I don't think this has been discussed, it has come to my intention that their are some inposters that pretend to be Buskers on hear. They may have one time or another passed the hat but for the best part they are not busker's. In my mind a person who want's to become a busker shows true grit and character he/she is not pretendending to be somthing he/she is not. Take for example Jamie D Grant who showed us a great example of his first street shows, great stuff and for the life of me I don't understand where that thread went, anyway.

Now my point is I am sick and tiread of imposters pretending to be buskers and addvising folk about busking when they truely not the real deal. In some cases no one has ever seen them work at all any where as a busker. They create this inprestion that they busk for a living but they don't.

I WILL NOT MENTION NAMES
I am sick of seeing young folk being taking in by this BS. So I will ask you yourself, the reader to do you own home work. Discover how realy is the internet busker's??? If no one that has some standing in the world of busking can verfy them as the real deal. If no other Busker has ever herd of them. Most full time buskers have some kind of video footage, photos are no good, real video footage, especialy if they claim to be on the circut for some time. If they don't have it on their website or youtube perhaps. They are probaly talking the walk but not walking the talk.

I have noticed a lot real workers have been hounded of hear and it is a shame a real shame. I miss their input and addvise you can truly trust them.

I have made a number of good freands on hear most of which I now no in person. If it was not for them I may have discoverd my skin was not so thick.

With respect to my true collegues both ones that I know and ones Im yet to meet.
I enjoy this sight but I feel pushed to now draw a line.
Mario

I've been told that there are people that write a book, have a website and give advice, but they are terrible buskers. They make hardly any money and are painful to watch, yet they give advise. And I'm told the advise is bad.

If you mentioned their names, they would stay away and not hurt people.

This is not about the good the bad or the best.
I hope any one busker that feels they have been hounded off will feel they may be able to voice their thoughts. Any busker has the right to be hear as does any one who does not busk.

The internet is full of imposters. The Magic Café even more so. God only knows why someone would want to pretend to be a street performer- wouldn't you much rather pretend to be a rock star or something? At least you could use that to pick up girls...

Whenever anyone ever asks me how long I've been doing magic or busking I always say "not very long". Really, wouldn't you rather be known for being as good as you are in not so long a time, rather than only being "as good as you are" for having done this soooo long?

Isn't that a bit of a double edged sword Gaddy? When I say "not that long" I usually get the response "oh then this is good practice for you!" which for some reason feels condescending. I usually don't answer. I tell them how far into the set I am
"how long have you been doing magic?"
"what time is it?"
"four?"
"oh about twenty minutes then."
that way I get a joke(however corny) in and avoid not knowing what to say to the practice line.

now on the actual topic of this thread, I'm not a busker(yet), but it interests me to no end, so most of my time spent on this entire site is inside this forum trying to learn from the folks who already know.
I think the reason folks would lie about it is kinda the same reason people would lie about being a rock star or whatever. Its associated with a certain amount of freedom and being on the fringe that gives the profession its mystique. the only real difference is like Gaddy said, you cant really get a girl telling her you're a busker.

Why pretend to be a busker? I don't know - but it's all the rage now - kinda like after 9/11, it was all the rage to call yourself a firefighter - not letting truth get in the way of a good story

Yeah ... back in school, they told me all the girls liked musicians. Only, I misunderstood them and thought they said "magicians".

I'm a little ticked off about that too!


-JoeJoe

Mario,

Are you saying that to be a TRUE Busker you now have to have videos on youtube to prove it? That you have to be KNOWN by certain other buskers to be a Busker?

I, for example was a busker full time, in the late 70's and earlier 80's. I did a short show consisting of a just a few effects and closed with a Straight Jacket escape on Hollywood Blvd for a couple years. For several years I worked the West Coast of North America from Anchorage Alaska to Tijuana Mexico. Yet, I don't have video footage posted on youtube. Nobody on The Café would KNOW me, unless your over 50 and happened to catch my act back in the day.

I still Busk every summer in small towns in Washington State. I don't meet your stated definitions or criteria, yet my experience is just as valid as yours.

There are thousands of buskers that you will never see or know about. Most don't have promotional websites, they don't sell videos, or run schools, they BUSK. Only a very small fraction of a percent of Buskers post on the Magic Café.

If these unknown buskers wish to share their experiences and advice here or elsewhere on the net, we shouldn't just discount them because we don't KNOW of them. Their experiences are valid too.

I definitely don't think that, to be a busker you have to be deemed to be one, by Mario Morris. Who I have never seen, and don't know of. I wouldn't even know you existed except for your Magic Café posts. The busking community isn't as small or as tightly connected as you seem to think.

Metatron (The Unknown Busker )

Well said
I've met people who thought they were buskers...but they were just awful, deceitful, and very broke
These winter days, I'm having fun taking my videos off Youtube...

Good point
I am saying before we listen or stand back and watch one browser bad mouth another or attempt to hound of a respected busker, we should first no his or her's motive or if they are creaderble.

If they just talk the walk then of course be carefull of who you listen too, comon sense.
The same rule aplys on the street, watch your back.

If you are going to side or beleave some one's addvice especally if that means you are going to travel or buy props based on this addvice first check them out. If you cant qualify what they say then I suggest you a secound opiinon. For example, Your oppion is valued but I personlay would seek a secound opiinon at this stage no offence.
Mario

Mario, who are you talking about? It's hard to know what you're saying, or who you're saying it about. Obviously you have someone in mind, right?

Honestly, with only a few exceptions, I take everything that is said on the Magic Café with a huge heapin' helpin' of salt.

Hs anyone here seen a guy perform that calls himself the Shakespeare of Magic? I'm told he says he wrote a book on street performing but that couldn't hold a crowd or collect a decent hat if his life depended on it. Anyone ever hear of this guy or the book he supposedly wrote?

Mario,

No offense taken or meant.

I do agree that multiple opinions on a subject, can sometimes help us to make better informed decisions. But our opinions should be based on facts.

In this case, we are lacking to many facts to make any opinion, let alone make a decision.

In other words, you are being to vague.

If I understand you correctly, your upset with someone giving (or selling) bad advice to fellow buskers. What was the advice? Who is the impostor?

At the very least create a PARALLEL story with fictitious names, products, places and advice given. This way we can at least get the gist of what your venting about!


Metatron

Hey Gaddy,

Could you pass the salt, please.

Mario,

I think you have definately hit on a serious problem. that's why I love working on the pitch more then writing on forums.

I have always felt that there is a purity to the pitch.

I have often heard these folks who talk up a storm about how great they are and how much the other guy doesn't know what he's talking about....

...but it all ends, when it's their turn to do a show.

there's a big difference when the opinionated performer is out there for the whole world to judge for itself.

especially on a slow street corner and -NOT- at a busy festival.

the pitch ends arguements, because the truth becomes self evident at the end of the show.

mario, I hear what your saying and it is definately a problem.

I have no idea how to inlighten the beginners on a forum about imposters.

I think the another problem is that beginners are too afraid to make the leap to dive in and go out and see the world of performers for themselves live.

and unfortunately sometimes if they do see one performer and see that he can get a crowd and make some money (which are only basic beginners skills),

they think he must be great street performer, because of these basic beginners skills.....saddly the beginners lack of seeing many many performers gives the beginner, bad judgement and lowers the bar for what he should become himself,

as many of us know, there are great performers and performers who can just make it at what they are trying to do.

worse yet there great performers who have bad days and are judged by beginners, on that one bad show or other.

of course I am not saying I am some increadable performer, but I have seen enough acts to know if somethins lacking.

the only advice I could give the beginner on this is;

to make their own standard and work twards that.

if we see some one we admire, work twards that and not twards some one we don't like, even if everyone says he's the guy we should all be doing it like.

by their fruits and all.

one thing I can say for myself is that after watching your work mario and all the info you have put out, that you have been right on and honest the whole time,

you have also been very charitable in giving these hard learned secrets, a goal I have always tryed to do myself...thank you.

I just hope others can see you, for what you are....authentic and strongly educated in what we do.

your pal jimmy.

The "Shakespeare of Magic" you're asking about is a guy named David Groves, based out of SoCal. He really did write a book on street magic, You can get it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Be-Street-Magician......66814703

It's not a bad book.

His act? Decide for yourself. He still busks at Third Street in Santa Monica.

I'm NOT a Busker; never done it...YET! But I will try it this summer because the idea attracts me & I don't have to count on it for my sole income. I have nothing but respect for all of you hard-working Buskers out there; You have to deal with the weather, the potential of being robbed, arrested, & accosted by really ugly, over-weight women who don't have a life! Break a leg guys!

Sir Richard!

I'm not particularly a busker... I've done it a couple of times. I post under Tom Ecclestone in the other forum. I want to be a busker, and if there's something I can help with I post, but I mainly don't post.

But I don't want anyone to get a false impression.

Alan Watts,Tony G,Jimmy Haviland,Percy Press,Bob Reed,Skiddazle,Peter Optical,Dve Matkin,Jonny Eagle and Dave Darky, are and were all UK buskers.

To my knowledge they had no websites, no YouTube etc etc.

Jonny Eagle was proberly the most famed busker the UK ever produced, he held the finest pitch in the uk for many years. Talk about London buskers to any lay person and they may not remember his name but they will remember his act and where his pitch was, so a legend without the internet in his own time.Maybe the UK equivilant to Tony Vera !

To judge a mans calibre by what he does or is I do not understand, in context a Plumber judgeing another Plumbers work would be pointless as surely a success for any one would be judged by the customers they have or in a buskers case the speckies. If your not making a living you wouldnt continue to busk.

What I consider to be more dangerouse is a person with limited knowledge trying to preach / sell their knowledge under a pretext of superiority.

The greats in this biz as I see it, are people Cellini etc who have done the apprenticeship, done there time then passed on their own findings based on having done it rather than pretending that they know it all,,,,Cellini said on many occassions, there are no rules, and if there were, they are constantly broken.

Entertainment like life is a learning curve without any short cuts.

Or as Ken Brooke said, there are sayers and do`ers, the do`ers will never be sayers and the sayers will never be do`ers.

Just the way I see it but I could be wrong.

Ken.