Looking to put together the Perfect street set. My table has been upgraded with a nice cut to fit Gibson pad and I was trying to come up with the set of effects but have a block and can't come up with the last one.

Here is what I have down so far:

1. PN (straight up/no baby/supreme etc.)
2............Stuck....
3. Ellis Ring+Rope (three phase)
4. Chain shackle escape.(under a nice foulard) Played straight or comedy
5. Quarter go and coin hank. (no rattle box,too big for my pouch)

All of these fit nicely in my leather fanny pack, so the second one has to as well.

As you can see all are instant reset. I have a nice double feather flower production silk but you don't have anywhere to do the reset. I have double color chang silks and other silks and it just kind of felt like that was the place for a silk effect but I'm stuck for ideas.

Maby I need a different effect than silks there?

I'm willing to purchase whatever fits if I don't already have it.

Greetings and Salutations KingStardog,

To keep a flow going, why not go from your PN to the ring and rope (rope to rope & ring), then something with a silk or the foulard (introduce foulard to escape), and conclude with your finale.

Maybe use the foulard to produce the shackles?

Sounds like a smooth progression of effects to me, YMMV.

That's my $.02 (USD) worth. Good luck and have fun playing in the street!

Joe in KC

Make magic happen, live a great adventure!

That sounds good Joe. It also offers a reason to change the ropes back.

I think I was trying to throw too much magic out there at once.

How long do you see each effect taking? And how long total for the set?

BroDavid

Good question BroDavid,

I was shooting for the standard 3 minutes per effect, and a show average of 12 minutes total.

The shackles and quarter go are the time variable effects, since I will need spectators for each. The two feather flowers from the silk is more eye candy than anything else and would finish in about 45 seconds. It takes about a minute to reset but can't be done in a pocket, and is too good to reveal during a reset.

I can see that from running my tapes that the shackles, quarter-go, and mental epic affect the spectators more profoundly than almost all of the others, but the epic is too big to pack around. I have two sets of chain shackles. The big solid ring pro set and a small solid ring lightweight set from India. I planned on using the small set, because the Pro set is too heavy to carry around in my pack. Either one gets the same response.

I cut the Cups and Balls because its been worked to death, at a couple places I might want to go.

Ok here is the set I'm practicing:

1.PN during introductions.
2.Ring (Ellis)and rope with the longest rope.
3.Chop cup (basic 3 phase to save time)
4.Qtr-Go box w/coin hank.
5.Chain shackle escape.

How does it play?

My wife got several of the ganster kids from the neighborhood to show up in the back yard last night while I was in the spare bedroom, and had me come out and do a show w/no notice/no preparation, for the group.

I ran through the set I listed above and it slayed, them on the spot. All of them were covering their eyes and hold their heads....saying no...no way ....not here...no. Naturaly I assured them nothing was beyond physical explanation when I was done.

I did my own version of Mental Epic afterwards and that was a little too strong for most of them, so it probably wont be a part of the street act.

This is the problem. I'm still way over the 10-12 minutes that I was shooting for.

I was thinking of doing PM as a draw to help build an edge, first but the live performace was still around 17 minutes. I have to cut either the Quarter-go or the chain shackles to shorten the act.

Does anyone else do a 15-20 minute show or is everyone else staying at 10-12 minutes?

If I had to recommend cutting anything, I'd say cut the Quarter-Go effect. Ending with an escape is *really* strong.

I was about to suggest you may want to cut Quarter-Go and end with the shackle escape when it scrolled into Curt Frye's post, in which he said exactly the same thing!

The goal I shoot for is four shows an hour with a break, naturally, between each show. That works for me (and a whole lot of other street performers).

Quarter-go must go. Without it, and no questions or interuptions: 10 minutes. This still allows for a high quality presentation of each effect, without being rushed for time.
I am going to practice more for the next week or so as I get spare time, and then shoot some film to see how it plays.

I'm also going to put together a nice sign for the table, between shows, and get a new clock face for the "next show time".

I think I'm going to work a couple of the art and wine festivals close to home first, and see how it goes.

Listen there are no rules when it comes to time, and when you go out and start doing this show the audience will tell you what to cut. I saw gazzo do an hour and 20 minutes. One show and no one walked, that's gazzo. Do 45 minutes, you can just do the escape in your show and spend the rest of the time building, if it were a pure magic show I would think 12 minutes would be good, but there are no rules. Do what works, until you go out and do it you won't know what works so stop planning and go to work.

koz

PN?!

PN = Professor's Nightmare

Or, for the 2000 verson Professor's Night Terrors. For some reason nightmares are referred to as night terrors now. hhmmmm.

If your going for the quick set then stick with three tricks and draw them out. PN, Ring on rope, and finish with the shackle.

Remember that people are there to watch you. Many people can do these same routines so make them yours, make them better than anyone else's version. Don't be just another performer out there, be the best performer out there.

Mat

As many have said before performance is 90% of every act.

I'd put the shackle escape up front!!! Its good for getting a crowd.

Do a couple of close up tricks first to pull 2 or 3 people in. I recommend doing a "pick a card trick" this will lock the person who picked the card in for a minute. Gradually widen your space. (Ambitous card is perfect for this.) Then show the chain. Rattle it around. Make a lot of noise. Get them to put you in the shackles. Talk loudly while they are doing this. Once you are shckled. Hold your hands up high above your head and yell a lot. A man in chains is visually interesting, and more people will stop. Do a few "false starts" untill you have a whole bunch of people. Then escape and go into your show.

Kingstardog-
I think if you asked Kozo, Danny, Eric, or any of the other guys on here who are regularly out there, I think they would all agree that the best street set should be large and made of brass.
Patrick

Patrick - are you speaking to durability of the effects & visibility, or is there some other reference here?

Thanks,

Ashkenazi The Pretty Good

Hello Kurious,

Cups and Balls seems to be the definitive street closer.

And I think Patricks's reference to Big and Brass refers to the cups.... although I am sure Gazzo would take it a step further...

BroDavid

Why does Brother David call me kurious? And isn't it spelled, "curious" in English anyway?

ATPG

Ashkenazi,
Reference #2 would be correct. I didn't think it was that subtle.

Patrick

Sorry Ashkenazi The Pretty Good, I thought I was responding to someone whose username was Kevin the Kurious, but since I don't see any posting like that, I must have been sleep typing...

BroDavid

I don't really have a "set" per say. But I do have mt "Regulars" that I do. I don't have a "set time" for a performance, because as I'm finishing up for one crowd another person or crowd comes up. I've performed for as little as 5 minutes to as long as 45 minutes. I can say that I normally start out with the "Chicago Opener" (Red Hot Mamma), and I end with MacDonald's Aces a lot of times. Since a lot of people have seen me it depends what I pull out of my drawer. I almost always include Deju Vu Deck, Thumbcuff Escape, Cut 'n' Restored Rope, Scotch & Soda, and my card to wallet, but that just me, Ed (Eddini).