On campground shows

For the past 10 years or so, I have been doing campground magic shows on a fairly regular level. I was inspired to do so after reading an e-book by my fellow magician, Devin Knight (link here: https://www.lybrary.com/campground-conjuring-for-cash-p-603982.html.) It's a great book but I found that the technique described my Mr. Knight doesn't work for Canadian campgrounds, though I have no doubt it works with American ones.*

I tend to dedicate the Victoria Day weekend to a campground tour; this year, I was blessed to have six shows - three on Saturday and three on Sunday. While I was setting up for my second Saturday show, the entire eastern part of the province was struck by a torrential rainstorm. It knocked down trees, felled power lines, and plunged a big old portion of the population into a blackout. The lights went out at the campground and some of the campers opined that I wouldn't be doing a show that day. But then, miracle of miracles, the power came back on and some campers wandered in and I got to do a show for them. 

I love performing at campgrounds, and for several reasons. The audiences are always appreciative, I can debut new material, and I learn how to be flexible. That's because you never quite know what you're going to get when you go to a campground. Sometimes you'll be doing a show in the open air, though most of the time you'll be performing in a rec hall.

Campground rec halls usually look something like this:

 

That's one of the nicest rec halls in which I have performed. One rec hall was about the size of a child's bedroom. Another rec hall smelled like old vegetables and had mould growing on the walls. After the show, the campground owner told me that my magic show was to be the very last event to take place in that hall. "It's being torn down in the morning," they said.

Campground shows might be beneath the superstars of magic, but they're just fine for the mid-level magicians like me. I like 'em. I know I'm not performing at Carnegie Hall but the way I see it, if I can entertain a crowd in a venue that was not designed for live performances, I'm pretty confident I'll be able to do the same in a venue that was.

Seriously though, if you're a magician who has an hour-long family friendly magic show they can sell, I'd like to encourage you to try a campground tour. In Canada, we have the August long weekend coming up. Find a bunch of campgrounds or resorts that are relatively close together and see if you can earn yourself some extra dough. As I said above, I do three shows on Saturday and three on Sunday. I do the shows at 12 noon, 4 p.m., and 8 p.m. That gives me enough time to set up, perform, strike, pack the car, drive to the next campground, and repeat.

I will offer one piece of advice to anyone doing campground shows or any sort of stage performance for that matter. It is this: INVEST IN A SOUND SYSTEM.

Seriously, you need a good sound system (I have two) and a good headset (not a cheap one that screams feedback whenever you get within a mile of one of the speakers.) Remember the words of the great Italian magician, Tony Binarelli, who once observed that if an audience can't see you, they will blame themselves for not getting there earlier so they could grab a better seat. But if they can't hear you, they will blame YOU!

If you don't have a sound system, that's the next investment. Either that or rent them. Rental rates are surprisingly inexpensive.

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* I don't want to give away too much from Mr. Knight's book, though I will say his strategy involves asking for tips. In my experience, Americans are more willing to tip than Canadians. Usually, when I am pitching a show to a Canadian client, the first thing they ask is how much the show costs. With Americans, the first thing they ask is "are you any good?"