Many of the well known performers have a street persona, where they call themselves a one name name... like Prince, for example. hahaha

You have Kozmo, Gazzo, JimmyTalksAlot, etc...

For the working pros here, do you feel it is important to develop a name, typically a one word name, rather than use your own normal one?

Any tips on what type of name to use?

Yeah, I am aiming for Zorro.
Mario

If you have a rotten act, you could call yourself "Crappy"!

Hahaha Ok, ok, ok...

I'm being serious... All the greats performed in the persona of a one-name character...

Have any of them expressed a reason, or is it just "custom"?

Name Recognition ... I go by 2 names, George Gilbert and The OC Trickster (most people from Maryland remember me as the OC Trickster) because my pitch (Ocean City) is the big tourist attraction in our area ...

"Gazzo" - Easiest name in the world to remember!

A good technique for creating a recognizable name is starting each name with the same consonant... examples: "Pretty Patty" , "Devilish Dave" , "Jittery Joel" ...

Thanks, George... good info... I figured some level of brand recognition was important in naming...

Sorry, Mario...I met Zorro in Berne...of course, I filmed him.
I've seen the women use Miss Taken, Miss Behaving, etc...seemed to work well.
Perhaps, a word-play like the above would work...

I've been thinking of this. I wonder what I'd use? Hmmm....

Never gave it much thought, really....

I'm not really sure the name itself matters. It is what you do to get your audience to remember your name. Look at Bill Malone. He gets the his audience to chant his name over and over again, and I guarantee that no one walks away from one of his shows saying, "That magic guy was great." They say, "That Bill Malone was great."

Oh, I agree that the name doesn't create the hat or the enjoyment of the act. But rather curious how some use it to brand themselves vs an ordinary name.

For example - Gazzo, Kozmo, etc...

Your name IS important and does matter because it's the name of your product.. If anybody asks me, "Why should I book you when there's other magicians who charge less?"

I'll say, "Because you're not booking some magician... you're booking George Gilbert, and that's one of a kind."

Not being Cocky ... it's the truth!

What Rick is asking is, how do we come up with our names - and why?

The shorter, the better... If you can come up with an original one word name that would ring bells... Use it, it's premium! "Kozmo" and "Gazzo" are short and sweet... easy to remember, which is a great thing. If you can get your name to ring bells - you are on your way... Funny thing is, I'll never forget Kozmo's name because it rhymes with Gazzo. (At least the way I pronounce Gazzo, it does.)

There's not a guy in this world who doesn't know the name "Coca-Cola".

I know magicians who don't put anything on their business card except their name ... no number, no e-mail, just their name, or their website address... and their cards convert into gigs left and right.

Shortly after I got started performing many years ago, I got interested in clowning. I worked as a clown for a long time and, as you probably know, clowns are into coming up with cool, original (or often not so original) clown names. My first clown name was Muddy Puddles. I still sort of like that name. Anyway, over the course of many years, I tried on a lot of names. Finally, as I transitioned into more of a vaudeville style character, I realized that my actual name was pretty funny. And people, especially children, find it memorable for some reason. Maybe just simplicity. I sometimes call myself The Astonishing Mr. Pitts, but I've found that trying to be astonishing all the time is just exhausting. And, The Occasionally Astonishing Mr. Pitts seems too long. So, currently, I am performing as Mr. Pitts (except for my once a year engagement as Professor Pottersfield).

I've thought about doing a run of cards like this in ultra, top of the line, high quality cards.

Completely pretentious, but then that's the point!

Truly, I have thought of names. As people have stated, why change a name like Mario?

If you want to be easily remembered by name, it's a good idea to use a name that's easy to remember.
In my case, my family name is not at all familiar with people of my English-speaking country. It's not easy to read, not easy to pronounce, and harder still to write it down from just hearing it. Try it for yourself. How would you pronounce the name Schwamm, a rare family name even among other German family names? And if you heard the name spoken: "shvom" with short "o", how easy would it be for you to write it down accurately? So, I make it easy for others: I use the stage name "MagiCol" - a play on the word magical, but it incorporates the first part of my first name, COLin. So, MagiCol for easy recognition, easy remembering. But I use it along with my actual name Colin Schwamm.
"Call me what you want, but don't call me late for breakfast!"

Make sure that your name is
1) Easy to pronounce.
2) Easy to remember.
3) Not being used by anybody else.
4) Not dirty or obscene in some odd language.
5) Not "cutesy."

Don't call yourself "the Great Scott." There are at least 6 magicians who are currently using that name. "Mister E" is cliched.

Which name fits me the best?:

Dynamike

or

2 Smooth

2 Smooth

Definitely.

:rotf:

"To the gentlemen, I'm Miss Fortune;
To the ladies, I'm Sir Prize."

Voltaire - When You're Evil

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4gJuwGdBIg