Are there real street magicians?

Oct 13, 2007
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Hey guys,

I read so many posts which deny the existance of real street magic. They are spread all over the forum.
But could such a big community and so many prducts, based on the ideo of street magic, exist if there is no street magic?
I know, there are a lot of different definitions and conceptions of street magic, so I will tell you exactly what I mean:
People, without cameras or a public known face, doing magic for random people on the street. That's it.

But in this community there are already enough (actually even more than that) speculations about the existance of streetmagic, so please just post if you are doing streetmagic or not, maybe with some good reasons or if you had success with street magic, etc. but NO unreasend and general statments like "there is no streetmagic".

Hopefully this thread will clear this up finally...we will see.

- muahzz

Edit:
Oh damn, I'm so f***** stupid -.-
Of course this thread is in the wrong forum...should be in the general discussion...lost my orientation...sorry about that.
 
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Oct 6, 2007
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Well, my view of street magic is quite similar to yours, however it doesnt really matter about the cameras or not (dont really know waht you mean)

Street magic is just going up to someone and performing magic up close. In my P.O.V., it doesnt matter if its literally on the street or not, as long its just performing magic to someone up close. The difference between this and stage magic for example, is that the stage has many (larger) props, things that you may need to prepare alot for. Im not saying street magic doesnt need props, but its usually small and mobile.

Street magic is great, because you can amaze and entertain people almost with no perparation.
 
Oct 13, 2007
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Which means you already did street magic?
And imo the cameras play a big role (like mentioned in those posts I spoke about), because with cameras und a crew you'll get better reactions. The theory of many people here was/is, that street magic isn't possible without that things, because people are just annoyed and confused.

But I didn't want to start a discussion about that.
The question is did you already do street magic and what are your experiences with it?
 
Oct 6, 2007
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Well I have.

Reactions are great, best is to walk in the street and when u see someone that might be interested show them something.

I got some pretty good reaecyions, usually people laugh and its just like OMG.
When i did street magic, it was just impromtu, i.e,. i just had cards with me so i started doing some 2 card monte, here then there, biddle trick etc. Great tricks and a pretty good reaction.

I think street magic is sometimes overrated in difficulty. What i mean by this is that people think doing magic in the street is like REALLY hard. But its not. As long as youve got the technique down well and youre a good talker/performer, then youre all set!
 
Oct 24, 2007
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And imo the cameras play a big role (like mentioned in those posts I spoke about), because with cameras und a crew you'll get better reactions. The theory of many people here was/is, that street magic isn't possible without that things, because people are just annoyed and confused.

The whole camera deal isn't exactly true, yes it might have a positive impact on your spectator, but remember, it might have a negative impact. Lots of people don't want to be on camera, some people do. But there is a larger amount of people that don't want to.

When performing street magic, there are several things you need to look for in order to not be rejected. First, someone that looks busy, you should not approach, that's sort of a no brainer. Also, a couple, you shouldn't approach them either, usually they're out on a date together or something and don't want to be disturbed. The good thing to do is find someone casually window shopping or strolling about. The best thing to do is find someone who looks bored and is sitting down outside! They never really mind watching.

Also, don't do the "David Blaine" thing and just walk up and say, "Do you want to see some magic?". Walk-up, introduce yourself as a magician and politely ask them if they would like to see something.

Street magic is possible, the question is, do you have the presence and the talent to do it? If you do, then you can do street magic. ;)

Tyler
 
Nov 8, 2007
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Street magic... Where you just do some crazy magic and impress people on the street hence the name. Gimmick or not, with camera or not, don't matter. Even floating a piece of paper on the street, playing some mind game to confuse people... street magic..

Cheers

Albert
 
Oct 13, 2007
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@ Johnson:
Ok, thanks for that piece of advice, really helpful. Was one of the most informative posts I've read in the last time. But you made me doubting on myself...do I have the presence? But I'll think about that in another thread...and at least I'll try and practize ;)

Although you didn't mention if you already did real streetmagic (see my definition above), but I think your post suggests you did ;)

Seems like street magic really exists. Not only in trailers. A few other examples would be great too :)

Edit:
Sorry for pointing that out so directly again, but this thread is NOT about the definition of streetmagic. I gave one above and wanted to know if you did that type of magic and what were your experiences.
 
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Oct 6, 2007
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Ok, so now for some real life tips jsut like u want ;):

When you go up to someone, dont really say
"do you want to see SOMETHING", cuz some ppl might get the wrong impression of that haha..You want to introduce yourself, show your cards so they know whats happenning and as johnson said, "Hey, I'm ....., can i show you some magic?...and what's your name?, something like that..

Before doing street magic, you shud practise and maybe perform alot for ppl you know, so you dont have the performing butterflies in your stomach.

And as i said, practise and make sure you can do tricks easily, witout TENSION. Once your really comfortable then hit the streets.
 
Nov 29, 2007
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Missouri
I am interested in magic, but I've never really performed in front of a stranger. This 'street magic' sounds interesting. Could someone give me a few tips, and a few good things to start with? :confused:
 
Oct 24, 2007
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@ Johnson:
Ok, thanks for that piece of advice, really helpful. Was one of the most informative posts I've read in the last time. But you made me doubting on myself...do I have the presence? But I'll think about that in another thread...and at least I'll try and practize ;)

Although you didn't mention if you already did real streetmagic (see my definition above), but I think your post suggests you did ;)

\[/B]

Yes, I've gone out into the streets and performed magic.

I didn't mean to make you doubt yourself, the presence I was referring to was a friendly one. You want people to like you, not be like, "Oh great, it's the "weird/annoying/monotone" kid that performs magic."

Don't doubt yourself, I used to be super shy! Once you get into performing though, it's really fun! It's fun to know you made someones day, to know they are completely amazed and you entertained them!

Performance, presence, patter, image. It's something a lot of young magician miss. Yeah, anyone can go out and do any old trick, but is that going to be entertaining? No, you need to talk, not just stand there and say, "Pick a card. Okay, is this your card." It needs to connect with the spectator, and usually young magicians don't understand how to.

How do you connect with a spectator? Well first of all, you need to connect with them personally, introduce yourself, be open about yourself to them. Then make your performance exciting, do the unexpected! Think of your performance as a mountain, build it up. Don't just BAM, there's the trick! If you get what I'm saying.

Anyway, this is to angelic.vampiress. You're just getting started eh? Well, as a beginner I would suggest some books. Yes, I know there are lots of catchy and eye pleasing tricks out there that you could just learn and do. Books are were you start! Then you can move on to the catchy and eye pleasing tricks.

Starting out with books, why is this better? With books such as "Bobo's Modern Coin Magic" and "Mark Wilson's Complete Course In Magic", which contain the basics, you can build a base for your magic knowledge. With these books as your knowledge base you will be able to perform magic and also create your own routines (even though most routines you come up with at first will already be routines within the magic world, it will have your own twist), I highly suggest these books to all beginners.

Tyler Johnson

NOTE: I borrowed "Mark Wilson's Complete Course In Magic" from my library. Check out your local library to see if it has it! "Bobo's Modern Coin Magic" is a great book! Also, if you have these and want to move on, and if you like coins, I suggest "Digital Dissolve" from right here at T11.
 
Nov 2, 2007
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Norway
Ok, so now for some real life tips jsut like u want ;):

When you go up to someone, dont really say
"do you want to see SOMETHING", cuz some ppl might get the wrong impression of that haha..You want to introduce yourself, show your cards so they know whats happenning and as johnson said, "Hey, I'm ....., can i show you some magic?...and what's your name?, something like that..

Before doing street magic, you shud practise and maybe perform alot for ppl you know, so you dont have the performing butterflies in your stomach.

And as i said, practise and make sure you can do tricks easily, witout TENSION. Once your really comfortable then hit the streets.

ultimately i want to do tricks for people in the streets or any scenario where i dont really know the people.(just barely scratched the surface of card tricks)

i live in Norway and saying "im a magician" sounds a bit silly in Norwegian same with "magic".

if anything i would say it straight like card trick, coin trick etc. because thats what it is.
 
Sep 2, 2007
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Street magic is doing magic for people you don't know. Simple as that. I plan to film soem street magic myself, but I'm quite shy. Anyway the camera really doesn't matter as logn as you get out ther do your thing and have fun
 
Aug 31, 2007
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I'm sure there are, but that's not really important.

What is important (to me) is BUSKERS. And I mean real buskers, who make a living doing magic. People like Gazzo, Kosmo, and Danny Hustle. These guys are the ultimate performers. It's hard to go out there on the street and perform in the middle of a circle of people. These guys know there routines dead-on, are masters at dealing with hecklers, and know how to get paid. These people, in my opinion, are the real street magicians. Now, I'm not saying that if you do magic for one random person on the street, you're not a magician. But when it comes to someone to look up to, because they're the best performers, you need to learn about buskers. That is street magic and it's best. :)

Just my $0.02. :p
 
Sep 1, 2007
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Florida.
On this forum: Maybe a couple here and there.

But the rest, IMHO, are just posers, suing the internet to disguise their lives.

Now I do not want to sound like a Hypocrite, since I do not usually perform on the streets that often, I have had enough experience in other areas to help describe the situation to others.

I will say this, the feeling you get when performing is incredible, its like being on a Natural High (by Bloodstone.....no one got that? Damn.)

Try it sometime.......
 
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