The Busker Bootcamp was AWESOME!!! Thanks to Gazzo and Bobby for making it happen. This is second time I have had pleasure to learn from Gazzo and I am amazed at how much Knowledge he has on Street Performing or magic for that matter and how deep and detailed that Knowledge is. Although it was my first time to learn from Bobby I hope it will not be my last (probably won't be because I plan to go next year if he has Bootcamp). He was great to learn from.

The first part of post is to say thanks to Gazzo and Bobby the second part of post is to give quick overview for any that were not fortunate enough to attend.

I attend both Gazzo's lecture and workshop before the Bootcamp if you ever get a chance to attend any lecture Gazzo is giving do it. Side note Sal Piacente was at both the Gazzo lectures if you ever get a chance to see his memorization stuff don't miss it!!!


Friday we discussed theory and show structure. Then it was our chance to perform for a audience we had to build. After each show the students did, Gazzo and Bobby would discuss with us what we did wrong, what we did right and ways to improve our next show. Then Both Gazzo and Bobby each did a show. That was fun to watch and a little overwhelming as to how much we needed to improve. Just a side not if your not in good health don't watch Bobby's show because you will laugh so hard you will hurt yourself. Then the students were up again and we each did a show incorporating what we had learned and again Bobby and Gazzo would give comments. I always ask my wife what she thinks of a trick or my show and she always says ask someone who knows (she is Ph'd student). It was great for me to be able to ask someone who KNOWS and was willing to HELP me and other students get better. Then we went out and ate dinner and discussed what we had learned, insights and discuss ways we could improve.

Saturday was a new day and we had chance for all this new found information to sink in. Each student did 5 shows and after each show Gazzo and Bobby would discuss with us what we were doing right, wrong and ways to improve. It was amazing to me how much improvement we all made in such a short time. Just a side note Gazzo was explaining to us it was not about the trick and to prove this he used one of the students animal traps as a prop. I am sure Gazzo never used a trap before. His show was great and his hat was pretty strong as well. If you ever thought Gazzo show was all about Cups and Balls you really need to rethink your position because its not the case. After 5 shows Bobby asked us if we wanted to do another show most students including myself were more than satisfied with doing 5 shows. We went to eat together and discuss what we learned. Dinner ended at midnight another 12 hr day. Again I want to say thanks to Bobby and Gazzo I am sure they have much better things to do than take two twelve hours days and help us. This is proof to me that it comes from the heart. At this time we had option to perform on Sunday or get together in a relaxed atmosphere and just tell story's and discuss all that we had learned. Sunday would have been a slow day on the pitch. We chose a slow relaxed day.

Sunday was a BBQ at Bobby's house. Bobby used to be a executive chef and man can he cook BBQ. The pulled pork was the best I have ever had and I am from Texas.

I hope you enjoyed reading my experience. I simply wanted to inform anyone who was not as fortunate as myself (and I am fortunate) how it was.

Thanks Shel

The busker boot camp was all that and more. Watching Gazzo do his show is just an education in itself. He did not do his full cups routine he stopped at just the three cup loads. Be fore He did that He was talking to us about how ti use timing to get the maximum reaction out of an audience. When the timing is right, the three loads can get just as big a reaction as a hat load. Gazzo proved that to all of us.

Just listening to Gazzo talk about crowd building, then to watch him go out and do it, by that alone was worth the price of admission.

I couldn't agree more with with everything these guys said. Both Gazzo and Bobby are true professionals, and were eager to share their knowledge with us. Gazzo didn't hold back - when he needed to be direct with us, he was!

Without a doubt, the overall lesson was in crowd control. The tricks, even the hat lines are irrelevant without having a proper crowd.

Being able to work with these masters, and the very talented students, was a true honor. I would recommend the Busker Bootcamp to anyone who's serious about street performance.

Wow.

Thanks for the post. It sounds like you made a great investment.

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