Tips on Tips (Part II)
Tips on Tips (Part II)
By Jeff Stone
Last month we discussed the dynamic of the relationship between you and the spectator when it comes to getting paid. The question hopefully answered for you was, should you work for tips or not. The conclusion I’ve come to in my career is that I do NOT work for tips.
However, what do you do when offered a tip? Remember, the way I perform, I make it clear up front that I’m already paid for by the host/manager, etc. This, as covered last month, makes it clear that I’m not at their table to get their money but to just have a good time with them. So once that’s clear, you are still likely to get tip offers on occasion. What do you do?
First, let’s examine a few reasons people offer you a tip. This list is not exhaustive, but it’s pretty comprehensive:
- They want to impress their friends.
- They want to impress you.
- They feel obligated to.
- They really were blown away and want to show their appreciation.
- They have a “need” to tip you.
So how do you handle each situation? Pretty much in each of the situations (other than #3), if you don’t take the tip, you’re likely to offend them or embarrass them.
I pretty much handle them all the same. I’ll get to that in a minute. Let me first tell you that I always make it absolutely clear from the beginning that I do not accept tips. On occasion, however, I’ve had gigs where several of the patrons were insisting that I break my “rule” of no tips. It was happening frequently enough that the host caught wind of it. Well the host was the person who was already paying my fee.
When I was ready to leave, she said, in not so many words, that she appreciated that I wouldn’t take tips from the patrons, but that she, being the host could give me a tip if she wanted. I had already been prepaid with a check, so she went around her house looking for every bit of cash she could round up, and I walked out of there with much bigger paycheck than I expected.
Back on target… here’s the simple way that I handle the person who insists on tipping me. Frankly, this technique is not even mine; it’s something I learned at a Jim Sisti lecture yeaaaaaaaaaars ago before I was even performing professionally.
Let’s role play it:
Spectator hands me a tip.
Magician: That’s very kind of you. I really appreciate it. I’m already well taken care of by management, however, what really helps me is having the waiters/waitresses in my corner. Why don’t you add my tip to your waiter’s tip.
Spectator: I’d rather give it to you. You earned it.
Magician: Well, again, thank you. I really appreciate the gesture. I guess I can’t turn down free money. Thank you.
That’s one option. The concept is the same each time. Basically, you give one rebuttal. If it doesn’t work, you accept. Here are a couple of different rebuttals you can try. The first one, is the above where you tell them to give it to the wait staff.
Another one is to suggest that rather than a tip, that they put in a good word for you using the comment cards on the table. Yet another idea is similar to the first one. I’ll basically say that my job is pretty easy and fun, but it’s the servers who work hard and deserve that tip better than I do. Why don’t you add it to your server’s tip.
A couple of things will happen when you take these approaches. First, you’ll still get a few tips. The last thing you want to do is argue with the spectators or customers. It then makes their experience unpleasant which is the opposite of why you were hired.
Secondly, on the cases where the customer gives the server a bigger tip, usually the customer will tell the server that the magician insisted that we “give his tip to you.” This will only enhance your relationship with the servers. This adds to your job security. They want you around, because they make more money with you around. They’ll start telling their customers that they need to have the magician come to their table. It’s a beautiful thing.
Third, another cool side effect is that the customers will occasionally give the tip to the manager to give to the magician. They’ll say, “Here… this is a tip for the magician. He insisted that he does not take tips, so we thought that maybe he would accept it if it came from you.”
The great thing about this situation is that the manager will be pleased that you’re not trying to squeeze more money out of his/her customers.
Finally, the comment cards will be great job security for you. Don’t overdo it though. If every night there are 20 comments in the comment box about how great the magi is, that’s going to look a wee bit suspicious.
Non-Restaurant Gigs:
Obviously, the above scenario is for a restaurant magician. What about other venues? Well, there are two major types of venues. First there are gigs where you are strolling, and gigs where you are not. In the “not” category, you have stand up, stage, sets, hospitality suites, etc. These situations are pretty cut-and-dried as far as the payment goes. You, likely, aren’t going to have a spectator come up on stage and offer you a tip.
In the strolling venues, other than restaurants, there are several other sub-venues. I’ve worked at corporate picnics, retirement homes, wedding receptions, anniversary parties, family parties/reunions, etc. In these situations, you may not have a server that you can redirect your tip to. Sometimes, however, there are servers. Often at receptions and so forth, you’ll find servers there, so you can use that rebuttal for those situations.
When there is no server, then your rebuttal is simply to tell them to tell the host how much they like the magician. Again, if this doesn’t work, then you gracefully and gratefully accept the tip.
Final thoughts:
Finally, I should mention two other main points. First, never refuse a tip from your host/person who hired you. They already know that you are working for a flat fee or hourly fee because they’re the one giving it to you. If they offer you a tip, accept it with gratitude and grace, and look forward to being re-booked.
When I used to perform children’s birthday shows, I would put a line on the invoice for a tip. Even before doing that, I would almost always get a tip at my children’s birthday show. Here’s a sample of what I used to use years ago.
Last of all, consider the fact that when you do strolling magic, some of your future clients may be the spectators you are performing for. Inevitably when strolling and performing for 20 or 30 different groups of people in a night, you’ll be asked the golden question, “Do you do private parties?” Of course the answer is “Yes!” Think about this: if the person asking you this question is considering hiring you, do you want him to think that you’ll be soliciting tips from his patrons? S/he may not like that. When it’s clear that you don’t take tips, that will be one more plus for hiring you to do a private gig.
Until Next Month…
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