Go Broke, Get Rich... Maybe

How is it that out of all the areas of magic we could have chosen, we pick the most expensive by far? Oh because that’s just how it goes. We chose to be illusionists. That means we’re the guys doing the tricks with big boxes.  Amongst other magicians, you have to work extremely hard and pay your dues to earn that title.

In our spare time over the summer Brandon and I both worked at our local magic shop to help out. After every time a trick is pitched and the potential buyer hears the price they just freak out. Come on it’s only $17.99. That’s nothing. 

The problem with wanting to be an illusionist is that the majority of your show needs to be illusions to really be considered as one. And man do they cost money.  We have to save up thousands for just one illusion. But seriously, it’s worth it! To make money you have to spend it first and literally go in the hole to buy a few big props so you can move from the title magician to illusionist.

Fairchild Magic Illusions

There are lots of things that make illusions expensive though so the price really isn’t that bad when you think about all that goes into it. First off, you have to pay for the building materials. Then a lot of labor and TLC goes into getting them put together and all pretty. And many illusions have certain builders who are the only ones allowed to build and sell them. And of course it took an extremely smart and creative person to come up with the idea! They deserve to get paid for it. That also includes the rights to perform it.

Then after you finally get your prop you can’t forget having road cases, which can be just as much as the prop sometimes.  Professionally built illusions are made to last. But we've seen a lot of guys who just throw their props in the back of a trailer or van like it’s nothing and it destroys them. You can’t just wrap them in bubble wrap or blankets and expect them to withstand travel. Those cases are tough and for a reason; you have to protect the illusion. It's really smart to spend the extra money and get the case.

 

Our sweet Isabell in front of some of our road cases

Once you spend tens of thousands of dollars then you can start performing in larger venues for bigger audiences and hopefully make the big money. Go broke, get rich. It hurts to spend money like that I assure you, but it’s worth it in the end.