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Nick W Special user 515 Posts |
Pitch - where you street perform
I don't care how good you are or how long you have been on that pitch, it does not belong to you. Don't tell me this is how you make a living, were all here making a living. Everything under the sun belongs to everyone. What's yours is mine and whats mine is yours. Claiming a pitch to be yours is you displaying your inexperience in this game. GET OFF IT and PACK IT UP! however, if someone shows up to the pitch and they are a little inexperienced, or don't perform for a living, you can tell them that taking a prime time slot on saturday night might not be the best move for them. but they have a right to perform there just as you. we all deserve a chance to be our highest self and perform at our fullest potential. anyone who tries to stop that should go home. seriously. I have performed on pitches all over the world and even the meanest buskers would not say to another busker that they arent welcome. only the amateurs have said that to me. lets advance shall we? |
G.Gilbert Elite user baltimore 495 Posts |
Quote:
On Jul 18, 2014, Nick W wrote: I've been a bit less polite about it... a spray paint artist tried setting up in my spot that I worked for a long time, and I started moving his stuff for him.... A couple of years ago, this other guy was trying to learn busking... Gazzo was in town and yelled at me "GET THIS BOY OFF THE PITCH NOW GEORGE HE'S A NICKLE HOLDING UP A DOLLAR".... I took it very serious, but I was laughing my ass off on the inside because it was true. |
G.Gilbert Elite user baltimore 495 Posts |
The pitch that I work at now is a festival with the street entertainment coordinated by a seasoned performer, Dallas Saupe, so things kind of work in our favor. Pitches are limited to 7 spots.. 2 of them are outside of the main happenings of the festival.... We will usually only have 1 type of act, unless the act is unique (one magician doing cup, one rola bola juggling act, one unicycle juggling act, on strait jacket, one cyr wheel, one break dance, one acrobat, etc) .. RiffRaFF (rafeal villa ) from this forum has worked here while I was working because our acts are totally different. Shel Higgens as well. There is a newly adopted bucket system where first bucket gets to do draw spots first. It's not a bad system, and it only takes a short amount of attendance to make first bucket since the year is broken up into quarters.....
BUT... If you can't hold a circle for just 25 minutes, you are asked not to partake in our lottery, and work outside of the festival to get your chops up... Not a bad system at all.. largely due to the fact that Dallas has street performed for over 20 years, so he gets it, and the other full time performers have an equal share of input on how we should operate as well. |
Nick W Special user 515 Posts |
Spray paint artists need their own space like a chalk artist. not with actual acts.
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MagiCol Special user Dargaville, New Zealand 929 Posts |
For beginner buskers, if you work at the same pitch all the time, all the time, arriving at your pitch only to find someone else already set up there means you have to busk somewhere new. That's beneficial because it forces you to find another pitch place. Even if it is only 20 metres/50 feet away from your usual spot. It gives you a new view on the area and may bring you in contact with new people to entertain and collect hat money from. That move is the first on your travels to new pitches. It helps you get more comfortable street performing ANYWHERE, rather than just the one regular spot.
Jimmy Talksalot has a chapter called "A Busker Must Travel to Be Great" - page 108 in his book "To Lure with Spectacle..."
The presentation makes the magic.
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KendallScot Regular user Denver, Colorado 133 Posts |
I had an interesting run-in with a young guitarist yesterday on Pearl Street. I was already setup and getting ready for my first show and this guy came up and asked if he could setup right in front of me. Seriously, he wanted to setup 5 feet in front of my case right where I perform. He LOOKED seedy and inexperienced and I have not seen him on the mall before. I actually thought he was joking.
I said, "No, I'm already setup here but there's a few good spots over there" I pointed to a couple of spots about 30 feet away. He got very snarky and said, "Oh... so you OWN this space here? You pay the mall for this space?" I said, "No, of course not. It is common courtesy for one act not to setup on top of another act that's already there." I then told him all the basic "Unwritten" rules of busking. He actually said this: "Well, did the Europeans show the American Indians common courtesy when they took over the country?" He was getting pretty worked up about it and actually scared off one of the Greenpeace workers in the area. (This is Boulder... We have Greenpeace the way Seattle has coffee houses) I was able to calm him down and explained to him that he can setup wherever he wants but if he sets up on top of other acts he will get a reputation for being a jerk and that would be bad. Not only that, but my act is large, loud and frequent so he wouldn't make much money near me. I also told him if he keeps his show to 20 minutes or so, I'd be happy to share the pitch. He admitted that he was so upset about it because everywhere he wanted to setup there was already someone there. I told him to make sure he gets to the mall earlier tomorrow and pick whatever spot he wants. He left and I didn't see him the rest of the day. A funny side-note: A little bit after the guy left, the Greenpeace worker that ran off came back looking worried and said, "Man, I was scared that guy was going to hit you. What happened? I said "I'm a Magician... I made him disappear" He gave me a weird look and moved about 50 feet away from me. Ahh, the power we wield...
Kendall Scot
"The art of a magician is to create wonder. If we live with a sense of wonder, our lives will be filled with joy" **Doug Henning** "I drank WHAT?"" **Socrates** |
Nick W Special user 515 Posts |
In that case the least I would suggest is round robin with me....
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Nick W Special user 515 Posts |
In that case the least I would suggest is round robin with me....
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gman Special user Lancaster, pa 751 Posts |
I was watching the TV last night when I got home and there was something about some guy who was a masked wrestler and some other guy who told him to get off his spot. It seems there was a fight or something and the 2nd guy was arrested and the masked wrestler was allowed to continue.
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