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- Work in an exciting and creative field of performance where you'll build the skills to amaze and create wonder in others
- It can be difficult to make this your full time career, but there are opportunities for the highly skilled
- You'll need creativity, excellent presentation skills, and dedication to learning your craft
As a professional magician, you'll be paid to perform illusions at events, as part of shows, or for private parties.
DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES
Depending on your skills and what kind of work you are looking for, you might specialise in a particular type of magic, like:
- Sleight of hand
- Close up magic
- Street magic
- Stage magic
- Psychological magic or illusions
For corporate events and private parties, magicians are often hired to mingle with guests, moving from table to table doing close up tricks, whereas for stage shows and TV, more theatrical illusions or psychological magic are often used as they can be seen by large audiences.
DAY-TO-DAY ENVIRONMENT
Hours can be long and you'll often need to work in the evenings and at weekends.
You'll need
Becoming a professional magician requires patience, dedication to your craft, creativity, and an element of talent.
Magicians are performers, so anything that helps you build your skills at engaging people and presenting to the public will help you polish your performance will be useful. Drama and theatre clubs are a good place to build these skills.
You'll also need to learn how to perform magic, there are lots of courses and online resources that can help you with this, but it's also a really good option to join a local magic club where'll you'll meet and learn from other magicians.
Most aspiring magicians want to join the Magic Circle, the worldwide standard for professional magicians. They offer a range of resources to help you work towards membership including through their Young Magician's Club and their apprenticeship scheme.
To become a member you'll need to have an interview and pass a performance based exam.
CAREER PROSPECTS
Many magicians work part time and have another job, but it is possible to make this your full time career with dedication to building your skills.