I am looking for some recomendatons on a busking table with add on to ditch props. Any advice in this area would be very helpful

That's usually spelled "servante" to distinguish a secret shelf from someone hired to help. I think you need more than a servante for busking- probably a well or two built into your table, and the usual black art well will probably not work outdoors and up close. That means a well with a pressure door that opens and closes quickly and secretly. As a "Do-It-Myself" magician, I prefer to build tables from scratch, but you could also take an existing table and simply rebuilt it to add a well or two of the exact type you need. However, if you are looking to buy a table, you'll have to be content with whatever the builder gives you in the way of wells.

Kozmo uses a servante from ambitious card. Most use a pouch.
David

Yes...it's spelled "servante"! I was TOTALLY intrigued as to the idea of a busker being able to afford indentured labor!

If you look at my website you'll see several examples of this.
Some people like large servantes to hold props and ditch, others just want a servante to ditch objects, etc.

What are you looking for specifically?

A common servante is just having a bag open an inch or two below the table surface to lap objects into, or drop them into it as the next prop is obtained. This bag may be what your props are carried around in from pitch to pitch.
An orderly arrangement of props in such a bag can save set-up time for the next Magic Show you prepare to run a few minutes afterwards.

I cant imagine using a trapdoor on a busking table because people may be so close up to it.

While not directly relevant to your question, I think readers will be interested to know how much busking you've done. Usually relevant knowledge is accumulated and found practical or not based on being out performing on the streets.

Thanks for the spelling correction and your input. I can picture having a table with a black velvet skirt around it. With pockets backside as you face the audience. I can make this skirt I just need to match it up with the perfect table. I see a couple of table from Ambitious card I think may do the trick

Thanks All
Regards
Trace Hankins

Lol... lets get this straight....my good friend frank is selling with my permission the kozmo servant that I designed....just saying...

:)

My servante is part of what used to be a black camera bag that hangs off the back of my table. It is a couple of inches lower than the table and hangs down at an angle. The bag has hooks on it that hook into eye bolts that are attached to the table so it is easy to put on and take off. It is nothing fancy but serves its purpose well. It is small enough that it fits inside the table when I'm transporting it.

Greetings and Salutations,

My choice depends on the situation and my character. If I'm doing renfests, I wear a gib and use a waiter's apron for a servante. If I'm doing a busker or street festival, or my medicine man magic show, I'll use a servante I got from Frank; but I use the version that's smaller than Kozmo's.

Franks's work is top notch, and I'm well pleased with the cost-effectiveness and the sturdiness of his products. (This is an uncompensated endorsement, unless, of course, Frank would like to offer up a bit of compensation.)

So, the bottom line is, figure out why and how you're going to use your servante, and make your choices.

Joe Zeman aka
the Mage Ulysses

I use an idea I got from Gazzo's booklet on his cups sand balls routine. He des a tray stand as do to hold his table top. His idea was to basically have a cloth that hangs under the table from one side of the stand to the other. Basically it forms a little shelf under your table top. Works great as a ditch area.

I use a silverware rack out of an old dishwasher. Not the double wide kind but the single wide with walled compartments. It's stiff and can be attached with rubber bands zip ties or hardware. I use it to vanish & hold props and the compartments let me separate business cards, pens, card decks and props. I keep it just below table height.

I just found what I believe to be the best servante solution (for me) for under $30.

Qualities of the servante:

Large enough to load a 5" tennis ball from.
Narrower mouth to help keep loads from flashing (mouth opens to just over 5")
Relatively plain, unobtrusive color: black with red trim.
8 internal pockets large enough for a deck of cards.
elastic straps over the pockets to store even more stuff.
8 total external pockets, 4 that are accessible when the servante is set up.
Durable: made to take a beating (haven't really field-tested this fully, just set up the pouch on Friday)
enough room to store 6 oranges/baseballs in addition to your hat load (might be difficult to get to some of your other props inside though)
Cheap enough to make a few, one for each different show you do (kids show, private parlour show, busking, smaller corporate shows)
Zipper opening
Simple as pie to make.

So, to make this, here are your ingredients:
1 hammer
1 pack of craft eyelets
1 eyelet setting tool
1 fabric hole punch and/or a knife
2 screw in cup hooks like these: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-3-lb......02183441
a particular tool bag, manufactured by Husky. The Home Depot sells these as "Husky 14 in. large mouth bag"

Link to the bag: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-14-in-L......02018007

The Home Depot has a few other tool bags that work okay, but this is the only one I've seen with all the features listed above.

How to make the bag:
1. Acquire requisite materials. This step shouldn't set you back more than $30, maybe $40 if you're unlucky.
2. Screw in your hooks at the edge of your table, wherever you want your servante to hang. Hooks should be approx. 12" apart, centered on the near edge of your table.
3. Punch holes in your tool bag as close to the top as you can without getting into the material covering the top supporting bar of the mouth. Punch your holes the same distance apart as your hooks are. Make sure you can get your hooks into the holes, and that the bag hangs where you like it before proceeding. Adjust as necessary.
4. The hardest part, and last step: Push your eyelets into the hole, put the other end of the eyelet on, then use the eyelet tool and hammer to set the eyelet.
5. Enjoy the fruits of your labor!

For the price, it's a darn good servante. Snowy and cold here today, so I'm gonna put a couple more together because I'm sick of shifting gear from rig to rig depending on the show I'm doing.

I'll post pictures later, the one I made is in the car and I'm dreading walking outside right now.

Hey augiemagic, would like to see the pics of the servente if you have them. The project sounded interesting.

Hi, augiemagic, thanks for sharing what you're up to. I'' be interested to read, maybe after a season of busking, how practical your servante works out for you
The solution for a servante is "whatever works for you".
I've tried out various approaches and put aside most of them because I found
easier/quicker/cheaper approaches. At the moment I use a soft imitation square-ish leather woman's shoulder bag with several zipped up dividers. The shoulder strap joins on to round metal rings at the bag, so I can convert the shoulder strap into a waist band easily.

Right the rest of this post is for whoever's interested in my approach to busking and balloon model mix.

I don't do cups and balls and don't really need a table, though I usually take one and set it up because it gives a point of focus. As my personal magic tutor says, if you're just standing on the street working your magic with a couple of people then passers-by may think you're just having a conversation.
My big balloon pump [3 foot high] stands upright on the pavement, with room for a couple of assembled models around it's rim, and maybe a tied-together bunch of long balloons on its rim, and some ribbon for tying balloons up. {"Is your dog a well-behaved one, or does it need tying up so it wont run away?"]

Because I do a mix of balloon modelling [my major income] and parlour magic as often as not my magic bag is at the foot of my table [at its back] and the table is a general flat surface to place things on until I need them. Then I pick them up and use them. So, typically, I will have on my table a tied-up bunch of long balloons, a wand, a professor's Nightmare rope set-up in a spaghetti tin, a deck of cards, a nut with short rope for the Spirit Nut trick. At one side held by elastic are a couple of silks. I have a "Cut and Restored" rope and scissors on the ground at the front of my table. Sponge balls in my right-hand pocket. TT in a jacket pocket, small silks in my top outer pockets. Oh, yeah, a packet of cigarette papers in my right hand outer vest pocket and maybe a coin or two. It may sound messy, but I'm prepared for everything in magic from entertaining a couple of people through to a small half-circle show.

"whatever works for you".

In the UK I now buy my buskjng table with servante from Andy at the Wood Wizard.

His tables are really good. Very sturdy and take a bit of beating in the back of the van.

Joel

I have seen his work - it looks good. I am considering going to see him about getting a special table made for my wheelchair. Not quite there yet but maybe next summer.

Here's a couple servante pix

So I just did my state fair here in Oregon. I did 11 consecutive days at about 8-10 hours a day of solid busking with Franks table servante. It was perfect and kept everything organized. I loved the secret pocket to put your hats. Really helped keep things organized so I was reset and ready for the next crowd. This is absolutely the best investment I’ve made in busking magic. I have it hooked with carabiners to the back of my Tim Flynn table top. Perfect for ditching and vanishing big objects.

What’s this called on Franks site?