Some Essential Tips On Booking A Mind Reader
A guide to hiring speciality entertainment
Let's face it, booking a mind reader isn't something that you do every day. If you are like most people, you probably won't have done it at all. But now you have some entertainment needs, and you are looking for something unusual, unique and interesting. You have found the industry of psychological mind reading, but how do you know who to hire?
Well, not only am I a full time professional mind reader, but I have many years of experience within this industry, so I can help you out with some handy tips.
But I hear you say, "Why would you help me out? I may not choose you!"
The answer to that questions is that I want you to have a wonderful experience of psychological mind reading. Sadly, there are too many amateurs out there who are not very good and are ruining the reputation of mind reading as entertainment. At the end of the day I want you to enjoy mind reading as entertainment regardless of who you hire or book; because I want mind reading to be promoted in a good light.
Now I have explained that, here are some of my top tips:
On the performer's website, are there either photos or videos of them performing?
Personally, I always think that video is a great indicator of what you will actually receive from the performer, especially these days when high quality video cameras are so affordable.
Photography is good, but please remember that it is very easy to stage a photograph, where this is harder to do with video. A photograph will also not inform you on how the performer speaks, moves and interacts with the people he is performing for.
An example, of what good quality videos will look like can be found on my website: http://www.PaulBrook.co.uk/video.html
Does the performer have Public Liability Insurance?
Of course we never expect bad things to happen in our shows, but it's nice to know that should any accident occur that the performer is fully able to take care of it.
Ask what private insurance they have, or if they are a member of Equity that gives it's members £10,000,000 worth of cover. Look for the Equity logo on their website, if you are unsure of what it looks like it is on the left hand side of this website towards the bottom: http://www.PaulBrook.co.uk
Does the performer have a day job other than performing? Or is mind reading a bit of a side business for him? Reasons why a mind reader may not be performing full time are:
1. Their mind reading show may not be good enough.
2. The mind reader may be lacking in real world experience.
3. Their regular day job commitments do not allow them to be dependable or reliable to consistently perform.
Full time mind readers put their money where their mouths are and make the commitment to it 100%. There are a number of amazing semi-professionals, but please keep in mind that they are the exception to the rule.
If it looks cheap, why does it look cheap? Are the business cards printed by a company that provides free business cards? If so why?
A full time professional performer will need to have good quality materials and website as a promotional tool. Being the first point of contact in a lot of cases a website must look as professional as possible. For entertainers who make their living from their performances this is a small price to pay for such a necessity. However, for the amateur and semi-professional, their irregular work does not warrant paying the amount of money a professional website and marketing suite costs to produce.
Use your own senses and if you get the feeling the performer is cutting too many corners, it may be a sign to look for a different one!
How much does a Mind Reader cost to hire?
There isn't one answer for this as many factors influence the final fee of a performer such as distance, time required to perform, type of performance, and the amount of people attending, to name a few.
Most professionals will have a cost quote form on their website, like this: http://www.PaulBrook.co.uk/contact.html
When you get the quote make sure to ask the performer for a breakdown of the quote. This should be easy to provide as the performer should be using a standardised calculation (based on the current performance market) to arrive at the price. If they can't, are they just guessing at what to charge? You could be paying over the odds, or for things you don't want or need!
Often amateur entertainers try to win performances by charging very little. This is in order to get gigs in lieu of experience. Sometimes you may even be able to get their services for free.
While this sounds great, do you want to be paying less when you may have a terrible experience? You may save £100 but end up having your event ruined, or laughed at, because of someone who is not up to scratch.
The solution to this is to contact a number of mind readers and ask for quotes. When you have around five quotes you should be able to see what the rough market price is for the specific performance you are looking to book.
I would say that you should not dismiss the guys charging a bit more, because that extra bit could make the difference to the success of your event. Equally, some of the more affordable guys may simply have a promotion on. Don't be shy in telling the performer the other quotes you have been given and by whom. There is still a chance that you could haggle a better deal!
Hopefully, those few pieces of information will help to steer you away from a terrible experience with an amateur mind reader or entertainer. Whoever you do decide to go with, I hope that your event is a success, and that you consider mind reading as entertainment again in the future.
Finally, I want to just say that, as a full time professional mind reader, I would be happy to be considered for your event. You can see me perform on my website, I have insurance and my prices are affordably competitive. Find out more by heading over to:
