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TonyB2009 Inner circle 5006 Posts |
A seasoned pro (who was getting far bigger hats than me) told me the other day that you need a table on the street. He said it defines your performing area, and makes you look more credible. Is he right? I was thinking of travelling light.
He also said it is possible to make several hundred a day. Any comments from the experienced guys on those statements? I am a few days into my street performing career, and so far I am loving it. But I want to get things fairly right from the start, which is why things like amplification and tables are important.
Check out Tony's new thriller Dead or Alive http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alive-Varrick-Bo......n+carson
http://www.PartyMagic.ie |
bwarren3 Special user 518 Posts |
Hey Tony,
You can go back and check out all of the past posts and you'll see that pretty much everybody that has had success on the streets is using a table.. It does define your working area and it's like the stage in a theater, people will come over to see what is on the table that is drawing the crowds... Do you have any of the Street performing DVD's like Kozmo. Cellini or Gazzo, if not you really need to pick them up and study them. Bill |
ROBERT BLAKE Inner circle 1472 Posts |
No you don't need a table but personality. YOU have to get the crowd not a table. usualy a table is there so that the performer is secure or feels like it.
all you need to define you space is just a piece of chalk or a long rope. if you are note sure what kind of make you want to do then use a table and try it. and then use it with out a table and see what feels best for you. make up a sign wich says MAGIC SHOW. |
ShawnB Special user 728 Posts |
Check out Jimmy Talksalot on youtube... one of the best sidewalk performers out there and he uses no table at all.
I don't think you need a table... its scary to work without one. But if you can learn to do it I would bet it makes you a stronger performer. (I say I would bet because every time I go out I use a table..) Shawn
Shawn.
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gaddy Inner circle Agent of Chaos 3526 Posts |
A table can make your job a little easier. It gives you a "stage". It gives the casual spectator something to "lock on" to -something to alert them that "Oh, this is a show, not just some nutter gesticulating wildly on the street..."
And, of course, for some tricks it's generally non-expendable. My personal opinion is that if you can work with a table, you should. I think you are apt to make bigger hats with a table. I think that people would prefer to come up to the table with a hat on it to their insert money, rather than put it into a hat that someone is thrusting out in front of them. A comfort zone/personal space issue. But, while working in the streets there will be circumstances when you really cannot use a table -what will you do then? It all comes down to how flexible you wish to be as a performer. I would certainly advise a beginner to string together an (back-up?) act that doesn't require the use of a table, given the likelihood of eventually being in a situation where you can't use one.
*due to the editorial policies here, words on this site attributed to me cannot necessarily be held to be my own.*
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Danny Hustle Inner circle Boston, MA USA 2393 Posts |
Tony,
Do what works for you. the rules are there are no rules. I've made money and had great shows with AND without a table. I have also TANKED shows BIG TIME with and without a table. I will say that EVERYTHING that guy said to you is true. A table will absolutely help establish your performance space, and make you more visible, credible? I dunno, that would have to be a hell of a table. The thing that WILL always work is work. That means take three routines that you do right now that you think are your best stuff and going out on the street and start playing with people doing that. That is how you really learn to street perform. The bottom line is one day on the streets trying that stuff out is A LOT more effective than trying to follow the 25 conflicting suggestions you will get from people on an internet forum who may be from every level of experience including NO EXPERIENCE. Bottom line, go do it! Best, Dan- "MT is one of the reasons we started this board! I’m so sick of posts being deleted without any reason given, and by unknown people at that." - Steve Brooks Sep 7, 2001 8:38pm ©1999-2014 Daniel Denney all rights reserved. |
bwarren3 Special user 518 Posts |
Hey Dan,
let me throw this into the conversation.....alot depends on what effects you are performing.... if you're doing the shell game, cups and balls you pretty much need to use a table but if Tony is doing mostly 3-4 stand up effects then he probably wouldn't need a table...Agreed??? Bill |
Danny Hustle Inner circle Boston, MA USA 2393 Posts |
One of the best versions of the cups and balls I ever saw was done right on the ground...so REALLY it is whatever works best for YOU.
I could sit here all day and tell you what works for me, or the guys I know, none of it is going to help anyone unless they are doing that act. Signs, ropes, chalk, tables, no tables, pockets, pouches, blah, blah, blah.. Go out and work, THAT is what will tell you what you need and what will work for you IMO. Best, Dan- "MT is one of the reasons we started this board! I’m so sick of posts being deleted without any reason given, and by unknown people at that." - Steve Brooks Sep 7, 2001 8:38pm ©1999-2014 Daniel Denney all rights reserved. |
Paddy Inner circle Milford OH 1571 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-08-15 21:35, bwarren3 wrote: There is a utube of a black man doing the 3 shell game. Don't remeber his name. But he is holding a tray in his left hand and running the game with bottle caps. No table just that tray and 3 bottle caps plus a guy to take the money the punters lose. |
TonyB2009 Inner circle 5006 Posts |
Guys, thanks for all the great advice. The routines I am using, just like my birthday party show, do not require a table. That's just my personal preference. I did bring along a small stool to stand on to give me height. I'll continue experimenting until I find what's right for me.
Check out Tony's new thriller Dead or Alive http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alive-Varrick-Bo......n+carson
http://www.PartyMagic.ie |
Harry Murphy Inner circle Maryland 5444 Posts |
My own experience is identical to Danny’s. I’ve worked with and without a table and it’s a wash in terms of the hats.
My present show does not require a table yet I carry a small one. It anchors my show and, as mentioned above, defines my working space. I can lay a prop or two on it while working to add a bit of visual interest. Last season I didn’t carry a table at all. However I had made a small folding sign. I used one of those “caution wet floors” folding signs and covered it with the sign. The sign said “Magic Show ~ NOW”. The NOW had a bit of Velcro above it so that a clock face with movable hands and saying “In (how many) Minutes” could be stuck over it between shows. It worked to define the space and let people know that I wasn’t just a nutter waving my arms (rather that I was a nutter doing tricks). This season I have the table (briefcase table) and carry some odds and ends in it (water and hand wipes amongst other things). Your standing on a stool reminds me of the time in the 70’s when I was in New York City and down on Wall Street. I watched a young, black busker standing on a milk crate doing one trick over and over and over again. His performance was in hyper drive and his chatter/patter was just a fast paced and almost hypnotic. He kept the audience spellbound and laughing. His hat lines were built into his chatter. He really never paused but was making nice hats (actually a metal bucket in front of his crate). I must have watched for thirty minutes and couldn’t believe that all he was doing was the vanish and production of a small silk (the ragged red rag of doom) that we all know. His name was Chris Capehart. His street act had not developed yet but he was making a living with a 9-inch silk, a TT, a milk crate, a bucket, and the weight of his personality. In all it was real magic.
The artist formally known as Mumblepeas!
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Danny Hustle Inner circle Boston, MA USA 2393 Posts |
Harry GREAT story about Chris Capehart!
Here is another. A young guy is hanging around in the local magic shop sometime in the mid-70's. He wants to be a magician full time but he is not quite sure how to get started. Suddenly, this good looking cat walks in to the magic shop. A young black guy and starts buying stuff and paying for it by pulling money out of every pocket. The young guy says, "Wow man! Where did you get all that dough?" And the other guy replies, "Doing magic on the street." Well the young guy who was floundering talks the cool cat's ear off and follows him around a little bit until the cool cat has to move on to the next town. But, like Johnny apple seed he planted the seed in this young guy and plied it with enough fertilizer, sunlight, and water, that before long this young guy was doing pretty good on the streets and developed an act that was good enough to get him into the comedy clubs when winter rolled around. The cool cat was obviously Chris Capehart but a lot of people might be surprised to find out that the floundering young man was Paul Kozak. I remember Kozak telling that story on the now sadly defunct lecture network and I thought it was pretty awesome. Best, Dan- "MT is one of the reasons we started this board! I’m so sick of posts being deleted without any reason given, and by unknown people at that." - Steve Brooks Sep 7, 2001 8:38pm ©1999-2014 Daniel Denney all rights reserved. |
bwarren3 Special user 518 Posts |
Hey Paddy,
I think this is the video you're talking about...great work plus his partner in crime works well with him. Somebody said he died a couple of years ago though... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4uBJEHLH3o Bill |
Dave V Inner circle Las Vegas, NV 4824 Posts |
He died of asthma complications a few years ago. If you look close you may recognize a Café member in training. He's pretty much the only one winning anything.
No trees were killed in the making of this message, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
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Whit Haydn V.I.P. 5449 Posts |
Yes the higher rez version of this video was a part of our Scoundrels Touch DVD. Gamblin' Sam was one of our regulars on Scoundrels Forum:
His posts are still available on: http://www.ScoundrelsForum.com |
bwarren3 Special user 518 Posts |
Hey Whit,
I knew you would remember who he was, slick very slick. Bill |
Paddy Inner circle Milford OH 1571 Posts |
Yeppers That's the one I was thinking of
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MagiCol Special user Dargaville, New Zealand 929 Posts |
Harry and Dan,
I love the stories you have told above - part of the history of street magic. Thanks for sharing.
The presentation makes the magic.
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