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Drake New user I feel bad having only 59 Posts |
Went out busking downtown (our city has very liberal busking laws) with a few other guys from the local Ring, had a seriously awesome time. Crowds were a little low and the hat was thin (Splitting it with 7 people, me and 3 ring members and a couple of students that came with), but all said we had a great time and drew a few good crowds.
Got to try out a good many tricks and patter to see how they play to a street crowd and I will say what works at parties etc just does not flow quite the same as on the street working but I am very glad I went out and we are going to try to make it a fairly regular thing with a few of us. Have quite a few photos at http://www.facebook.com/twistedmythmagic check them out and friend me if you wish, more the merrier Have a great one ~Drake |
TheGiz Veteran user 335 Posts |
What did you learn???
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Drake New user I feel bad having only 59 Posts |
That you have to keep the effects short and sweet to an extent. Seems when you are working on the street you can really only hold attention of most for about 4-5 min.
The crowd was turning over so fast I was able to more or less routine disappering deck to draw them in. Do a story of why you never play cards with street dealers with Million Dollar Monte and was closing with Card to Wallet. Would throw in a few different things here and there like Scotch and Soda and a Spirit Writing routine and a reversed selection after 3 failed attempts to find the card I wanted to try to get a crowd up enough to work a o** a**** mentalism routine but it just seemed that they were turning over so fast. All in all I learned. Drunk people can either be great to work for or a severe pain. Keep it short and sweet and never forget a hat line. Also with the was we were set up I could gage myself to the crowd I had, more comedic and goofy or more mysterious depending on who was there. |
Paddy Inner circle Milford OH 1571 Posts |
I only do sidewalk shows, 10 to 15 minutes then start again, because to keep them longer is a pain. Gazzo does 30 to 45 minute shows and keeps the crowd, I don't know how he does it but it works for him. The first rule to know is "funny is money!!" Get the crowd laughing and the like you, if they like you thay tip you.
Paddy |
TheGreatRaymondo Special user Manchester, England 969 Posts |
For 'high impact' in the street I never leave home without my Svengali deck!
You can do a whole routine with this deck alone. The first 60 seconds are the most important. In this extremely short space of time most people will decide if they are going to hang a round or not based on wether they feel you are good or not. Also, I agree with the other contributors - keep it short - 5 mins then move on. TGR
We are inclined to believe those whom we do not know because they have not yet deceived us...
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imgic Inner circle Moved back to Midwest to see 1337 Posts |
Drake: Great pictures. Looks like you were out the whole day!
Did you have more than one performer going at a time? Looks like there were 2-3 going at once. Also, the Coroner shirt...is that part of your act? (Really killing them, eh?...sorry, couldn't resist the pun)
"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
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Drake New user I feel bad having only 59 Posts |
Yea the Coroner shirt is kinda part of the gimmick, cant see real well in the pics but I did at one point in the day have a lightning bolt on one side of my face, just something different than street clothes or standard show clothing.
There were 3-4 working at a time... to be honost it was too many but we made it work, the pitch is so big we could work both sides and funnel them into the middle with some table work. It was ok but I am going to be doing some on my own... in total there was at one point 9 magicians all working on one pitch so it got kind of Charlie Foxtrot at times |
eddierush Regular user 147 Posts |
Way to go Drake!
I say we organize a National (or International) Busker's Day. On that day se should all go out to our favorite sidewalk, plaza, park, etc and just perform, video it, and post it online. Summer is almost here!
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic
http://magiceddie.wordpress.com http://friendsofthemagi.org |
MagiCol Special user Dargaville, New Zealand 929 Posts |
Drake wrote: "in total there was at one point 9 magicians all working on one pitch so it got kind of Charlie Foxtrot at times." A great learning experience for you all. But too many of you at the same time in the same area to my way of thinking, setting up competition for yourselves both for crowd size and contributions from the public. I think people are going to give only once or twice - who gets their dollar?
So, whenever other buskers or street appeals or stalls are in the general neighborhood this competition exists. The early bird and the wise one gets the best pitch.
The presentation makes the magic.
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