March 6, 2025 • 9 mins
Jonah Babins dives into the world of public shows, sharing his insights on why every magician should consider doing them.
The post Public Shows and Upcoming Tour Dates appeared first on Discourse in Magic.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello my friends, and welcome to abrand new episode of Discourse in Magic.
My name is Jonah Bains, and todaywe are talking about public shows
specifically why you should orshouldn't potentially do one.
And then I'm gonna mention all ofthe places that I'm going to be
around north America in the next.
(00:21):
Call it two months ifwe're in the same town.
Would love to see you, and a littlebit of info about a special event
happening at the end of April.
So let's get started.
First.
Why are we talking about public shows?
Well, a lot of people want toproduce their first public show,
(00:41):
and I heard an amazing quote from afriend of mine, a magician, a great
one here in Toronto, James Allen,and he says, everybody can put on.
Three public shows.
And what he means by that is afteryou sort of go through all your
friends and all of your family, nowis when it becomes hard to market and
produce shows for the public and selltickets and run ads and all of that.
(01:04):
So this.
Is not an episode about that.
This is a simple piece of advice foryou if you are a gigging magician.
Maybe you perform gigs, small, big,maybe you're starting to, this is
a very simple advice to produce.
One public show a year.
Now, if you're nervous, what Irecommend you do is book a very small
(01:27):
space, like 30 or 50 or 60 seats.
There's a lot of spaces that wouldaccommodate this, and they're often
very, very reasonably priced to do.
But you're probably wonderingwhy should you do a public show?
I'm gonna give you three reasonswhy you should do one, and.
I think the last reason isprobably the most important.
(01:49):
So the first is, it is an easyway to get good promo material.
You can get footage of youdoing whatever it is that you
want footage of yourself doing.
On stage you can do that mingling.
You can do that as long as you pick aplace that looks great, you can turn this
into promo material that you can use.
To book more gigs in the future.
(02:11):
The second reason why you may want todo a public show is because if you're
doing private events and corporateevents, then your friends and family
never get a chance to see you perform.
And when they wanna book you and tell 'emit's like $2,000 or something, you know?
Oftentimes it doesn't makesense for a small family or a
group or something like that.
So this is a really good opportunity foryour friends and family who are pumped.
(02:33):
They're your fans.
They're excited for the thingsthat you're doing to come
out and actually support you.
You can get a lot of friends andfamily to come to this show, and
I recommend that every magician.
If you want to perform more or gig more,do one public show in your hometown.
All of the people that know aboutyou, they want an opportunity to
(02:55):
see you and support you, and thisis a really easy way to do it.
So reason number one, easyway to get great promo.
Hire a photographer or videographeror both to get some footage that
you can use to market yourself.
Number two, you got a whole lot offriends and family that want to support
you, but they don't have a way to do it.
And then number three, this isthe most important reason, is
(03:18):
it is a great thing to offer.
Free tickets to past clientsas well as potential clients.
A lot of past clients who havesupported you, this is a great
reason for you to give them alittle thank you, a little bonus.
And potential clients.
This is not only people that are inthe pipeline right now, but also people
(03:38):
that have maybe said no in the past.
These are great people to givesome free tickets to so that they
can see you in action and decidethat, you know what, maybe we do.
Want to hire him this year,and this is a great reason.
Most importantly, thisis why this is the best.
This is a great reason foryou to reach out and say hi.
A lot of the times that we reachout to past clients and potential
(04:01):
clients, it's to ask for something.
No, hire me for this or book mefor that, or, do you have any event
coming up or anything like that?
But this is a really great reason toreach out and give, to actually have
something that you can give to a potentialclient to tell them, you know, Hey I may.
Have something fun for you.
I have something free for you.
Come and grab a seat.
(04:22):
Come and grab a spot.
Let me know if you're interested.
And the best part of this is if youbooked a small space, like 50 seats,
then maybe you only sell 25 of them,and the other 25 are free for a couple
of past clients and potential clients.
Then all of a sudden you canannounce the show is sold out.
There's a bunch of people that are stillchomping at the bit, then you can announce
(04:43):
another one in a couple months or dotwo in a night or something like that.
So hopefully this gives you abit of motivation, but also like
reason or information to do yourfirst public show or maybe your
first public show in a while.
There are bars and theaters andrestaurants and spaces and you
know, lots of different placesthat would love to host you.
(05:06):
And a lot of the times, if it's a smallspace that's like 30 to 60 people, they'll
let you do it for free so that they cansell drinks and potentially sell food.
So that is why you should do onepublic show a year in your home town.
Now, speaking of shows I'm going to be ina few cities this month doing some shows
(05:27):
and visiting some Mastermind members.
So I wanna tell you where I'm gonnabe in case you're gonna be the same
thing so we can hang out, get a coffee.
Get a beer, something like that.
First, at the end of this week, Marchseven to nine, I am going to be in
Connecticut for Mcon, a really, reallygreat magic convention that I'm going
to be performing and lecturing at.
(05:49):
And the day before, on March 6th,I'm gonna be in Boston doing a
fun spot at the Boston Magic Lab.
So if you're in Bostoncome to see that show.
And if you're in Connecticut.
Come to Mcon.
It's a lovely convention.
We'll get to hang out and and chill.
So that's number one.
Number two, March 18 to 20.
I am going to be in Austin, Texas.
Probably my favorite US city.
(06:12):
Or up there, top few.
Anyways, love that city.
I'm gonna be there doing ashow with Michael Rogerson.
It's gonna be awesome.
Things are being announced inthe next couple of days, but
I would love to see you there.
We can hang out, you know.
Get a beer whatever people doin Austin, go on sixth Street.
I guess at the end of the month,March 25th to 28th, I'm gonna be in
Montreal doing a show with John Elli.
(06:33):
That's gonna be a super fun show.
So if you live anywhere nearMontreal, come see the show.
Hang out and let's get abeer or something like that.
Then in the second week of April,April 8th to 11th, I will be in St.
Louis doing a show with Josh Widener.
That'll be super fun.
And his shows always sell out.
So if you're interested in it, pleasecome and see the show and let's hang out.
(06:56):
And then at the very end of April intoMay, April 28th to May 2nd is L Summit.
Now lemme just explain what L Summit is.
This is a. Trip to Mexico just formembers of the Mastermind, and it's
three days of absolute awesome fun.
Three and a half days, I guess,of magic business workshops.
(07:19):
So we're working and there's learningabout how to scale your magic
business and add 50 to a hundredKA year to your magic business.
There's also fun, you know, there'spools in the ocean and a whole lot of
fun to be had, and it's hosted at an allinclusive resort, which is just amazing.
Food is great, drinks are great.
All of that.
Now, I'll give you the bad news.
I'm gonna give you the good news.
(07:40):
The bad news is this is just an eventfor Mastermind members, so this is not
something that I'm selling tickets to.
This is just for the awesomemembers of the Mastermind.
The good news is this is a really, reallygreat reason to join the Mastermind, to
get a year of our coaching and supportand tools and all of the things to
help you scale the business as well as.
(08:01):
An amazing trip that isall part of the same deal.
So if you are interested in attendingL Summit, then please send me an email
to magic@torontomagiccompany.com withthe Title L Summit and we can chat and
see if you're a fit for the Mastermindand see if you're a fit for the summit.
Otherwise, maybe I will see you in Boston,Connecticut, Austin, Montreal, or St.
(08:24):
Louis.
And if not, I love you.
Anyways, there's some amazinginterviews coming out later this
month, and this is my note to you toput on your first or your first this
year public show in your hometown.
I used to do tons of shows in Toronto.
Now I'm probably gonna do oneto two public shows a year.
(08:45):
They're gonna be bigger, moreawesome, more fun and stuff
for friends, family, peers.
Past clients, potential clients, andfilling the room full of awesome people.
So hope you like this episode.
I hope you'll learn something.
I hope I see you on theroad in the next 60 days.
Thanks so much for being here,and I'll see you next Thursday.
(09:06):
Peace.
Hello my friends, and welcome to abrand new episode of Discourse in Magic.
My name is Jonah Bains, and todaywe are talking about public shows
specifically why you should orshouldn't potentially do one.
And then I'm gonna mention all ofthe places that I'm going to be
around north America in the next.
(00:21):
Call it two months ifwe're in the same town.
Would love to see you, and a littlebit of info about a special event
happening at the end of April.
So let's get started.
First.
Why are we talking about public shows?
Well, a lot of people want toproduce their first public show,
(00:41):
and I heard an amazing quote from afriend of mine, a magician, a great
one here in Toronto, James Allen,and he says, everybody can put on.
Three public shows.
And what he means by that is afteryou sort of go through all your
friends and all of your family, nowis when it becomes hard to market and
produce shows for the public and selltickets and run ads and all of that.
(01:04):
So this.
Is not an episode about that.
This is a simple piece of advice foryou if you are a gigging magician.
Maybe you perform gigs, small, big,maybe you're starting to, this is
a very simple advice to produce.
One public show a year.
Now, if you're nervous, what Irecommend you do is book a very small
(01:27):
space, like 30 or 50 or 60 seats.
There's a lot of spaces that wouldaccommodate this, and they're often
very, very reasonably priced to do.
But you're probably wonderingwhy should you do a public show?
I'm gonna give you three reasonswhy you should do one, and.
I think the last reason isprobably the most important.
(01:49):
So the first is, it is an easyway to get good promo material.
You can get footage of youdoing whatever it is that you
want footage of yourself doing.
On stage you can do that mingling.
You can do that as long as you pick aplace that looks great, you can turn this
into promo material that you can use.
To book more gigs in the future.
(02:11):
The second reason why you may want todo a public show is because if you're
doing private events and corporateevents, then your friends and family
never get a chance to see you perform.
And when they wanna book you and tell 'emit's like $2,000 or something, you know?
Oftentimes it doesn't makesense for a small family or a
group or something like that.
So this is a really good opportunity foryour friends and family who are pumped.
(02:33):
They're your fans.
They're excited for the thingsthat you're doing to come
out and actually support you.
You can get a lot of friends andfamily to come to this show, and
I recommend that every magician.
If you want to perform more or gig more,do one public show in your hometown.
All of the people that know aboutyou, they want an opportunity to
(02:55):
see you and support you, and thisis a really easy way to do it.
So reason number one, easyway to get great promo.
Hire a photographer or videographeror both to get some footage that
you can use to market yourself.
Number two, you got a whole lot offriends and family that want to support
you, but they don't have a way to do it.
And then number three, this isthe most important reason, is
(03:18):
it is a great thing to offer.
Free tickets to past clientsas well as potential clients.
A lot of past clients who havesupported you, this is a great
reason for you to give them alittle thank you, a little bonus.
And potential clients.
This is not only people that are inthe pipeline right now, but also people
(03:38):
that have maybe said no in the past.
These are great people to givesome free tickets to so that they
can see you in action and decidethat, you know what, maybe we do.
Want to hire him this year,and this is a great reason.
Most importantly, thisis why this is the best.
This is a great reason foryou to reach out and say hi.
A lot of the times that we reachout to past clients and potential
(04:01):
clients, it's to ask for something.
No, hire me for this or book mefor that, or, do you have any event
coming up or anything like that?
But this is a really great reason toreach out and give, to actually have
something that you can give to a potentialclient to tell them, you know, Hey I may.
Have something fun for you.
I have something free for you.
Come and grab a seat.
(04:22):
Come and grab a spot.
Let me know if you're interested.
And the best part of this is if youbooked a small space, like 50 seats,
then maybe you only sell 25 of them,and the other 25 are free for a couple
of past clients and potential clients.
Then all of a sudden you canannounce the show is sold out.
There's a bunch of people that are stillchomping at the bit, then you can announce
(04:43):
another one in a couple months or dotwo in a night or something like that.
So hopefully this gives you abit of motivation, but also like
reason or information to do yourfirst public show or maybe your
first public show in a while.
There are bars and theaters andrestaurants and spaces and you
know, lots of different placesthat would love to host you.
(05:06):
And a lot of the times, if it's a smallspace that's like 30 to 60 people, they'll
let you do it for free so that they cansell drinks and potentially sell food.
So that is why you should do onepublic show a year in your home town.
Now, speaking of shows I'm going to be ina few cities this month doing some shows
(05:27):
and visiting some Mastermind members.
So I wanna tell you where I'm gonnabe in case you're gonna be the same
thing so we can hang out, get a coffee.
Get a beer, something like that.
First, at the end of this week, Marchseven to nine, I am going to be in
Connecticut for Mcon, a really, reallygreat magic convention that I'm going
to be performing and lecturing at.
(05:49):
And the day before, on March 6th,I'm gonna be in Boston doing a
fun spot at the Boston Magic Lab.
So if you're in Bostoncome to see that show.
And if you're in Connecticut.
Come to Mcon.
It's a lovely convention.
We'll get to hang out and and chill.
So that's number one.
Number two, March 18 to 20.
I am going to be in Austin, Texas.
Probably my favorite US city.
(06:12):
Or up there, top few.
Anyways, love that city.
I'm gonna be there doing ashow with Michael Rogerson.
It's gonna be awesome.
Things are being announced inthe next couple of days, but
I would love to see you there.
We can hang out, you know.
Get a beer whatever people doin Austin, go on sixth Street.
I guess at the end of the month,March 25th to 28th, I'm gonna be in
Montreal doing a show with John Elli.
(06:33):
That's gonna be a super fun show.
So if you live anywhere nearMontreal, come see the show.
Hang out and let's get abeer or something like that.
Then in the second week of April,April 8th to 11th, I will be in St.
Louis doing a show with Josh Widener.
That'll be super fun.
And his shows always sell out.
So if you're interested in it, pleasecome and see the show and let's hang out.
(06:56):
And then at the very end of April intoMay, April 28th to May 2nd is L Summit.
Now lemme just explain what L Summit is.
This is a. Trip to Mexico just formembers of the Mastermind, and it's
three days of absolute awesome fun.
Three and a half days, I guess,of magic business workshops.
(07:19):
So we're working and there's learningabout how to scale your magic
business and add 50 to a hundredKA year to your magic business.
There's also fun, you know, there'spools in the ocean and a whole lot of
fun to be had, and it's hosted at an allinclusive resort, which is just amazing.
Food is great, drinks are great.
All of that.
Now, I'll give you the bad news.
I'm gonna give you the good news.
(07:40):
The bad news is this is just an eventfor Mastermind members, so this is not
something that I'm selling tickets to.
This is just for the awesomemembers of the Mastermind.
The good news is this is a really, reallygreat reason to join the Mastermind, to
get a year of our coaching and supportand tools and all of the things to
help you scale the business as well as.
(08:01):
An amazing trip that isall part of the same deal.
So if you are interested in attendingL Summit, then please send me an email
to magic@torontomagiccompany.com withthe Title L Summit and we can chat and
see if you're a fit for the Mastermindand see if you're a fit for the summit.
Otherwise, maybe I will see you in Boston,Connecticut, Austin, Montreal, or St.
(08:24):
Louis.
And if not, I love you.
Anyways, there's some amazinginterviews coming out later this
month, and this is my note to you toput on your first or your first this
year public show in your hometown.
I used to do tons of shows in Toronto.
Now I'm probably gonna do oneto two public shows a year.
(08:45):
They're gonna be bigger, moreawesome, more fun and stuff
for friends, family, peers.
Past clients, potential clients, andfilling the room full of awesome people.
So hope you like this episode.
I hope you'll learn something.
I hope I see you on theroad in the next 60 days.
Thanks so much for being here,and I'll see you next Thursday.
(09:06):
Peace.
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