How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Magician?
The number one question new event planners ask us is How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Magician? This question makes perfect sense from anyone working with a budget. In this article we’ll look at the rates for low-end performers, mid-range performers, and high-end performers. Let’s dive into it!
The problem is that there are so many variables that go into answering a question like that, the only range to adequately answer the question is: Anywhere from $0 to millions of dollars.
The general ranges to answer “how much does it cost to hire a magician” (per event)…
- Amateur – $100 to $750
- Professional- $750 to $3500
- High End- $3500 to $15,000+
Let’s take a closer look at what these different levels of professionals represent…
Cost to Hire an Amateur Magician
Amateur magicians tend to be part-time professionals or hobbiests, and rarely perform in a paid setting. For this reason, their experience as a professional is limited… this may result in a lack of preparedness, uncertainty, etc. An amateur magician could be a great fit for anyone working on a budget, but can be riskier without a guarantee of quality. The challenge is that amatuer performers don’t advertise themselves and can be difficult to find. One good place to look is a local magic club.
Cost to Hire a Profesional Magician?
Professional magicans are full-time performers with a couple years of experience. By nature, this means that they have a great deal of experience and are able to perform confidently. These performers are common enough that you’ll likely be able to find someone relatively local. Full-time performers are generally fairly easy to find with a quick Google search.
Cost to Hire a High-End Magician?
These performers are full-time professionals with something exceptional to offer that makes them irreplaceable. They’ve found a way to distinguish themselves through television appearances, celebrity status, a strong social media following, exeptional professionalism, or something else. Performers at this level can offer insightful guidance to help you ensure the event is a success. These performers are sought out across the world and compensated as such.
What Else Affects How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Magician?
In many cases, a performer’s rate will change depending on the event. Some of the factors that can affect the fee are…
- Type of Performance
- Travel Costs
- Performance Duration
- Audience Size
- Customization
- Event Date and Time
Type of Performance
There are several performance types, but for our purposes the general rule is this… Strolling Entertainment is less expensive than a Stage Show.
The reason for this is simple… strolling entertainment is simpler. For strolling entertainment the performer goes from group to group, performing the same few routines throughout the night. Stage shows however, require a higher level of preparedness…
To perform a stage show the performer has to arrive before the event to prepare the stage, props, test the microphone, music, etc. The complexity behind a stage shows also means that there are not as many qualified performers able to deliver this type of entertainment.
Virtual shows are just as complex as stage shows, if not more. For this reason, they also represent a higher level of investment.
Travel Costs
To secure the right performer for your event, there may be travel costs involved. As a rule of thumb, travel costs tend to be less than 15% of the performance fee. For example… a $1000 performer may have $150 of travel fees if they are driving a great distance. Another example: a $7,500 performer may have $750 of travel fees which will allow them to travel by air to be at your event.
Performance Duration
For local events, the performer’s time commitment is an important factor. It is often less important for destination events if the event has flown in and has a hotel room. In this article, we’ve given some general rates that performers charge per event, but many performers opt to charge per hour instead.
Audience Size
Some performers choose to vary their rate based on the audience size. It’s almost like the event host is paying for each person to attend the show. Performances with large audience can require extra preparation from the performer, and generally be more challenging.
Customization
An experienced performer can offer opportunities for customization within the show. It’s not necessary, but can be a fun way to make the experience feel customized to your group. There isn’t a clear rule here… the time required to customize a show may be factored into the performance fee, but some performers simply offer this as a complimentary bonus.
Event Date and Time
It’s a constant truth that some times are busier than others. The weekends tend to be busier for performers with private events, compared to the weekdays where they may have more corporate events. For this reason, there may be a premium for certain days depending on when the performer is most busy. Similarly, December is consistently a busy time given that it is the holiday season. The two weekends in December are especially popular dates that experienced performers will charge a premium for.
Who Should I Hire?
This is the real question that event planners should be asking! This article addresses the question in terms of budget…
Under $750: We recommend not hiring a performer, because the only option available at this price point are amateurs. The reason we don’t recommend hiring an amatuer is simple… When a performer is working your corporate event, they represent your brand. An amateur magician can not offer the experience and guarantee of quality necessary to properly represent your company.
$750-$3500: In this range you should be able to hire a professional performer to do strolling magic, though we don’t necessarily recommend going with the cheapest option.
$3,500-$15,000+: In this range you’ll find performers who are able to deliver a great stage show, strolling magic, customization, and more.
Choosing the Right Performer
Aside from budget, there are a couple of ways to choose a performer. In fact, in many cases you won’t know a perfomer’s fee until you reach out to them. In order to start reviewing different performers, we recommend reviewing each person’s website, reviews, and video. Hopefully, you’ll get the sense that that these people are professionals, who take pride in their brands- as they will take pride in representing your company during your event. If you get a good feeling from someone’s website, reviews, and videos, then feel free to give them a call and ask them (or their booking agent) about their availability/pricing.
Conclusion
The biggest challenge behind writing this article is that here is no rule about how performers price themselves. Each person is an individual, and may choose to price themselves differently than the figures suggested in this article. The most consistent pattern is that High-quality performers charge more. If you’re planning an important gala with valuable clients, city officials, or other VIPs, then securing the right performer to guarantee the success of your event could be a 5-figure investment. On the flipside, a nonprofit organization may find a performer that is sympathetic to their mission, and willing to donate their services to the cause.
