Abby
We have never met, are you going to the SAM 4 meeting tonight? I've seen your ad at partypop and I liked it.

Hey Al, Collegeville is right around the corner from me. When you see me, flag me down and introduce yourself.

No SAM for me this month. I'm hoping to get to the next Super Sunday if a gig doesn't land there.

Abby

Paying to audition for a gig--any gig--would be at the top of my "NFW" list.

NFW List! I like that!

I think perhaps we are looking at this too narrowly. Audition or not. Why not explain that while you understand that many dance schools, etc. will be paying to audition you are a professional performer and this is not an after school program. Should they wish to have you at their function you would love to be there and you hope they understand with the rising costs of gas a small travel bursary would be needed.
I have done this often and they always give me a small travel allowance regardless where I am coming from. It covers gas, a dry cleaning, and a shoe shine perhaps but that's my request for most gigs like this.
Jay

Curious on how much the fee is.

Here is your broken record but...ditto to the above comments. Free shows lead to more free shows. I have a set amount of shows or time to donate each year. Some of these can lead to good press as well. Just do not expect to get anything directly from it.

As is with most advertising it is all about repetition.

Daniel, the fee is a whopping $5.00 but the amount isn't the issue here. I'm one of those broken records. I steadily preach against free shows except for select personal charities and where personal gain is guaranteed...which is the largely overlooked point on this thread, I think.

The local Arts Councils refuse to recognize magic as a performance art - therefore, we are generally neither invited nor eligible to participate in local art council events. Normally, I would laugh this invitation off as "You want me to pay to do what...?" However, participating in this event may give us a bit of leverage to force a crack in the very door that has been closed to us; as in "We're good enough to support your fundraiser but we're not good enough to perform at your next Arts in the Meadow event? Let's talk, Bucko." This was the basis of my original question, albeit rather poorly stated.

It isn't so much "Do I pay the fee to audition?" It's more "Is it worth breaking the 'free show' taboo AND pay the insulting audition fee to get an artistic foot in the door of the local arts councils?"

Frankly, I still agree with the general sentiment here - once they have what they want from us, they'll go right back to ignoring us and treating us like subclass heathens. I just wanted to see if anyone had a logical, opposing argument. Apparently...Not.

It sounds like you want some exposure, if you are not booked already for that night I would say ... Go for it. When I first started, I used to do up to 5 hours of magic at a restaurant for a few tips and ONE free meal. I needed the exposure and it did help to get my name out there.

Just go into it with the understanding that the odds are you will not get any DIRECT bookings from it.

Exposure I don't need - I'm one of the top children's entertainers in my region. I'm a long way from being a celebrity, but I'm as busy as I want to be all on word-of-mouth and cultivating prior clients.

No, this is about that niggling annoyance that the Arts Council snoots won't recognize those of us seriously and professionally into magic as legitimate performance artists. This keeps us out of state and local grant programs, theater associations, sponsored school educational programs and the like. It's about being recognized as a professional artist.

If I play their game and pay the fee, I'm 90% sure that I'll be included in the showcase - but my concern is what comes after. On the one hand and logically, by helping them reach their goals and produce a fantastic showcase, I'll have some leverage and favors to draw upon. I'll have a foot in the door.

On the other hand and more realistically, once the fundraiser is done and THEIR needs are met, we're likely to be tossed back into the talent pool as little fish no longer needed.

So, is it worth the effort to extend the battle to prove that magic is a viable and worthy performance art? My evaluation: No...so, let 'em fund their programs without our "unprofessional" help.

Thanks for the thoughts, Daniel, and everyone else. I just can't seem to explain what I'm trying to get across here.

The councils will not recognize magic shows as part of the arts rather they recognize it as a commercial art due to the commercial nature of what we do. But there is a loophole. Doug Henning found it and you can too. You need to write a play about a magician that possibly includes new pieces you would want in your show. Then the show can be submitted to receive grants or funding. They fund plays about magic, just not 'shows' about magic. There way of being ***s I suppose.

Anywho, **** em, let them have a bad showing with all the "talent" that bought into them.

Jay

I forgot about the part where they will not recognize magic........yea.......if you do not need the exposure.....forget it

Thanks for posting this...I have never heard of someone in this situation.

Sheer genius, Jay! I know Henning's history and I couldn't see it. You have made a brilliant suggestion - and probably exactly the type of solution I was blundering around in the dark trying to find. Thank you. Think OUTSIDE of the box - change the parameters - turn their own rules back against them. <Slapping forehead> Of Course!

Daniel, thank YOU and everyone else for your insight and for pushing me forward.

Put a video in the mail and don't worry about the $5