Started Busking/Street Performing!

Vorezo

Elite Member
Mar 21, 2009
334
6
This is how it happened...

Eric: Want to start busking?

Alex: Okay lets do it!

**Googles where to find busking licence**
Next day we started!

We have never done anything like this before, and it seems easy thinking about it but it does get a little tiring.. but is fun. So here is our first video of our fourth day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH-TW49183E

We ran into a slight problem on this day........But we overcame that in a weird way. And yes the performaces are not amazing spectacular?s but we hope to improve. Its hard to get a crowd and keep it and in the end ask for money. Right now we arent really going in with a script or a set of effects we are going to use, were just testing the waters to see how it is.

I hope you like our first attempt at this and if you have ever done something like this before we would like to hear what you have to say! Especially on crowd control and keeping crowds or getting crowds...

Thanks!
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
2,945
Haven't watched the video, but I can tell you this now: If you actually want to make decent money, you will need a script and a set. You're not really testing the waters until you have those down, you're just kind of ... looking at the waters and wondering what it'll be like.
 
Dec 20, 2009
672
9
Massachusetts
Nice... Could you tell me how much money you've made so far? I've always been wanting to perform on the streets, but just never got to it...
 

Vorezo

Elite Member
Mar 21, 2009
334
6
Haven't watched the video, but I can tell you this now: If you actually want to make decent money, you will need a script and a set. You're not really testing the waters until you have those down, you're just kind of ... looking at the waters and wondering what it'll be like.

Sure thats a way of putting it. For what we are doing at this point i think the money we have made is pretty decent. Its kind of like one of us does a set and then the other. Sometimes we mix it up so both of us perform in the same set. Really up in the air though lol. And none of it is really rehearsed, we kinda just put something together as it happens...

In the next few days doing this we will look into creating a set which feels natural to us. We are basicaly seeing what will work and what will not work right now...

Thanks for the reply!
 
Oct 11, 2007
277
2
What worked well for me, was being a runner and a juggler, I ran the 5K and 10K races while juggling and thousands saw me! Then at the party after the race, everyone knew me either from the announcer at the finish line or from seeing me, so they would instantly ask me to perform for them, seeing that I do magic as well.

The moral is to look for creative ways like that to promote yourself before doing performances. For example, I'll be doing some illusions during a rock concert that my band is playing. This will spur people's interest when they see me doing magic afterwards.

Good luck and keep performing! That is the best way to get better; through experience!

-emagician
 

Vorezo

Elite Member
Mar 21, 2009
334
6
Nice... Could you tell me how much money you've made so far? I've always been wanting to perform on the streets, but just never got to it...

Thats a personal question.

Just kidding, we started slow then made decent amounts. On the first day we made like $50 as we had no clue of anything. Then the next day we made almost nothing. Then after that it has been much muchhhhh higher. But 4 days into it, i would highly reccomend trying it out!
 
Jul 14, 2008
936
0
$50 on the first day? I know that it is not much, but not bad for a first day! However, you may want to be careful about angle problems and that's the problem when it comes to angle/cover for ACR.

I hope this will change overtime. Other than that, best of luck to your busking
 
Sep 1, 2007
340
1
Ontario, Canada
Like someone else said watch your angles. Also that guy was looking at the card in card to mouth and you just kind of let him. I dont know if he noticed or not though. Overall good job.
 
Apr 5, 2009
874
1
29
Illinois
yeah something wasn't right with th ACR it looked right sleight wise and it was clean.. BUT! and this is a big BUT!.... you (or your friend?) werent connecting with the spectator, i couldn't tell if English wasn't his first language and there was a language barrier there, but there was this gap there.

the mind reading was good. not impressive from a magicians standpoint by any means, but it got through. its hard for a spectator not to follow that.

one thing i could suggest with the ACR is.... write a story..... give it some meaning... please... it seemed to me like a 'see, we'll stick it here, then if we snap.. it rises to the top!' 3 times... who cares? with the mind reading the spectator was like 'HOLY CRAP THE DUDE READ MY MIND!.... i wonder what else he saw while he was in there...' theres that intrinsic implication with mind reading, that many magicians sell short... so the fact that you were reading minds made it more powerful over the meaningless-ACR. not that you had a story or any kind of meaning to accompany the mind reading, just the fact that it was mind reading.

Don't limit the power of an ACR... give it some meaning and it will rock worlds.
 
Feb 9, 2010
9
0
This is how it happened...

Eric: Want to start busking?

Alex: Okay lets do it!

**Googles where to find busking licence**
Next day we started!

We have never done anything like this before, and it seems easy thinking about it but it does get a little tiring.. but is fun. So here is our first video of our fourth day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH-TW49183E

We ran into a slight problem on this day........But we overcame that in a weird way. And yes the performaces are not amazing spectacular?s but we hope to improve. Its hard to get a crowd and keep it and in the end ask for money. Right now we arent really going in with a script or a set of effects we are going to use, were just testing the waters to see how it is.

I hope you like our first attempt at this and if you have ever done something like this before we would like to hear what you have to say! Especially on crowd control and keeping crowds or getting crowds...

Thanks!

Oh hey! You're that guy that works at Morissey Magic (Mnemonica guy)! You probably don't remember me but I was the guy you were showing that 5 card trick to and I was stumped. I bought like $90 worth of cards that day.
 

Vorezo

Elite Member
Mar 21, 2009
334
6
Oh hey! You're that guy that works at Morissey Magic (Mnemonica guy)! You probably don't remember me but I was the guy you were showing that 5 card trick to and I was stumped. I bought like $90 worth of cards that day.

I do remember and yes thats me :). Im sure you will soon figure it out ;)

And thanks for the comments so far! We will attempt it again, hopefully all goes well!
 
Mar 19, 2009
85
0
Calgary, AB
Ok first and foremost congrats on getting out and performing! Your ahead of 90% of people doing magic on the internet. I really disagree with the script and routines comment.... you have to go look at the water before you jump in!

There no way your going to know what works, what gets the best reactions unless you spend countless hours performing for people.

Going in there with a set script and routines doesnt give you the flexibility and growth.

As a long time busker (maybe 20 years or so) I like to give a few tips.LAWAYS Smile! Laugh with the crowd! You really do need to work on connecting with the spectators. This will also happen over time. Just think about this, the amount of time you spend practicing the sleights for your routines, you should at least spend that much time on your patter, body language and personality.

I also found that you both like to explain to much to your spectator what they just did before the magic happens, they were there, they know what they just did. Let the magic happen without explaining the before part. (I just read that sentence not sure if it make sense so Ill give a example) One part you were like ok so you picked a card, you put it back in the deck .... this type of thing isnt needed and takes away from the end result.

Also from everything I watched both of you do (both videos) you need more visual stuff, hit them hard in the face.

Also why not tell these guys how much money you made? All your going to do is inspire and encourage other to do! I can tell you some days I could make 500 bucks, this was also like a 8 hour shift. I also dont know many people with so called real jobs that make 62.50 an hour.

So let it be known inspire! No matter what I give you both all the credit in the world for going out there and putting it all on the line!

HOLLA!
 
Jun 10, 2010
1,360
1
Nice videos, really liked them. I don't really have much advice, as much of what I would've said has already been stated, sooo... yeah. In the first video, when your friend (or you) was throwing cards at the cars, how did he do that? It was more like flicking it off rather then throwing it, but still..
 
Dec 20, 2009
672
9
Massachusetts
Ok first and foremost congrats on getting out and performing! Your ahead of 90% of people doing magic on the internet. I really disagree with the script and routines comment.... you have to go look at the water before you jump in!

There no way your going to know what works, what gets the best reactions unless you spend countless hours performing for people.

Going in there with a set script and routines doesnt give you the flexibility and growth.

As a long time busker (maybe 20 years or so) I like to give a few tips.LAWAYS Smile! Laugh with the crowd! You really do need to work on connecting with the spectators. This will also happen over time. Just think about this, the amount of time you spend practicing the sleights for your routines, you should at least spend that much time on your patter, body language and personality.

I also found that you both like to explain to much to your spectator what they just did before the magic happens, they were there, they know what they just did. Let the magic happen without explaining the before part. (I just read that sentence not sure if it make sense so Ill give a example) One part you were like ok so you picked a card, you put it back in the deck .... this type of thing isnt needed and takes away from the end result.

Also from everything I watched both of you do (both videos) you need more visual stuff, hit them hard in the face.

Also why not tell these guys how much money you made? All your going to do is inspire and encourage other to do! I can tell you some days I could make 500 bucks, this was also like a 8 hour shift. I also dont know many people with so called real jobs that make 62.50 an hour.

So let it be known inspire! No matter what I give you both all the credit in the world for going out there and putting it all on the line!

HOLLA!

well that was inspiring... :)
 
Sep 26, 2007
591
5
Tokyo, Japan
I think you guys are on to something good here. With the current line up of effects you are doing, you probably won't pull in much money on a regular basis, but you are going to gain priceless amounts of experience and wisdom if you keep it up. Just remember to go into it all with an open mind. Don't expect to pull in the big bucks, but take some notes on how your audience is reacting or not reacting. For example, doing your muscle pass as an actual effect, really isn't that great for busking. In walk around, it can be tied in to a routine, but busking, your job is to pull people in, hit them hard, and keep them there. You have a lot of competition out there.

You could use the muscle pass to pull people in. Just start doing it and people walking by might catch it and come to take a closer look. If you notice a group of people stop to see what you are doing from a distance, acknowledge them, do a quick vanish and production, and then BAM, hit them with a switch to a jumbo coin. That should be enough to pull some people in.

Each time you finish a day, go home and really review what things hit hard, which were mediocre, and work on making them better, and or taking them out completely.

Pick up some ninja rings and polish that act. Learn cups and balls. Things that can be seen and enjoyed from a short distance.
 
Apr 5, 2009
874
1
29
Illinois
Ok first and foremost congrats on getting out and performing! Your ahead of 90% of people doing magic on the internet. I really disagree with the script and routines comment.... you have to go look at the water before you jump in!

There no way your going to know what works, what gets the best reactions unless you spend countless hours performing for people.

Going in there with a set script and routines doesnt give you the flexibility and growth.

As a long time busker (maybe 20 years or so) I like to give a few tips.LAWAYS Smile! Laugh with the crowd! You really do need to work on connecting with the spectators. This will also happen over time. Just think about this, the amount of time you spend practicing the sleights for your routines, you should at least spend that much time on your patter, body language and personality.

I also found that you both like to explain to much to your spectator what they just did before the magic happens, they were there, they know what they just did. Let the magic happen without explaining the before part. (I just read that sentence not sure if it make sense so Ill give a example) One part you were like ok so you picked a card, you put it back in the deck .... this type of thing isnt needed and takes away from the end result.

Also from everything I watched both of you do (both videos) you need more visual stuff, hit them hard in the face.

Also why not tell these guys how much money you made? All your going to do is inspire and encourage other to do! I can tell you some days I could make 500 bucks, this was also like a 8 hour shift. I also dont know many people with so called real jobs that make 62.50 an hour.

So let it be known inspire! No matter what I give you both all the credit in the world for going out there and putting it all on the line!

HOLLA!

i don't know if you were refering to my post. but i was not telling them they should stop busking and write scripts. by all means they're doing great things by hitting the street. but the ACR wasn't great. so i offered advice
 
Mar 19, 2009
85
0
Calgary, AB
Thanks! Im really trying to get back involved with the magic scene on the internet and in general, as it really kills me the way magic is being taught and how there so magic video magicians, not performing magicians.

Also Worldwideme, I do understand the ACR wasnt the greatest, but if your starting out busking I (of course this just me) always recommend doing everything you know with not set list or script. This way as I said you'll find what works, what gets the best reaction. Starting right off with scripts and a certain show/ routines really limits you. Thats all I ment.

Any advice I find is always good!
Im lucky in my city you dont need a busker license. As long as your not causing any problems you can go any where and perform. Only time you need any kind of permission is when busking at the subway. Then all you really need to do is ask and there very understanding and friendly.

Im also very lucky I live in a city known as the city of festivals. We have so many festivals here it not even funny! It so wicked!

If any of you are down in Edmonton, Alberta let me know and we'll go blow some peoples minds away!

well that was inspiring... :)
 
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