Hello Craig, Greetings from Malaysia. Nice to have you "back". Ep2 i feel was much better and Ep1. Message was delivered with facts clearly stated and not to "ranty". Thanks for doign this and looking forward to more.

A - Assets C - Cash E - Experience Great Acronym... Good Advice...

I'm glad you're creating these videos! So much good information and knowledge!

These videos are great. Great advice & knowledge from a working pro. Very useful videos indeed. Some magicians would charge a fortune for this type of knowledge & information. You've been away for too long.

Hi Craig, again... agree with pretty much all that you say. We see this all the time on forums ('I have a gig tomorrow/next month' what tricks shall I do?') I think one of your early points that "you owe it to YOURSELF, to your client & to magic" not to take the booking really encapsulates the whole issue. I've highlighted 'yourself' because what these guys don't realise is that they're going to come away from that booking not feeling great about themselves. Rather than the shortcut to getting better at magic that they think they've taken, they've actually taken a longer, bumpier road. I would reiterate & give greater emphasis to some of your positive signposts to enthusiasts thinking of taking on paid work: As you say, do some research & although there are books & dvds for this which cost money, another route is going to watch others at work, if you're a member of a magic club - seek out a member who will take you under their wing & mentor you & who might let you watch them at their restaurant residency for example. You gave some great examples about building your knowledge about trade shows. There's a conundrum about 'you haven't got experience, therefore don't do paid work' because these guys may well feel 'how do I get experience, how do I get out of this catch 22 situation?' and worse 'I'm going to bite the bullet & do a show'. Well, apart from essential research, I would say to people to offer to do your magic for free at small charity events. To quote a phrase I saw somewhere that is very true 'you need a place to be bad..'(!) It's might not always be quite as stark as that but it often is! I think your 'ABC' assets thing from Brad was a very good pointer as well...

Totally agree... Not too long ago I had a devout Mormon asking me if I had ever done a bachelorette party, where they wanted adult theme entertainment, because he had a gig and wanted to know what he should do. I wanted to say, "you should give it to me." Because a bunch of drunk women, drinking cocktails from straws in the shape of dicks, isn't going to work with you and your magic underwear, who doesn't even drink sodas. There are too many magicians. That's the problem.

I couldn't agree with you more.

thanks for these Vids man!

Nice clip & good job.

Craig - Welcome back! Now get that camera up on a tripod so I don't have to look at your hands close-up. And that music doesn't add. Great content though.

Nothing But The Tooth. A rotten one.

Great video Craig! Do you think though there are times where stepping a little bit outside of your comfort zone for a booking can be good and can actually take one into a world they might not have dared to step into? So, I totally agree to a close up magician saying no to a kids party but someone who does kids parties for 10-20 kids should go for it if offered a school show for 200 kids?

Love you Craig but the title screen is very gross, nothing but the truth. Keep up the solid work.

OMG, I CRINGE every time I see someone post this. " I do close up, but I booked a stage show for next week, what tricks should I do"

background music SHITE ! Crackling microphone, SHITE ! that is MY review.

Angry little egg man