I’ve been performing loads of shows recently for the holiday season and I have finally come to a point that I never thought I would reach. I am officially burnt out. I love performing magic and mentalism. I really do. However, over the past few weeks I have been bummed out by how much disrespect the art seems to garner. From people forgetting to cut me a check to hecklers during my stage shows, I’ve experienced it all:
- A company decided to hand out prizes and have presentations while I performed walk around, even after I asked them numerous times prior to the show to ensure that I wouldn’t have to compete with somebody holding the mic!
- A visit from “Santa Clause” put my entire show on hold at a childrens Christmas party even though I was told he wouldn’t show up while I was there.
- One show was done for only 10 guests as the remaining 40 of them had yet to show up
- Another show had one table of drunken office members hollering out obscenities and shouts of “this show is stupid” were constant. This disrupted the other 10 tables that were authentically interested in the show.
The only thing that keeps me afloat are the few instances in which people are really touched by my performances. For example, a little girl at a Christmas party that was completely enthralled by what I did. There was also a gentleman that was so interested in what I did that he gave me a one man standing ovation after my performance at his office holiday party. Situations like that keep me wanting to come back.
I’ve even experienced a lack of excitement in performing recently. I just don’t have the enthusiasm that I usually do. Perhaps it’s from the sheer amount of performing I’ve been doing recently. It could also be the fact that I may need to introduce fresh material to keep myself entertained. I think in the new year, in order to combat the burn out, I need to do two things:
- Increase my prices. By doing this, this will ensure that people who hire me will be a bit more interested in my services and ensure that I am treated as a professional. If I charged $1000 for a show, I would be treated differently than if I just charged $250. (Santa would have to wait his turn dammit!)
- Get New Material. Part of the reason that I am getting lackluster responses from some people could be that I am not as enthusiastic about my old material. I think that if I had new material to perform it would help me stay enthusiastic and keep my performance fresh.
