I have busked occasionally with mixed results. I have got some good hats, but not consistently. I am now facing another summer, and I thought I might try to be a statue. I have an idea that would make for a good street character, but does anyone know do the stationary characters get good money? How does it stack up against doing shows?

It's enough to get you between meth fixes...and if you come up a little short and are in a pinch...well....broken bottles are free and make good shanks.

Sounds like al would know...

statues are usually a trickle hat and can do well depending on the character
pages of living statue videos here

A good statue can make good money. There is one somewhere here in town that draws big crowds.

-JoeJoe

I don't see how anyone can stay that still and that inactive for so long - I'd go bored outta my mind or get cramps!!! hahah

I hope they do make out well.

In my experiences, statues can make more money then show-acts per day in America. My ex-fiance was a silver bride. She had a great costume and made great money. At times she made more then I did per day. I've seen her do around 800 day doing statue..., with my income on top of that... we were living good... we broke up now I am with a mermaid statue. Statues make bank. By the way, chance from this forum does the gold cowboy statue.

I still don't see how the heck they stand still so long... I don't have that kind of patience.

They probably stand there wondering how you study and practice those magic tricks day after day!

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I met a guy down in Vegas around October whose known to do a cool statue and makes living with it. G.Gilbert may know him. At Vegas he did his straight jacket escape
which phenomenal ( I thought). So if he can make living with it, I'm sure the money
must be all right. I'm also sure its a little more than just standing still; you still
have to have an act, no?

Yeah, most statues move when someone puts money in the jar. So there is more to it than just standing there motionless.

-JoeJoe

I once saw a statue that was so good and stood so still people did not realise that it was a human. he was like a fountain. people will sat near him and washed their hands not realising he was real.

I don't have the clip, but there was a guy who tried statue-work and didn't make very much. As an experiment, he set up a mannican (sp) it ended up making more money than he did!

My mime teacher said he used to work outside a wax museum where he was dressed as a pirate. He would stand totally still until someone just "had" to get their picture taken next to the realistic pirate figure. After the picture was shot, he'd make a comment and scare the daylights out of them. (There was another clip of a guy doing this dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow.)

I saw a guy a few weeks ago at Fanueil Hall. The bucket looked pretty good. Not sure how long he was out there. But yeah, they move when money is put in the bucket. They don't move a lot, but there seems to be the fascination on what it's going to do next.

How can we work that into a magic act. Toss money in my hat and see what I'll do next? The bigger the hat, the bigger and better the trick?

"The bigger the hat, the bigger and better the trick?" The idea of a see-saw, the hat on on end and some weight on the other. When the hat end of the see-saw drops down, a bell rings [or something] and the magician announces that the NEXT trick is going to be a great one "hang around and see."

The only thing is, it might encourage only silver trickle rather than notes.
So, maybe drop the notes into a tube and when they reach a certain marked height, then...
as in hatting "$100...I'm coming home with you tonight!"

Oh wow, TPTB certainly aren't going to consider that "soliciting," are they?
:lol:

If a statue did make more money than a magician, would you really do that, just to make money?

I've never seen a statue dude, where I think.. "wow, that guy is creative and talanted. very entertaining!"

When I did my busking type gig for 6 years at a ballpark I could have made many times more tips if I stopped doing magic and started a balloon line. That doesn't mean I'm going to do it.

There's a certain satisfaction knowing that you can gather a bunch of people you don't know, that have no interest in you, keep them entertained for 20 minutes, and have them thank you and pay you.

I just don't see getting that kind of satisfaction being a balloon engineer or a statue.

I'm going to have to agree with Frank on this one. My only comment can be personal, and I know that I would hate my life if my job consisted of standing still in costume as people walk by and stare at me.

To me, 99.9% of the statues I have seen all over the world have been the complete opposite of creative or innovate, which gets me down because that's what people are going to start to think of as "street performing."

Frank, a few years ago Ireland went bankrupt. At this point many of us over here would consider selling a kidney if it would help clear some debts. I'm open to offers.

I have seen guys making money on balloons, but I could not do that. I have tried, and there was no satisfaction in it. I love gathering a crowd and putting on a show. But last year it was not very profitable. Bad weather and over-eager officials killed the gigs. Statues don't seem to get moved on.

If statues make money I would consider doing a few shows, then taking a break by standing there for a few hours while the money kept coming in. When Ireland regains its sovreignty and our surviving banks reopen for business, then I might become more fussy. But right now the bottom line is that money needs to be made. And I will do anything to do that. So yes, if I find that statues make more money, I will be a statue. And to hell with creativity.

My idea is to play the frozen juggler - all white suit, white wig, etc, and three white balls floating in front of me.

A lot of people would include magician's in that group.