How to Rebook Past Magic Clients With One Email This Fall

Your fall calendar is not sitting out there in cold traffic. It's sitting in your inbox.

 
The fastest way to book shows this fall isn't a new ad or a viral video. It's rebooking magic clients you already have — the people who hired you, paid you, and watched you crush it in their room. One short email can start filling those dates this week.

I know that sounds too simple. But one year I made a single change to my marketing. I didn't raise my prices. I didn't add new shows. I didn't touch my website. I just started emailing the people who already knew me. My income went up $68,000 in twelve months. The next year, my calendar was so full I couldn't add a date.

Here's exactly how to write and send that one email.

Why rebooking magic clients beats chasing new leads

Most magicians do it backwards. They pour money and hours into finding strangers — ads, posts, cold outreach — while ignoring the warmest people they own.

Think about what happens with a new lead. They've never met you. They contacted five other entertainers the same afternoon. When you call back, the first thing out of their mouth is, "Now, which one are you again?"

A past client never asks that. They've already trusted you with their event. They know you show up, you're easy to work with, and your show works. That is the whole reason past client marketing beats everything else: the hardest part of the sale — trust — is already done.

And here's the part most magicians miss. Reaching out to a past client isn't spam. They raised their hand. They invited you into their event. It is completely fair, expected, and welcome to email them again.

The only mistake? Most magicians never bother. They do the gig, cash the check, and go quiet. Months pass. The client forgets the name of the magician they loved. And next year they book whoever shows up first.

Step 1: Pull your past-client list

 
What: Get every past client into one simple list. Name, email, and the date or type of event they booked.

Why: You can't email a list you don't have. And you almost certainly have more names than you think.

How: You don't need fancy software. Your list is already scattered around you. Search your email for old contracts and deposit confirmations. Check your sent folder. Look through your invoices and your phone contacts. Even if you only come up with twelve names, that's twelve people who already paid you. That's a goldmine, not a long shot.

Drop them in a plain spreadsheet or a note. Done. That's Step 1.

Step 2: Fill your fall calendar with past magic clients by reaching out now

What: Send your email while it's still summer — well before fall events get locked in.

Why: The people who book fall shows plan early. Schools, libraries, corporate party planners, and holiday committees start lining up entertainment weeks ahead. If you wait until September, the date you wanted is already gone.

How: Pick the clients whose events live in the fall — back-to-school, fall festivals, Halloween, early holiday parties. Reach out before they go looking. Being first in their inbox is often the whole game. You're not interrupting them. You're saving them a task they were about to do anyway.

Step 3: How to email past clients for repeat bookings

This is the heart of it. The email itself.

What: A short, warm, personal note — not a flyer, not a price list.

Why: The emails that work read like you're writing to one person. Because you are. The second an email feels like a mass blast, it gets deleted. The second it feels like a friend reaching out, it gets answered.

How: Keep it to a few short lines and follow this shape:

1. Open like a human. Mention their actual event. "I still talk about that third-grade assembly last October — your kids were a blast."

2. Say why you're reaching out now. "I'm starting to set my fall schedule, and you were one of the first people I thought of."

3. Make the ask easy. One simple next step. "Want me to pencil you in for something this fall? Just hit reply and let me know."

That's it. Notice what's missing: no big pitch, no list of packages, no "Hey, are you going to book me?" You're not nagging. You're starting a conversation. When you email past clients to rebook shows, the goal of that first message is a reply — not a signed contract.

Step 4: Send it so it feels like one person

What: Send in small batches, from your real name, in a way they can reply to directly.

Why: I learned how powerful this is by accident. One summer a "Melanie Smith" booked me for a library show. When I showed up, it turned out to be Mel — an old friend I'd lost touch with for years. She said, "I thought you knew it was me — your emails were so personable." The truth? Most of those emails were automated. They just sounded like I was writing to a friend. That tone is what makes people answer.

How: Don't blast all twelve names in one giant "To" field. Send them a few at a time so each one feels personal. Use your own name and a real reply-to address. If a first name fits naturally, use it. Make it as easy to answer as a text from a buddy.

Step 5: Reply fast, then follow up once

What: Answer every reply quickly, and send one gentle nudge to the people who go quiet.

Why: People are busy. They open your email, mean to reply, and life gets in the way. That silence isn't a no. It usually just means "not yet." It often takes more than one touch to get an answer.

How: When someone replies, get back to them the same day, while you're fresh in their mind. For the folks who don't answer, wait about five days and send one short, friendly follow-up. "Just floating this back to the top of your inbox — still happy to hold a fall date for you." 

One nudge. If they're still quiet after that, leave it. You've planted the seed.

What this looks like in real life

Here's why I trust this so much.

That $68,000 jump I mentioned at the top? It came from one change — staying in touch with people who had already raised their hand. 

I didn't find new audiences. I went back to the ones I already had.

For years before that, I did what most magicians do. I relied on a messy pile of cut-and-paste emails and a half-finished spreadsheet. I was too busy or too scattered to follow up with anybody on purpose. So I didn't.

The year I got serious about emailing my list — past clients and old leads — everything changed. The next year my calendar filled up completely. Same magician. Same show. Same prices. The only difference was that I stopped letting warm relationships go cold.

The mistake that sends people to the unsubscribe link

There's one way to wreck all of this, and almost everyone does it.

They make the email about themselves. Every message is some version of "Hey, are you going to book me?" or a limp "just checking in." That tone screams salesman, and it trains people to ignore you — or worse, to unsubscribe.

Your first email to a past client should barely ask for anything. Lead with them and their event. Sound like a person they liked. The booking comes from the relationship, not from the pitch.

Do this in the next 7 days

1. Pull 15–20 past clients into a simple list today. Name, email, what they booked.
2. Write the one email using the Step 3 shape, and send it to the first five people this week.
3. Set a reminder to send one short follow-up in five days to anyone who hasn't replied.

That's a couple hours of work, total. And it goes after the warmest money you have.

The bottom line

Your next handful of fall bookings probably aren't strangers. They're people who already hired you and would happily do it again — if you'd just reach out first.

 
One email. One afternoon. A fall calendar that fills itself.

Want the next step?

 
Your past-client list is the most valuable thing in your magic business — and most magicians barely touch it.
If you want to turn the clients you already have into a full fall calendar, grab The Most Valuable Resource free here: https://theprofessionalmagicianclubpro.com/most-valuable-resource/

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Cris Johnson is a 20+ year professional magician and host of The Professional Magician Club Pro podcast. He helps magicians book more shows at higher fees. Grab his free guide: The Most Valuable Resource.

To find out more how I can help you book more shows at higher fees, click the button below to see my list of services.

© Copyright Cris Johnson, Inc.