"I just realized that we're answering a question that is over 20 years old.". (RiffRaff)

...i'm a slow thinker. : @)

Yeah,...I've paged through some, of these books,..
plus a few others.
'To Lure With Spectacle', by Jimmytalksalot is worth mentioning, by name,
... even today.

I'm not sure if it was 'before' or 'after' this original Topic;
Danny Hustle put up an EXTREMELY thurough list of 'everything'(?)..
books, pamphlets, papers, and chinesse fortune cookie slips(!)
that referred to the topic, of Street Performing.

Danny was(?),..is(?) extremely knowledgible in this field,
...WITH a 'bit', of experience to season the thought.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I feel, however,.. : )
most,
no, not all,.
but MOST, of the books, films, and fortune cookie slips,..
suffer the same short-sightness.

Most, explain, 'Street Performing', from the 'experts' own (only!) perspective,..
which, as we all can imagine,..
is the 'CORRECT' perspective.

"Do this."
"Do that."
"Don't do this."
bla bla bla...
....

Each Expert, is just that:
'An expert, on his corner. .... doing HIS(!) expertice'.
...and probably (maybe),..(HOPEFULLY!..!) ,..pretty good,...there.

But,...!

The book I recommend is: 'Passing the Hat', by Patricia Campbell.

First,... she was not,..is not,..a Street Performer. : )

In her book, she set out to talk to those,
THOUGHOUT(!), the U.S.,..
on MANY different corners,,..
performing MANY different Art forms,..
"What?" "How?" and "Why?"

Yeah,..there's whole section of Magicians, within the pages.
( so, it's 'read-ible'. ; ) )

And, there ARE some routines, effects, and 'good lines', in the book.

But what she captures is:
The drive. The motivation. The circumstances. ,..of the Performers.
The 'Spirit'?

I feel so.

It's fun listening to a Magician tell her,..a 'non-magician':
"Hey, we're all just doing this,'til we get 'a break'." Glenn Gazin

My Lady, Monika, loves the line from guitarist Peter Damien:
"Ah, you gotta know, all us Street Performers are just out here 'cause we're on the make!" : )

There's a GREAT(!) Harry Anderson interview(!.!), in the book!
"You're a magician second; you're a street performer first.
You watch othe street performers; you live and breath street performing.
I was so exhausted, by the end of the day...
....there's a certain scounging quality about being on the street...
It's a challenge,..and that makes pressure.". (Harry Anderson)

There's WHOLE array(!), of various visions, of 'the Streets';
told by those,..'playing' 'the Streets'.
...all interestingly,....different. : )

What the book kissed ME with, was, a quip in the 'Jugglers' chapter.

"Do you think it's a mere trick?", the little man asked, sounding wounded.
"An amusement for the gapers?
A means of picking up a crown or two at a provincial carnival?
It is all of those things yes,..
but first,
It is a way of life, a friend, a creed,
...a species of worship."

....blew me away.

I recommend the book.
'Passing the Hat', by Patricia Campbell.

"Books are our friends." Milo (Arthur Brandon)
gallagher

p.s.: For the Romantics. Richard Wexler. (p. 56)
"A good street-performing act is like a pilot light.
People come to it, and somewhere back in their past
they have put aside the idea that they might be a dancer or an artist or a musician.
Everybody has had some such dream,
but put it aside and gone with their humdrum life.
And then they see the Street Performer and see that:
'somebody is managing to get away with it, with life and managing to live between the cracks!'.
"I may never do it.", they say,"but if somebody's doing it, ...my dream is still alive!"

...try to be a 'good Street Performer'. : )

Even more romantic:

"...the life of a street conjurer suggests to many people an unusual, romantic kind of existence. With his few props and belongings, he can
travel wherever there are people and sunshine, pull out his deck of cards, and begin a performance. People see the street magician as someone in tune with the seasons, but toughened to all the accidents and mishaps of the city. And his dark figure suggests romantic characters out of the past, wandering adventurers and fortuneseekers, carefree gamblers, circus performers, country travelers.
Most people long, in some way, for that impossible freedom." - Claflin - Street Magic

Jimmy Talks A Lot is a great living resource.