There are people who are considered PROFESSIONAL MAGICIANS. And these are the guys that kids like I used to be just WORSHIP and admire, and want to be just like them.
Then something bad happens to the magician. A stroke, living quarters burn down, car wreck, or even that they get robbed.
And what do you find out then? That they didn’t have insurance. They didn’t have the ONE BIG crucial thing you need to survive the unexpected.
Then some well-meaning person starts a GOFUNDME….or any of the other crowd-fundraising applications. And the magic community is supposed to rally around and give this person money.
And this is wrong…so wrong. I don’t believe that you can call yourself a PROFESSIONAL magician when you aren’t a PROFESSIONAL adult.
I used to do magic for a living. And I barely scraped by. And after 4 years, I realized that I didn’t have what it takes to make a living doing magic. That I’d have to enter the humdrum non-entertainment industries.
So I did. I returned to college, got a degree, found a job, etc. And I’ve always had a roof over my head, food on the table, and enough spare cash to play with magic.
But the magic came AFTER INSURANCE. It came after I did what I had to so that everyone I care about would be taken care of if something happened to me. That I’d still have a roof over my head, if a tornado ripped through the area.
Do I miss not doing magic full time? God yes! It was fun. But it wasn’t an adult thing for me to do. It wasn’t something I agreed to when I took my wedding vows. It wasn’t the financial picture I knew I needed to continue.
So I think that any magician that can’t afford savings accounts, insurance, etc. should find another word for what he is than “PROFESSIONAL”.
