In my "real" life, I'm a professor of real estate and finance in a business school. LLCs are common for real estate investors, so I know a little
bit about this. I am NOT a tax attorney, however, and there are nuances that may apply to certain situations (and states) of which I am not an expert.
The tax benefits of an LLC (limited liability company) actually apply to all "
pass-through" entities, including sole proprietorships (which is what you are if you've never formally formed an LLC or similar entity). As an independent contractor, you should be filling out Schedule C (Net Profit from a Business) on your tax
return. On this, you claim all your contract income and you can deduct all of your "business expenses." (Note that this is different from the "unreimbursed business expenses" that anyone can claim as an itemized deduction on Schedule A; those are for people who have a real job but spend money for their work that the employer doesn't reimburse. As an independent contractor, your business related expenses are fully deductible on Schedule C
before your net income passes through to your main tax
return.) The
net income from Schedule C "passes through" as income on your tax form.
You get this "benefit" even if you are a sole proprietorship (not just with an LLC).
FYI, the new Federal tax law has a special 20% deduction of your
pass-through income this means that if your business earns net income of $50,000, you only have to pay taxes on $40,000 of this income. This phases out if you earn a lot of money (levels not likely to be reached by tech contractors).
The main reason to consider forming an LLC is to provide you with limited liability (hence the name). If you have significant personal assets, this can make sense. In this case, your LLC is the contracted party. If you end up in a lawsuit related to this work, the LLC would typically be the defendant (not you personally). The most anyone could get out of you would be the assets of the LLC (essentially zero), but not your personal assets. Of course, this wouldn't prevent anyone from suing you personally for negligence, in which case all bets are off. But if you had an employee, an LLC might provide additional protections for you.
I do some private consulting work on the side (not theater related), and I've never found it worth the hassle to form an LLC. A personal umbrella liability policy is all I really need.
Hope that helps.