I've just been asked to perform at my place of work's open/families day. This came about because I was doing the cups and balls for a colleague. My manager noticed and started watching. When I reached the final l**ds (I use some rubber eggs) Roy, the manager actually gasped when they were revealed. He then asked me to show it to another sections manager and after they talked they asked me to do the open day.

The act will be like busking for free as I will have people wandering around and coming & going as they please. Like a busker I will be working from a table (that the company is providing and I'm hoping to take away with me afterwards!) but I don't "need" to keep a crowd although I would love to and I don't need hat-lines.

I have been "told" that I must do the cups and balls and I think that will be my closer.

Now, bearing in mind that I am a civilian working on a Royal Air Force base and there will be lots of aircraft and "exciting" things going on these are my thoughts;

I think that three effects will probably be enough.

As an opener I'm looking at David Williamson's Ring off rope. It's quick and there is not long to wait before magic happens.

This will (may) be followed by Rising Card a la Hampton Ridge.

Cups and balls to finish.

Patter would be about what magicians use. Rings, rope, cards etc then a description of C & B being the worlds oldest trick sort of like Whit Haydn's Linking Rings.

I would like to ask other, more experienced performers what they think of my ideas and thoughts and to feel free to criticise freely and maybe give some guidance, especially about playing rising cards for laughs as I'm pretty condident about my other two effects.

Many thanks
Tom

You can have a plan, that's good. But be ready to change EVERYTHING as the crowd dictates. You will have to learn how to think on your feet. It is something that time will hepl you to figure out. It's just like fishing, one day can be excellent then then you go back to the same spot next time and, well you know...

Thanks Justin, I am a fly fisher and I know only too well the perils in that respect. I only wish I didn't.

I was about to edit the post so I'll do it here.

This will be my third show for the public. I know that I will be nervous but I have performed all three routines many times for colleagues, friends etc so I know them well through constant(ish) practice and repetition.

Justin has advised me to be ready to change everything, and I have thought about this. One thing, how many back up routines should I practice and rehearse?

The show ought to be close-up but if not I am thinking about C & R rope, Whit Haydn's "Mongolian Pop Knot" or a bill vanish played for comedy that gives the "losing" spectator a prize of a tube of polo mints (think Lifesavers). I would give these out, when the spectator reaches for them I say something like "Hey, not the whole packet, only one". When opened their bill is inside the mints' holes.
This is based on "The Chapstick Effect" by Mark Wilson, another good reason to buy his "Complete course in magic"
Maybe this could be the closer? What do you think?
If it was where would the cups and balls go?

Tom

Hard questions. I met a dude from the UK once when he came to NYC. He wanted to perform at Washington Square Park. His act was good but he didn't know how to ask for the money. He did his whole show (30 minutes) and then let them walk away.

The only way to know what to do is by learning from trial and error. What size crowd can you attract and most importantly - keep. I feel that a skilled performer who has been doing it for years should perform the cups and balls. Since that is only one aspect of performing outside you also need to know how to control everything, crowd, act, manage, watch out for pickpockets, respect the area, etc. You need to be able to FULLY do these things all at the same time and do them as well as the magic.

I asked American bicycling champion Lance Armstrong how I can become a better bike rider. He told me to ride. That's the only way.

I know you are excited and want to figure it out but unfortunately you are the only one who knows the answer. What works for Gazzo might not work for you and vise versa. I have performed in the streets of NYC since the mid 80's when street magic had a whole other meaning than it does today.

My best advice is not what trick to do but instead to find out Who You are. Go from there. Be sincere and honest; don't be perceived as a hustler just trying to get money. Put on a good act and Always look clean and neat. Give off the air of being a "professional" and the tips will be larger.

But most of all, you just gotta do it. Ask David Groves what I’m talking about. He wrote a book on street performing and when he came to NYC, I took him out to Times Square – twice…let him tell you the rest.

You can do it and if you keep it up, you will get good at it.


These are some of the best SP’s I know:

Will Shaw
Gazzo
The Calypso tumblers
Jeff Sheridan
Cellini
Flaco
Ramone
Chappy Brazil
David Groves
All the guys at Balboa Park, SD


Good luck, I hope this helps...?

Ring
Rope
Cards
Cups
Balls

I'm not familiar with the Card Rise or know the size of the Ring used in the routine mentioned but these are nice props.
Using those alone there are quite a few card and rope tricks you can use as fill ins.
Combining some of the props in routines is an idea as well.
'Card Under A Drink (cup)' ala Wagner, Eason or others.
Introduce a sponge ball as one of the l**ds and go with a sponge routine.

Good luck and enjoy.

Jaz,
the ring is a chromed steel one 6" in diameter.

I don't really want to go into the card rise here, suffice to say that a card is chosen, lost in the deck and then "magically" rises from the pack. I'm sure there must be comedy in this, I suppose I'm just lazy in asking others to think of it for me!

Tom

Just keep in mind that there will probably be a LOT of noise from the planes and be prepared for some wind. With that in mind, you might not need a lot of patter (can't be heard). Also, be careful laying things on a table or you might be chasing them as they try to get away!

Good luck. Mark.

I have since found out that I will be performing in a hangar so the noise of aircraft shouldn't be a problem.

I've worked out a rough script about what magicians tend to use/history of magic.

For the ring off rope I'll explain that although most magians use more I only use one because I'm Scottish and therefore mean (a standard joke that opens the way for more corny lines).

Segue into "Mongolian Pop Knot" by switching out the rope used before for a rope around 5/6 feet long (an effect in itself). Tell the audience that stretching is not the only property of this special rope and then into M.P.K.

Ask audience what they think is the world's oldest trick, Cups & balls. Script is about how old it is. "Can you see any holes in the cups?" Point out the "hole" in the mouth of the cup etc.
I have 2 routines that I can do well, the short, 3 cup routine from Mark Wilson's Course in Magic and the longer 2 cup routine from Sleight of Dave. The final loads will be rubber eggs that are a good fit for my cups and look surprisingly real.

For an extra, just in case, I will have a couple of real eggs that I can switch in at the end of the C&B if I need something else. That will be a bill vanish and production from one of the final loads. Or maybe I'll stick with the polo mints.

Thanks for your help and advice everyone,
Tom

Well I've been home for 2 hours and I'll tell you how it went.

I started at 12 noon and did a few shows, decided to go for a cup of coffee and when I asked someone the time I got a shock when they told me it was 3.05! I thought that I had been "on" for about an hour and a half.

I must have done between 8 - 12 shows all told as after my break I went back for a final hour.

I did ring off rope followed by invisible deck and the cups to finish. The opener and the closer went down great every time but I got a bit of a shock in that the ID wasn't particularly well received. After a couple of times I replaced it with Hopping Halves, this went down much better.

The audiences were split roughly half & half children and adults. My biggest crowd was 36 and my smallest 1. I used lots of volunteers in the routines and found some really good sports. One lady in particular helping with the ID. I asked her what her name was, "Liz", she replied. Off the top of my head I asked her if that was short for Lizard, she went into fits of laughter which pleased me as I was a bit worried when I used my line. The one real time the ID routine went down well and she was to thank for it.

A few people went to their purses/wallets to give cash. I saw a couple of fivers, lots of pound & two pound coins and on one glorious occassion, a ten pound note. I told the people that I was doing this for free as it was a charity event and rather than give it to me they should donate it to the leukaemia stand a few yards down. I'm glad to say that many of them did. To make it better the lady from the hospital who was there came to see me at the end to thankme. She told me that people had told her what I said. The thank you I got from her was just great.

I had some great fun with the kids, lots of jokes and general daftness from us all. One little girl who told me that she was 5 was helping with the Cups and Balls. When I asked her to tap the cup with the wand, she looked very thoughtful and I was afraid that she was about to something horrendous like pick up the cup etc. Anyway she looked up at me and answered "NO" Got the biggest laugh of the day.

Right at the end one of the adults who was watching with his son said "My lad has a set of cups, they're plastic and came with a magic set" He picked one of my cups and stared at it for a few seconds. I asked him what he was looking for and he told me that he was trying to see the trapdoor as mine were obviously different from his sons. I handed him all 3 and told him to look hard. After about a minute he gave me them back and said "But there isn't a door." I was going to answer but he had walked off. As he walked down the hangar he was shaking his head.

So, there you go. I had a great day, I think my audiences did too. A worthwhile charity got some money and I amazed at least one man because he couldn't see the trapdoors.

Tom

Forgot to add a big thank you to everyone who, through their posts and their PM's have helped me to achieve this.

Thank you all.

Special mention to Danny Hustle and tedb, thanks guys!