Where in the world am I today?: Juneau, AK, USA joining the STAR Princess
I haven’t worked a lot in restaurants, but I do remember my first contract working a restaurant gig very clearly. From May – July 1988, I was contracted to perform at the Sunday Brunch at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa (the building in the background of the picture that accompanies this post). The Chateau Laurier is one of the many Hotels across the country which were regarded as the peak of luxury for travelers of the Canadian National Railway back in the early part of the 1900s and has remained a prominent landmark in Ottawa as it’s situated right next to the Parliament Buildings.
Prior to my contract a husband/wife juggling duo (Jean Besnard and Nicolette Naum) had enjoyed a long time association with the Chateau Laurier having worked there for years. I never actually saw them work because the idea of going to a Sunday Brunch was a bit out of my field of vision as a young juggler in Ottawa, but I had seen them work in other venues.
Enough of the stroll down memory lane though… The real point of this post was to say that some restaurants still seek out live performers to help liven up the atmosphere of their establishments. This seems to be a particularly popular pursuit for practitioners of close-up magic because the nature of close-up lends itself so well to tricks performed in front of a small group of people. Especially if you’re working in a reasonably popular restaurant a small case containing a dozen or so tricks is likely all you’ll need to keep the joint hopping and people thinking that you’ve got an endless supply of tricks to entertain them with.
Now… Chances are that the fee offered by a restaurant for such performances isn’t going to allow you to retire anytime soon, but having a steady local job once or twice a week can allow you to cover your bills and provide you with an amazing opportunity to workshop new tricks and material. The simple act of repeating things over and over again over the course of an evening will allow you to polish existing material and work new bits into your regular repertoire much faster than were you only doing the bit once or twice a week. Nothing beats working bits in front of a crowd in terms of increasing your confidence and making the bits better and there are few other venues that will allow you the opportunity to work material so diligently.
Another great aspect of doing strolling restaurant work is that it often leads to other opportunities. Someone sees you at the restaurant and brings you in for a private function. One job leads to the next and then to another etc. The exposure you’ll get from doing what you do over and over again and getting better and better at it will pay huge dividends that the actual performance fee you receive may not reflect. But what price can you put on the polish that you’re act will get from the opportunity to repeat it over and over again.
I was lucky to fall into a gig that was well established when I was asked to do the Sunday Brunch shows at the Chateau Laurier. You may need to look around a bit more before finding a similar opportunity where you live, but do some checking with local performers in your area and you’ll likely turn something up. If not, perhaps you could approach a restaurant or club owner directly and see if you could create an opportunity.
