Perth Magic

Professional or Amateur?

The question of whether or not a magician is a professional or amateur comes up often. Moreso among magicians than among the audiences who watch. As far as our audiences are concerned, a magician is a magician. As a performer, you are either a good one or a bad one to them. Uncle Harry doing card tricks at a family function may be able to entertain far better than a professional. Don’t laugh! It’s been known to happen!

The simple definition is this. Anyone who accepts a fee for magic is a professional. That doesn’t mean that when you do a free show you suddenly stop being a professional. Your income being derived from the performance of magic makes you a pro. Some distinguish between full-time professionals and part-time by whether or not they have a "day job" in addition to performing. That’s reasonable. It also helps to differentiate between those who are at a point in their performance level to take the leap into full time entertainment as a career. Thus, adding full-time or part-time to your description can be of help in self identifying your level of magical involvement.

The amateur is much easier to identify. In fact, it’s most often a self identification. You hear it often at club meetings. "Oh, I’m not a pro. I’m an amateur." There’s almost always pride in their voices as they declare their place in magic. It’s a credit for a club such as the one in Perth that there’s comfort and welcome for both the professional and amateur.

In the end, it really makes little difference where you see your place in magic. Love of the craft is what brings us together at club meetings, informal gatherings and magic events. But magicians are a hard audience to please. Magicians watch both for the technical ability of the performer and the entertainment value of the show. For the pro, feedback from magicians about their show is always a key element to the growth of the performer both in skill and in creativity. I can’t even try to tell you how many times I’ve been asked for an opinion on a show or segment of a show. Or how much feedback I have given and received.

Whether professional or amateur, magicians all need to know how they are doing. Be honest and tell them. Are you a pro or amateur? It’s up to you to decide. Give it some thought.