I'm curious as to how others build a tip...anyone interested in sharing??

Briansmagic:

The best tip builder I ever saw was Don Driver in his DVD Building A Tip. Its all there...everything you need to draw big tips. This is especially good if you are busking magic shows on the street.

GET IT You will be glad you did.

ROD

The best way I have found to build a tip is to use a Magic Worm/Squirmle/Fuzzle and keep it moving over your hands. It never fails to stop people dead in their tracks. SETH

Rod,
I appreciate you giving my "Building a Tip" DVD a plug but its not the way to build a tip for pitching.I have used it when things were REALLY bad but its not easy to sagway from the dollar bill bally into a pitch.I put the DVD out for street buskers more than pitchman.

I think Seth is right on.The squirmle can stop them dead in their feet.Remember people attract people,so when two stop four will stop etc.

Later,Don

Hi Don,
Thanks for helping me find your DVD via PM. I ordered it and it's on it's way!

Hello Don:

YES! The sqirmle is a great tip builder for pitching, Seth is right on! I think I didn't realize briansmagic was asking about tips for pitching. I assumed Briansmagic was a magician and needing general busking pitch tips, as he didn't mention pitching in his first post.

Thanks Don for getting me on the right track.

And good luck briansmagic on the pitching!

ROD

Hello Briansmagic:

For pitching I use the squirmle to attract a tip, same as Seth. I would highly recommend using that method . IT WORKS!

ROD

On building a tip with a Magic Worm -- I have found that the more you can interact with the worm, the better the audience response. I treat the worm as my "assistant" and talk to it, encouraging him to perform his tricks and so forth. I also bring him close to my ear and he "talks" to me, too. When the worm crawls up the side of the cup and gives me a kiss (see Don Driver's DVD for this cute move), the crowd goes wild every time.

This method of presentation has two good advantages. First, you don't have to talk to the audience, which is good especially if there isn't any yet. I just stand there and talk to the worm as he crawls all over my hands and jumps from cup to cup. This attracts people like moths to a flame! I don't address the crowd directly, but if somebody slows down to watch, I will say "Hey, come on over and say "Hi" to my good buddy, Willie the Magic Worm. Don't worry, he doesn't bite -- he doesn't have any teeth or a mouth!" Of course, once you get a small tip going, you can start talking to the people and go into your pitch.

Second, doing this "humanizes" the worm and people see it as a living thing. So they stop wondering about how it's done and start being entertained. (Sort of like the same situation with a ventriloquist and his dummy.) Then they start thinking about how great it would be if THEY could take one home and do the same thing -- and bingo, it's sold!

When you're done the worm pitch, you can either repeat it or slide right into a Svengali Deck pitch if you have the right sort of a crowd (teens and up), and you will already have an automatic tip right there. Even if a few of the folks leave, you still have the beginnings of the next tip (I think this is called "rolling the tip over").

Not bad for a piece of chenille that costs you a buck or less. SETH

BTW, I just happened to take a closer look at Brian's avatar picture, and had to laugh.

He is levitating a female assistant -- and he wants to know how to build a tip? It looks like he's already got something that far surpasses a Magic Worm! SETH

Seth...come on now,even Mason and Dixon had to draw the line somewhere.

Later,Don

Yes...

I saw his avatar on his first post..Didn't look like pitching to me hahaha that's why I mentioned the busking info.

ROD