Does anyone here name there show for branding purposes?
Ie. instead of someone hiring "you" they're booking a specific
show "starring" you.

For a bad example, "The prestidigitator live! starring tom jones"
vs. "family show $195".

This could allow you to sale different shows easier by referring
to the show instead of yourself, possibly other benefits as well.

Does anyone have thoughts on the subject?

The answer to a very good question is unfortunately it depends.

Obviously on what, is the follow up question and here is an abbreviated answer. Mindoro will probably provide a better more detailed one.

It depends on who you are working for and at what level. If you are doing birthday parties for kids, maybe it is not essential. If you are working a restaurant probably not necessary. Even comedy club level you may not bother too much and still be ok.

Move to high profile venues like theaters or some such place and it does matter. Work as actual corporate work and not just walk around the company 4th of July picnic and it becomes more essential. At fairs yea it would be a good idea.

I can think of exceptions to all these rules by the way. But will a mom hire you and for more money because your show is named? I’m not sure but my first thought is no.

Does that mean you shouldn’t do it? My first thought is also no. I think all performers should have an overall branding strategy that sets them apart from the competition from day one. Maybe it isn’t going to encourage every mom but it will affect some. SO many get away with not doing this. Heck I have survived only because of the relationships I had for 20 years prior to the internet. If I was starting today I’d make a very concerted effort to do exactly this.

Also it helps you to grow. It helps you to guide your decisions as they almost make themselves.

Mindoro and I were working on a project recently and I was not thinking like this at all. I was scattered! Once a focus was brought to the project it made decisions easy. It gave a way to look at things universally through one lense. So for that reason alone it is worth doing. Even trick selection can be done this way! It really is a smart way to do things and although I do it, I wish I did it more.

I think In choosing a name, it’s important to be comfortable with saying it. It has to be something you like because if at all possible you need to stick with it.

I personally think that anytime you are able to say ‘WE’ rather than ‘I’ when talking business can be a good thing. Sometimes, having to say NO can take some of the sole blame off you. For example “We just can’t do that deal right now” sounds like it may not have been your sole decision. And to be clear, I’m not saying you should be afraid of saying NO, but it should be said in a way that doesn’t sound personal. And when dealing with individuals, there are some that will take a no as being personal.

When you speaking for a company or having a partner, it allows you to ‘talk’ it over in place of ‘think’ it over. It also puts you in a position to be able to do the good cop bad cop thing when need be. I know when my wife and I owned and operated the daycare center when a parent got behind on their payment, I could always count on her saying, “he just won’t let you wait that long on your tuition” when all along she had more say so about the payments than I did. The same was true when I had partners in my others businesses. Its always best for the bad guy to be the one less seen.

If I were still doing shows today, I would probably use the same name I did years ago, Tom Boleware & Company. It made the illusion show sound larger. Of course, I did have several assistants that proved it wasn’t just me in the show. I did a lot of fundraising shows and having a sponsor's name, as well as a company name, really helped with raising funds.

But then later when I was doing only kidshows the name still worked because I had puppets in the show.

I do think the kidshow performers can be more flexible in choosing a name. Even a name like The Magic of John Doe would probably work fine for anybody with the name John Doe.

Tom

I agree this has much to do about the level you operate on (consumer vs. professional), the performance markets you are serving, and the positioning and branding you desire. As Danny said when this is determined in the Foundational level so many other related things nearly answer or work out automatically themselves.

If you are deciding you are the brand and it is your name you want them to remember (Copperfield, Doug Henning, Sigfreid & Roy, etc.) then you must put great effort into promoting your name and face and exactly what it is you do. Without telling what you do it is easy for them to say who the he** is John Doe and what does he do?

Where a show name such as The Illusionists allows you to position and promote the name as well as what it is with an easy to understand name. It is not about the person or persons in the show, but rather the show itself. You book and promote the show not the person.

Many performers have an ego that will not allow this and I always feel they do not see the greater picture. Ego can prevent this.

Instead of having levels of packages, you can have different name performances, each with their own features and benefits making these offerings on different levels.

I have used show names for decades for several reasons. Now that I have been cutting back on school shows (one of my primary markets) and trying not to be on the road 40-43 weeks per year, I am able to license 5 of my school shows to others as they utilize show names, not my name, so anyone I allow can learn and use these established, time-tested, proven and profitable shows and names.

I have another show that operates under a show name that I have three versions of - one that I still perform, one that I have on tour most of the year, and another that works PACs, the fair/festival circuit, and residencies such as in Branson, Vegas, etc. This show has been out and consistently working for over 35 years and still going strong!

My name would not mean anything to these audiences nationwide, but you can not imagine how excited audiences and communities are when they hear the name of the show is coming to town, how much press and publicity it generates, how it generates sponsors, and even other venues that want to book it. It has been crazy and more successful than I ever imagined when I created it. It is a great way for scalability.

To me there are so many benefits and profit centers when a show has a name than when using the name of a person that means nothing to most. I love to perform it and be the star of the show when I choose, but it still generates great profits when I license it to others or produce and promote it myself and train the small cast. Danny has seen and experienced the buzz, expectation, and amazing response when people hear about the show coming to town.

So yes I have a lot of experience with this and will be happy to discuss more or answer any questions you may have about this great topic.

Thanks for the responses.

Mindpro, good to hear you've had success licensing shows,
that's one possible benefit for certain markets right there.

Tom, I get what you're saying, and I agree having a company name
is a good idea, but I should clarify, my initial subject wasn't about
company names, but naming your individual show(s) in your company.

As Danny pointed out, certain markets such as fairs, it's an expectation.

in the private market, folks usually have different
packages, for different lengths, or age of audience, ie kids, adults, "family", etc.

An option is to name these specific offerings, it might make communication
simpler, and give you branding with them.

As Danny pointed out, it may not increase the odds of booking, but there could
still be benefits to it.

One thing that comes to mind, that might increase bookings for kids specifically, is to
offer different themed packages, ie. Jurassic, aliens, monster trucks etc.

It could be largely the same show, but the parent can decide on a specific
themed show title if they want.

To you the difference might be just mostly cosmetic, with some dialog changes.

Anyway just wanted to put those thoughts out there.

If some mom is having a theme party and you have that theme seems natural. Oddly enough if you don’t fit that theme well you automatically don’t get a call.

All in all I Think it is a good idea as I said. It is something that should be thought of from the very beginning. It helps to make all decisions through the lens of what it is you have branded. The biggest single reason to do this is for consistency. You will end up with a consistent image a consistent brand and this is good. Consistency is one of the things magicians miss the mark gun more often than not. I am in the shell for the theme in the show gives you a very specific direction and makes everything from the check selection to cost to make an even the markets in which you choose to work Easier to decide.

A lot of magicians try to position themselves to where they’re going to take any show that happens to come along. They don’t want to say no because of money. When you show his name then you specifically have a vision and direction for where that show is best suited you will not be trying to push it to markets but that shows just isn’t going to work. This helps you grow in specific directions. This is a good thing.

It has nothing to do with how you run your company. It is a specific offering within the company. How do you run your company, “I“ or “we“ and all the bad cop good cop stuff has nothing to do with the very specific show that you’re trying to name. This is either a misunderstanding or a distraction either way it has nothing to do with branding and how are you specifically want to market the show. Those concerns are internal and only apply to specifically dealing with customers. The idea of naming your show deals with how the show looks how was branded as you were seeing what the theme is. These are two entirely different concerns and should never be mixed up because it will cause more confusion than focus. There are internal things that happened with companies and there are things that deal directly with customers. Customers almost never have to deal with the internal things as they are meaningless to them. So confusing the two of these could be a pretty big mistake.

Fedora,

Sorry I read you wrong. As for Kidshow magicians, they don’t really have a problem finding a theme for a show.
Think Fall, Winter Spring and Summer and you can see many opportunities to name a show.

Tom

The great thing about having different themed shows is that the same client can now justify requesting a second appearance within the same year. If you only offer one type of show each year, you’ll only get one booking per year. A themed show doesn’t mean it has to be an educational show. A simple approach is to name your show by the name of the season or holiday. Give it a name such as Merry Christmas Magic Show, Summer Magic Show, Autumn Leaf Magic Show, or Snow Magic Show, and decorate the props to fit the occasion. Bang! You have a themed show. By naming your shows, former clients know that this is going to be a different show than the last one they saw.

There are even more opportunities to name the preschool or library show. A few topics that come to mind are. Reading program, Dental Hygiene, Fire Safety, School Safety, Playground Safety, Halloween Safety, Stranger Danger, The Five Senses, Weather, Farm Animals, Zoo Animals, and on and on.

Tom

Fedora, what kind of performer are you and what performance markets do you serve?

I don't mind discussing kids market things if that is what you were asking about. T But if you are not interested in the kids market it would be great to know so we can talk specific markets or full entertainment business rather than niches or specialties. The fact that Tom drags everything into the kids market when many times it is not relative seems to happen a lot. Many of the answers I would have and provide would be determined by this.

Hey Mindpro, because you asked, (and I apparently never wrote an introduction)
I perform both stand up magic shows, and strolling close up magic.

My current target market is "private events", in what I believe you refer to as
the consumer market.

I don't target any age specifically, both kid and adult, but I have done a majority birthdays,
preferably age 6+.

Guys like dan freed and tom perform for toddlers apparently, no idea
how they do it, I would go "nutso".

My business at the moment operates simpler to what you call "default".

Thanks for asking.

Anyway, I started this thread for insight on positioning your show
in your business generally, beyond just you as a performer,
obviously (as pointed out by danny) it depends a lot on the market.

But I didn't start this thread for any niche specifically.

Mindpro, he specifically gave kidshow examples above is the reason I posted about it.

Fedora, I don't know of anyone on here that performs for toddlers only.

Tom

Fedora, that's what I thought. Many of your posts are not about kids markets when you've asked questions about hospitality suites, casinos, and such.

I agree private events are consumer market events which is great. The default model is also quite normal for the consumer market and for someone at your current point for the types of market you serve. Thanks for the clarification.

I agree I was responding on entertainment business generally not a specific market or niche which is why I was asking to make sure I was understanding it correctly and not as Tom was taking it.

In actuality what I have offered so far will work across the board in entertainment business and can work well beyond just yourself. Also beyond magic too. It is about the important matter of positioning and also value as well. Not just gimmicky themes.

Tom, didn't mean to imply that you exclusively perform for toddlers,
but you wrote a book about daycares, which is what I was referring to.

To clarify, I think being able to perform for daycare aged children is impressive,
i doubt I could do that regularly.

Sorry for any misunderstanding.

Fedora, No problem. Actually, the show is always for the oldest in the center.
They would never hire you just for the youngest there. Not to mention most centers
will have some after-school-age kids, they pick up from school. But you're right
its not for everybody, and it's best for all that way.
Again no problem. I never took it the wrong way.

Now, what about those senior centers. LOL


Tom

Good to know, I've never performed at a daycare, so I wasn't aware of how they worked.

Seems this threads been edited, don't know if I missed anything,
but because I've seemed to have derailed my own thread,
I'll try to get it back on track.

Although I've used mostly kids related examples to now, you can
see the parallels all the way to theaters in vegas. for example,

Folks like David Copperfield, mat franco, shin lim, mac king, etc.
use there name.

but numerous other acts, (both magic and non magic) have a
specific show brand, for example, "the mentalist" (gerry mccambridge)
Or "hypnosis unleashed!" starring the Cafés own kevin lepine.

These and other shows are selling a specific show instead of a name.

Obviously, these are different because they're theater shows that sale
tickets to the public, as opposed to shows that get booked by
a corporation, a cruise ship, a mom, whatever.

But I wanted to put this out there to illustrate that the show vs. performers name
issue comes up at every level.
I don't pretend to know all the reasons for choosing to
brand one over the other, but it's good food for thought regardless.

To get to the point.

My thinking is, (and the reason for starting this thread) is that
I'm considering taking my general show, meant for company
parties, holiday events, celebrations, etc.

And rather than have it be a generic sounding title, instead using a distinguishing
name for it, with a consistent brand for the particular show.

This wouldn't be a kid/birthday specific show, that would either stay generic,
or have it's own title/brandings.

I believe that this could have a verity of benefits.

Regardless, I wanted to run it by everyone, thanks for all the responses,
they've given me things to think about.

I think the corporate market is an example of where it would work out very well. Especially if you understand how corporate entertainment buyers think/work. This would be an ideal offering in response to the #1 question of most corporate talent buyers.

It also allows you to get away from the perception of "magician" which makes the titled show worth much more money/value.

I have a monthly show that is billed as "David's X Show"

When people hire me its "The magic of David" or, "David - Featured Entertainment"

For public consumption, they are buying into an experience.

For hiring me, they are bringing in me as a special guest.

In both cases, I do whatever I show up and do whatever I want lol.

My monthly residency is much more about an evening with me, rather than a set show with a larger narrative like Derren Brown does. I hope to do a show like that in the future, for now it's just on the back burner.

When people hire me, I bring a set of polished material and do slight tweaks to their theme or needs. For what I do, I don't find it useful to show up to an event with a themed show.

Thanks for the input dave, good to hear you've put thought into it,
and It's working out for you.