Becoming a Street Magician?

[SamMorgan]

Actually, you are objectively wrong. Your town might not be busker-friendly, but there are guys on the continent who can pull down 1k Euros in an afternoon. The UK in general is pretty busker friendly. You can find videos of street magicians and musicians all over YouTube. I believe in Germany the government actually offers buskers a grant to cover some of their expenses in the months when it's just too bloody cold to go out and perform without risking your health.

Your mistake is in thinking that your experience applies to everyone, everywhere. Which gives your second to last sentence a certain note of irony.

Remember, opinions are only as good as what you can back them up with.

You are right, areas near me have barely is any buskers. London is a hot-spot for them, but I don't live near there.
As about your statement of irony. I was explaining MY opinion, not my statement of which is true.
The definition of opinion is: A view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.
So that takes away the irony.
But as for the rest of your paragraph, you are completely right about the busking society.
But the videos of people performing (that are of magicians) usually do it for free in england. You rarely find a table magician anywhere except the north of england. So most perform for free.
Thanks for clearing my thoughts up though

 

[Steerpike]

As about your statement of irony. I was explaining MY opinion, not my statement of which is true.
The definition of opinion is: A view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.
So that takes away the irony.

Irrelevant. You stated your opinion as a fact. Just don't do that, okay?

 

[SamMorgan]

Irrelevant. You stated your opinion as a fact. Just don't do that, okay?

Okay.
Nevertheless that was a complete accident. I was just adding my side to the story. I didn't say it applied to everyone.

 

[D@n]

Deck, as you can see by this thread there are a lot of magicians with different opinions on how best to perform street magic/magic in general. There are many experienced performers on this forum and most advice given is solid, even if it conflicts with the advice of others; there are many ways to perform street magic successfully. While it is wise to get advice when entering new territory, its also important to learn from your own experiences. After a few days of performing street magic, you'll find what works and doesn't work in your community and what styles fit you best.
Good luck with your performances, hopefully you can bring magic to a couple more people,
Dan

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

While I do encourage someone to busk at some point, starting out at that age and trying to busk could be quite difficult. Particularly if one doesn't have the performance experience to back it up. That's how we end up with copy cat performers.

I think starting off with guerrilla magic is fine, as long as you're careful of your victims. It could also help build your skills, repertoire and character until you're at a point where you can actually put together a busking show that's worth getting paid for.

But the idea of just walking up to people is a good one. Learn to interact with people without magic and you'll be able to use magic to make those interactions much better.

 

[deck]

also what do I perform and say? Do I just go up to them and say "Hi my name is blah blah, I'm a magician can I show you a trick?", do I say "Hi my name is blah blah, could I try something?" or do I say something else and what is guerilla magic?

 

[SamMorgan]

also what do I perform and say? Do I just go up to them and say "Hi my name is blah blah, I'm a magician can I show you a trick?", do I say "Hi my name is blah blah, could I try something?" or do I say something else and what is guerilla magic?

Honestly, the best tip for that is don't go David Blaine style. 'Hey can I show you something' I find is a terrible approach.
Be as kind and likeable as you can. First impressions count.

 

[rocket92]

I'll say it again, before you do tricks just practice approaching people. Approaching people is something you have to just get a feel for.

As for what to say: Be polite, make sure to introduce yourself, say you are a magician, and ask if they want to see a quick piece of magic. (Or trick, or something along those lines.) As people have already said, stay away from the David Blaine approach with the ambiguous word "something." Think about what you would say at school, for example, when you meet a new person.
Also, as Steerpike has already mentioned, make sure that whatever trick you are doing makes sense for who you are. Aka make sure your personality during the trick and your personality before the trick are the same. Otherwise you will find that your sudden change of character is quite unsettling to most people.

Guerrilla Magic is another name for the type of street magic you are asking about, where you actively seek out the people to perform for. As opposed to busking where you set up your table somewhere and get people as they walk by.

 

[Cedric Taylor]

This is what you should do. Have two tricks that you that are attention getters. These will be the routines you do to distinguish yourself from any other performer. And have 3 big killer tricks. Why? You can do that same 1st two and end the routines 3 different ways. It will help you look more versatile than you are. I would take the approach advice from the others. However, perform for people who are have influence. A policeman, doctor, teacher, store owner, or a loudmouth. Yes, these are people who can attract a crowd as well. People with influence will put you in the spotlight. The homeless guy on the streets? Not so much. And have fun. If you are, so will they.