How to earn £28k a year as a professional magician. [reading time; 10 minutes]
How to earn £28k a year as a professional magician!
Here’s a fun little study in how you can make a living doing magic.
Firstly; why £28k?
A recent study has shown that £28’000 is apparently the average wage in the UK. By comparison the minimum wage (if you were working 9-5, 5 days a week at £7.70 per hour) would net you £14784 per year. This national average is, therefore, around 100% more than the minimum wage. And here we show you how, as a working magician, you can earn £28’000 a year!
The options below give you ways to earn twice the national minimum wage over a year, purely from performing as a magician.
Let’s break down the maths: (we’re talking ballpark figures here, there’s a lot of generalisations but stick with it, it’s still a very interesting thought experiment)
£28k a year means we’re looking for £2333 per month, We’ll round that up to £2400 per month for easy figures and slightly easier calculations.
£2400 per month, works out at £600 per week.
To achieve this wage from magic you could perform
*5 gigs a week at £120.
*4 gigs a week at £150.
*2 gigs a week at £300.
*1 gig a week at £600.
*3 gigs per month at £700.
*1 gig every fortnight at £1200
*1 gig per month at £2400.
*1 £28k gig a year.
Maybe you are more inclined to put on shows rather than perform at someone else’s event. To make the magical £28’000 a year from putting on your own magic show you could
*Put on a show 24 times in the year, each time sell 100 tickets at £12 per head
*Put on a show 12 times in the year, each time sell 100 tickets at £24 per head
*Put on one giant show and sell 2800 tickets at £10 each.
*Put on a single online course / performance for 10’000 viewers who each pay £2.80.
All of a sudden the arbitrary figure we assigned of £28’000 is well within our reach! Remember that this figure has no particular meaning but, rather, is an example of how you can plan to reach your target. Stretch yourself and these goals are well within your grasp.
A word of caution: The calculations above are simply a set of fun calculations to reach a target number. If you are looking to feed your family by performing then there are other things you will need to factor into your sums which aren’t considered above.
Remember that (depending on the country you live in) as a sole trader you will need to pay tax/ national insurance contributions/ contribute towards your pension funds, personal life insurance / health insurance / travel insurance / car breakdown cover / phone bills/ business insurance / mortgage / rent/ props etc… If you are seriously looking at becoming a working pro who pays their way with magic then you need to factor these things in as well. (and remember the legal requirements might be different in your country to mine so double check what contributions you need to pay by law as well.
Spend time working out your target figure (is it £28k, or more like £30k, or more like £40k?) then plan how you can get their with your performing skills. Trust me when I say that it is hugely rewarding to pay your bills via performing.
For me: at the moment I am performing wedding magic in the £300-£500 price point, children’s magic in the £200 price point, Charity entertainment at the £100 price point and performing my one man show, monthly, with 35 tickets priced at £12 a head.
If all goes to plan I will be on track to make my targets this year with magic alone but to make it work I am performing a variety of magic in a variety of situations. I love this but you don’t have to do this at all – maybe you like the trade show business and you want to become the go-to name in this area and charge a premium for your services. Maybe you want to be a creator of magic props, maybe a content creator for the magic world.
There are a lot of options in front of you, explore them, but don’t let anyone say it can’t be done! The business is out there and it is yours for the taking. How you earn your £28k as a magician is completely up to you, and if you can be motivated enough to take it is also up to you.
How to get the bookings you want? Check out our handy dandy guide here for how to fill your diary. Https://www.magiciansadvice.com/fill-your-diary/
As always, we at the Magicians’ Advice would love to hear from you and if you need any more help or support we are always happy to share.
Ian.
Ian, Phil, Rob, & Tony.
Support The Magicians Advice Podcast
You can support the podcast by becoming a patron for the cost of $1 or click the below link and buy your products though Alakazam Magic afflicted link.
Please click below if you wish to help out.
