|
|
Tom Frank V.I.P. industrial Strength Magic 493 Posts |
Saturday
I got to the street fair around 10:30AM. There was already a good amount of people there. As I walked up University Avenue I scouted for a good spot to work. I passed several musicians along the way that I recognized from the market. There is a bit of an art to finding the right place to work. Part of it has to do with knowing how big a crowd you want to draw and how not to effect the normal flow of traffic in these situations. Draw too big a crowd in the wrong place and the festival coordinators will most certainly shut you down. You can be a street corner act, or an intersection act. I have always been a corner act. Guys doing the bigger tricks like the Bed of Nails and the Straight Jacket Escape and those that work 360 or a circle, like some juggling acts, work the intersection. I found my pitch at the corner of 47th and University. I liked my spot for several reasons, the cross street was nothing but food (ensuring decent traffic) and there was a Flex-Car (some sort of fuel efficient car sharing service) sticking out at an angle on the corner. The car helped me shape my crowd to a nice 3/4 round and protected my angles. The forecast predicted rain and the sky was overcast, so I got right to work, "Show time!! Magic Show! You won't want to miss this one, I've seen it a thousand times, it's great" Cellini taught me well. While I never had his work ethic, I believe I have the formula down. He taught me so many things. Get the crowd, keep the crowd, get the money. Be the first one there, the last one to leave, and never eat out. I saw Scotty Walsh latter in the day. He paid me a nice compliment, His first show he did a $70 hat. He told me that he had me to thank for him being there doing what he was doing. Made me think about something my dad told me once, he said, "to many people. . . . you are their Cellini". Interesting notion. I made good money on Saturday. . . I had to. It had rained all week and I probably didn't do $100 Monday - Friday, so I had to make it up on the weekend. Having been street performing for months this pre-season, my voice was strong and my endurance so-so. I would make some minor modifications the next day. excerpt from my blog http://www.ballvase.com/tfrank/weblog/tfblog.htm More on the Street Fair from the University Paper Click here! Street Performer Pics from the Street Fair http://www.flickr.com/photos/djwudi/sets/362665/show/ |
kOnO Special user 548 Posts |
Tom,
Thanks For sharing the PIC's they are great. Great Blog too. Glad to hear you were a success.... kOnO
It is a lot easier to get older than it is to get wiser.
|
swatchel-omi Regular user 116 Posts |
Thanks for the story Tom. I enjoy reading your blog, and your messages here. You certainly don't hold anything back. You're a brave man.
Joe |
Tom Frank V.I.P. industrial Strength Magic 493 Posts |
Joe,
It's interesting, I get a lot of comments like that. I don't feel brave. I feel like I'm throwing sh*t against a wall a see what sticks. I'm not ashamed of my life. . . . I just keep on going I've always lived my life this way, even before I had a blog I'm glad you like it. Thanks for the kind words. TF |
silverfire9 Veteran user Rochester Hills, MI 323 Posts |
Good for you, Tom. I didn't even know about the fair until Saturday night, when I read about it in a friend's blog. Sounds like you did well.
|
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The side walk shuffle » » University Street Fair Part 1 (0 Likes) |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.02 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |