Hey man. Props for getting out there and working it. I've got some ideas for you and feel free to use what you will, discard the rest, or don't use any at all. I busk out on City Walk at Universal Studios in Hollywood, and I've learned a couple of things that may help you too.
0:05 My first thought is that your performance area is way to big for what you are opening with, which is sponge balls. Unless you're doing something later in the act that requires a lot of room you'd do better with shrinking your rope line some.
2:03 Smart lad! Yes pull the audience in and pack them tightly around you. The closer you make people come the more they feel invested in the show. That means they'll actually be more likely to pay attention. Also the tighter packed in they are the harder it is for them to simply leave without tipping. You're more effective at getting tips out of the front two rows than the back five. So absolutely get everyone up to the line as quick as possible, and pack them in close.
3:39 That revolver change should have had them giving some kind of reaction. The audience is thus far pretty dead. After that color change fell flat I would have stopped the show and fluffed the audience a bit. Get them to clap, and cheer. Teach them how to applaud for an effect, and get them to do so on cue. You want them involved. The louder, more involved they audience is in what you are doing will attract others to watch, and the more people you get around you the better your chance for tips at the end are. Also people will feel more emotionally connected to you the more they give you feedback through applause. You'll also, as an entertainer, be able to feed off that energy and give back to them a better show. I'd absolutely fluff them into that effect/applause mentality from the first bit on, and call back to it frequently through out the show if the audience isn't naturally doing it.
3:56 "Free number? I didn't force that on you at all?" I'd reword that. I HATE it when people say "normal deck, I didn't force X on you did I?" or otherwise throw out magician jargon as such in their act. We all do it, and we all need to strive to not. Here's my train of thought.
"Free Number?" Yup. Free number. I thought of it myself. Just now. Yup yup.
"I didn't force that on you at all?" Nope. Sure....wait a minute. Force? What do you mean force? Can you actually do that kind of thing? Annnnnnd now my mind's running down a whole different street. Don't give me the room to think if you don't have to. "Free choice right? You thought of a number of your own choosing?" works just as well.
9:00 I've been watching you do magic for almost 10 full minutes now, and not once have you thrown out a single hat line. Ten minutes is a hell of a long time to watch someone do card tricks when you've got kids to feed, a movie to catch, a wave to surf, and shopping to do. It's hard to tell from the camera angle but I'm sure people who were there at the start of your set aren't there any longer. Those are people you didn't have the opportunity to get money from. You need to run a hat line every couple tricks or so. Remind people that you're not there for your health, and establish a culture of paying for entertainment. IF they are going to stay and watch, they should expect to tip.
10:50 This rubics cube routine has so much potential for built up drama it's not even funny. Solve it once slowly. Talk about algorithms. Talk about your non existent social life. What ever. Bring someone up and give them a two liter of soda. Challenge them to drink the soda faster than it takes you to solve it. Solve it in 15 seconds, and beat the guy drinking the two liter. Feel bad for him. Switch it up, give him a glass of soda instead. Challenge him again. Beat him again. Finally for the two second reveal give him a shot glass of soda. Surely he can drink a shot glass faster than you can solve the cube. NOPE! Give him a huge round of applause. Dude this could be your closer. I'd seriously think about retooling it.
14:00 Okay you finally introduce yourself. That's not bad. But you need to build your brand. Your brand being your name. You should open your act with your name and reason for why they should pay attention to you. Call back to it at the end as well like what you're doing here. The more times people hear a name the better they will remember it. It takes a minimum of three times before you'll be familiar with a name and no less than seven times before you remember it. That's why infomercials always repeat that 1800 number so darn much during the commercial.
14:17 Finally we have a hat line! But you shouldn't stop someone from putting money in. You shouldn't tell them to wait until the end. What if they have dinner reservations and have to leave now? Just accept the money, and thank them like you did. That was good. Also if someone tips you unexpectedly call it out! "Ladies and gentlemen what this man here is doing is called tipping! This helps me feed my dogs, take care of my girl friends, and keeps the land lords happy. ...well very happy." This lets people know what you expect from them. Also your hat should be out in front of you at your feet while you are working the entire show. That way people who leave early or are passing by can throw money into it. Always keep a few dollars and one five in the hat at all times, but make sure you also never let it get too full. Clean it out every other show.
Your hat line is lack luster. You can do so much better. There's so many good lines out there on the net feel free to google hat lines and borrow some.
"Remember all this is tax deductible."
"Give till it hurts."
"All this goes to Charity. That's my girlfriend's name..."
"This keeps the dogs fed, the wife happy and the land lords... very happy."
"If you like the show throw a dollar in. If you don't like the show, write a suggestion for improvement on a 20 , fold it up, and stick it in the hat."
"Ladies and gentlemen reach into your pockets and find something that's about six inches long and has a head on it. I'm talking about a dollar bill!!! Now throw it into my hat."
16:17 You need to grab your hat, and walk into the crowd with it. Or pass it along the front two rows if you shrink your performance area down some. Remind them again with another hat line that you expect tips! Put it out there, put it into their faces. Don't let them walk off without opening a wallet up. This isn't about show biz or art. If they want to see art then they can go to the Magic Castle and watch a stage act. This is about paying your bills and feeding your family. Chase it. Earn it. Keep going until either they all walk away or you collected something from them all. Pay attention to your tip/stiff ratio. Keep an eye on how many people walk away vs how many actually tip you. Try things, take notes tweak things until you find something that works.
Keep a binder with you. A note pad, or something. Track the hours you work, weather conditions, crowd sizes, crowd personality/attitude, tips you make, divide tips earned by hours work to find out how much you make per hour, set goals and keep to them! Make sure you take notes though. You'll improve so much if you do.
Also as a final closing thought. You jumped through 16 minutes of magical hoops to make judging from the video (the verbal thank yous, and adjusting for off screen tips) six to ten bucks? I'd be interested in knowing the actual numbers but that's just a rough guess based on what I could see. That's not a lot for the amount of work you did. Consider this, and this is advice given to me by Tom Frank a professional busker out in California. Don't work too hard for it. You get paid the same if you work 17 minutes as if you only worked 7 minutes. I know my sets are around 10 to 13 minutes myself, and I generally run about 4 to 5 tricks so you're right there in the pocket I'd say, but even at that you may want to evaluate your time usage. Make sure it's efficient.
Honestly, I'd open with the rope routine, move into the card prediction from mouth bit, and close with the rubics cube. That's just me though. I'd keep sponge balls in there specifically for kids.
Good work man. Keep it up!
