A few of my colleagues and I, got permission from a local shopping mall to do our thing. We had a rope man, a general magic and card man, and me. There was a table, several rows of chairs and a small stage. From the start, it seemed obvious that the shoppers were more interested in their shopping than in our perfroming. I stood at the stage and started doing some knot work to draw a crowd. I failed. One of the others came up and did a change bag business. He got a couple of kids interested, but little more. The other two did alright sitting at the table and doing close up for two or three at a time, but nothing to be all that excited about. Soon it quieted down even from that and we all agreed it was a beat afternoon with shoppers panicked about getting their last weekend before Christmas shopping done.

A woman walked by and gave us a questioning glance. I keyed in on a patch on her shoulder that told me she worked for Disney Company. We talked about it a bit and I did a really stupid trick for her. I had her choose a random card, look at it, put it back in the deck. I put the whole deck in my pants pockets, made some really silly grimaces and gestures, then pulled her card from my shirt pocket. She was totally enthralled. We talked a bit about magic, and what I do, and she was really into it. I asked it she had ever worn a straitjacket she smiled and said no. Anyway I pulled it out of my bag and we went to the stage to show it off. She buckled me in, and someone on a near by escalator bellowed at me "That's Impossible!" I responded, "Lets see you try it!" I went to work, and Shazam, as I was doing my shtick, I realized that almost every one of the chairs was suddenly full, and there was a large crowd at the top of the escalator on the balcony watching me from above.

Some of you probably have better crowd stories than that, but this made me feel pretty good. Also, I made the Disney woman's day. she was smiling ear to ear, and took apicture with me.

Nice one mate!

The SJ is a great piece and you obviously did it well.

Goes to show that when done right you can't beat a classic.

What did you do after this?

After the jacket, the rope man did a classic routine that included prof. nightmare, endless loop and how many ends.

And did any of the audience stay to see?

Some, but not as many as for the jacket.

Yup. Plays big!

You're lucky mall security didn't chime in to toss you out. Here in Philly the main alternative shopping drag is South Street. I have done street performances 6 times. The police shut me down 6 times. Apparently the crowd that clogs the sidewalk and stops street traffic is MY fault and I get threatened with being arrested for something or other that is wholly unconstitutional. Gotta love civil rights violations, the cops in Philly do.

Cliff,

You should work on something else to do after your SJ. People obviously like it and it gathers people really well.

The SJ always got a massive crowd for me. And people always stayed to watch the whole thing. But one SJ a show does not make. I think you need to give them more. Anything that comes after it would have to play even bigger though.

You do have an advantage, you know what doesn't draw and keep a crowd So leave out all the other magic stuff that was done that day. People obviously didn't care about it.

Hmmm... You ever done the 100' rope challenge?

Its another classic, but I recon you could use it to close.

Stick something in the middle to make em laugh and keep them standing there a little longer will help to gather an even bigger audience. crowds build crowds after all.

SJ to get them in, followed by some in/out comedy routine to keep them there and ending with 100' rope challenge to make them feel like they've seen something totally impossible. Pass the hat. Go to the pub and drink profits

Whilst in the pub break out the card tricks and get free beer. Stumble home late. Wife makes you sleep on sofa. Merry Christmas!

Ros, excellent points.

I wonder if any of the professional buskers out there would care to write an article for the chain letter?

That would be awesome!