helpful hints for booking the best entertainer in houston texas by jimmy fingers the magician and suzzala the clown

Jimmy's HINT: Do not assume higher prices equals higher quality. There are some
incredibly persuasive sales going on with some not so [amazing] performers. Make sure
that the best performance that you get is not the one over the phone when you get talked
into paying triple what the act [ or rental ] is worth...find out if the person on the other end
of the phone is listening to what YOU want for your party. Be especially cautious of,"if you
book this RIGHT NOW then the price will be..."
SUZZALA SAYS: I have been receiving many literally heartbreaking complaints from
clients about intense sales tactics that border on abuse. A surprising number of agency
heads will utilize articulateness and sophisticated techniques to pressure the client into
signing a contract for an act they really aren't sure they want. Then an hour later or the
next morning the client asks for leniency about the contract and then the booking agent
turns from dr jekyl to mr hyde! Threatening the poor parents with court,wage garnishing
and more! Then the poor mom or dad is horrified to realize--this is the person i have
booked to be with my child! Contracts can be a very useful business tool,but if you find
yourself being pressured before having the time to do enough calls and research to give
you comfort--that is a red flag--be careful.
Jimmy's HINT:The more advertising that an act has in the yellow pages and local
publications-the more you're paying for advertising and the less you are getting from the
performer. A good performer in a city the size of houston should not have to advertise as
much as the ones that have the largest ads in these publications. Word of mouth is
enough to keep any [talented] act busy and there should be no need to push the product
as hard or as expensively as many of these marketers are.
SUZZALA SAYS: When some agents push desperately hard for a sale and the price is
questionably high--consider the idea that you are being pressured to subsidize
unnecessarily some aspect of their finances. Delve a little along the grapevine and you
learn the reasons for this desperate behavior ranging from extreme overhead / illnesses /
single parenthood / living beyond means and more. Your responsibility is not to subsidize
other people's financial decisions with your disposable income - that is what your taxes
are for. Also--the higher range of prices for events and parties should be for performers
with specialties ie. a juggler who is talented with unique equipment , a clown who has
won awards for complex balloon art , a renaissance painter skilled in detail , a magician
with special effects and live animals etc --not just simple average activities.
Jimmy's HINT: Beware of agencies that are booking everything...these agencies are more
concerned with getting the booking fee than providing the best performer available and
they would be happy to send one of the high school kids to your home with a few weeks
practice..in this information age the internet has enough information to make most of the
local agencies obsolete--why should you pay their commissions when you can find
performers on line? YOU can have more knowledge about talent in your area than most
of the agencies in your town.
SUZALA SAYS:Jimmy brings up some very good points here. If you are on a budget you
should avoid booking with agencies that do not OWN the equipment/animals/rides etc
which they promote. You want to find the OWNERS to get the best value for your money.
We have received complaints from clients who have been pressured into paying an extra
$50 or $100 commission to an agent for a phone call. At Houston Clown Fun we give you
the phone # to the owners of anything we do not provide in house and we do not charge
you for this service
There is a tendency with with some agencies to utilize teenagers as performers, balloon
artists,costumed characters etc. There is nothing wrong with that as long as the
youngsters are being provided as a 2 for 1 special or as a special money saving
presentation. But we have had clients complain of being charged the full rate for
teenagers as they were quoted for a mature experienced performer. No matter how cute,
a young person does not present the same quality as an award winning experienced
performer and the price should not be the same.
Jimmy's HINTS: Most agencies have never seen the acts that they are recommending. In
many cases the agencies are actually performers who are more concerned about booking
themselves on everything regardless of whether they are the best act for the job.
SUZZALA SAYS: This is true. We have had complaints from clients that they have
requested certain performers or even certain pieces of equipment such as a train and the
agent will say, " Well,the train is booked on that day but I'M available!" In other words the
presentation of the clowns/camel/trains etc is used as a lure to bait you and switch you to
something you don't want. At Houston Clown Fun just ask us for any referral - even
under water basket weaving! -we will have a number for you!
Also --we do not book acts that we do not perform. Just yesterday a valued client booked
elmo. I went into 45 min worth of details about everything that usually happens during a
mascot party--I know!! I do the parties! The mother kept saying--"Why did the other
agencies i talked to not tell me all this detail?" Well,2 possible reasons - some of them
were just hankering for that commission,and had no clue what happens in the costume
and don't really care. You deserve the details--talk to the performer who knows about the
performance.
Jimmy's HINTS : Don't count on credentials that emphasize membership in fraternal
organizations or clubs. The requirements for membership in these groups are so low, and
the political goings-on are so counter productive that inclusion is usually meaningless.
Heavy involvement in these groups (as officers or leaders) may even indicate a more
inferior capability as a performer than those professionals who avoid any involvement in
these organizations. A great performer doesn't need to control other people in the
hierarchy of a club - He is too busy motivating people in audiences!
SUZZALA SAYS: Jimmy said that! I didn't! But i can say from personal experience that the
above is all too often true.

Another important issue is to watch out for agencies where the booking agent utilizes bad
mouthing the competition :0( simply as a method of operation. When negativity about the
competition comes very easily along with high pressure sales techniques you may want to
get more info.

Finally another complaint we have received from many different sources is there are
companies that do barter with a phone answerer or party scheduler--in other words,a
performer may be substandard and not able to sustain word of mouth clients so they
make a deal with an agency to do office work thereby booking themselves instead of the
really talented performers - boy! You are learning alot with suzzala and jimmy! Our wish is
that you may use these HINTS to make the best decision for you! Thank you for
participating!