic for a treasure trove of brilliant ideas.