I'll add my humble 2 cents....simply 'cause it's p*ss*ng rain on my pitch today & I'm stuck inside. And I have done some Buskering.

IMHO you lads are are on the right track...but it goes even further than that. Yeah, you gotta have personality, etc...that goes without saying. But to take it to a further level, you have to connect with the people. To their soul. Their feelings. Easier said than done.

My secret, for me, has always been charm. Works for me, perhaps not everyone.

And as for props & sleights....don't dismiss them. They can be really important. They are all intregal parts that build & make the show.

.
Nick's point about Mental Attitude being impotant is spot on....even for the likes of seasoned pro's.

Reading back on this I guess I should have elaborated a bit...

When I use "The Thing" to stop the crowd, I use it as a comedy bit. Since recorded music is outlawed on Pearl street, I use a kazoo to provide the music for the routine. I do "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" (2001 Space Odyssey theme) on the kazoo. As the routine builds so does the volume of the kazoo. by the time I get to the crescendo, I'm out of breath and my voice is cracking a lot. I pause, panting a lot, and then hit the final note as hard as I can as the floating ball goes back into the box. I get a great reaction from it as my show is all about entertaining people, not just fooling them.

The humorous kazoo music gets attention and stops people. It brings a lot over to see what's going on. And, like it or not, The Thing amazes the snot out of a lot of people.

Alas, I've used The Thing so much it's falling apart. Got to get it fixed...

Just thought I'd mention that.

There's been a lot of good information here; that is I think a lot of you have a piece of the puzzle and some strike closer than others.

(I know that sounds really presumptuous of me to say, or write as it were).

For me, I really find it useful to fit it all into an analytical context, and that's what I think is missing in this thread so allow me to add some.

First, I'll "Raise a Ghost, to Lift the Spirit" (My new name for it )

Talking about the opening salvos in a battle, Clausewitz wrote:

"It becomes clear why the deployment of too great a force may be detrimental; no matter how great the advantage which superiority offers in the first moment of the engagement, we may have to pay for it in the next."

Clausewitz, besides Sun Tzu, is my favorite author on War. I hope, for obvious reasons. He's going to play an important role in my upcoming book that'll be ready by 2020 I hope.

Whether it be props, or personality, or charisma, if you can't continually build, or at least convince your audience that you will build upon what you're doing, you'll lose them.

So tell your audience, that it'll get better. And if it doesn't, beg their indulgence. If they like you and/or like what you're doing, they'll stay.

The reason you're losing them is because they see evidence to the contrary.

So Eric Evans, you mean adding something new all the time?

Nice sentence:

"Whether it be props, or personality, or charisma, if you can't continually build, or at least convince your audience that you will build upon what you're doing, you'll lose them"

if the audience thinks your just taking trick out after trick out, they wont be interested. they have to feel that what they are seeing is a well planned show that will build and get better the longer they watch it. Lets face it, we are competing with lunch, dinner, someones next text or call, etc. Any feeling that the show will just stay the same and they are gone. in fact, people are gonna leave no matter what. just a numbers game.

I know of one awesome street magician who says what his finale is going to be right at the beginning of the show, and he keeps saying what he will do during the whole show. it becomes a callback in ways. In fact, what he does sounds so impossible that the only logical option is to stay and see if he follows through. which of course he does. and it rocks.

I believe that's what Eric is saying, build until the end, keep hooking people!

No, that's not what I said. Reread the Clausewitz quote and think about it please.

I don't like to offer hard and fast rules because number one, there's always exceptions, and number two I don't know many people involved in the questions and answers. But I do know principles and how to apply them to construct a theoretical framework that can be applied in a myriad of situations to arrive at possible solutions. They, however, must be applied on an individual basis.

Nick and StPerformer (is he really a Saint?) had the best responses.

As war was practiced in Napoleon's time (a contemporary of Clausewitz) you softened the enemy with artillery and then engaged infantry. Holding the Calvary in check, in reserve to address developments as they occurred.

So, as Nick and StPerformer have said, engage them with personality and charm, so they have more to look forward to when you get to the tricks themselves. Much as Infantry and Cavalry were employed. Infantry in this model is YOU. Calvary might be humor, wittiness, magic, gags...whatever. BUILD upon what you provide them, whether that be something new or not, they always have you and your charming self to hold them over while there may be a momentary lull in action.

Maybe I'm the only one...but I thought it was obvious.

And now that I've answered your question to me Robert, are you going to answer mine to you on the Speed Table Pro thread?

Eric you are making the analogy/comparison of war and street performing...this is so true. so, so true. Its poetic how it can be the most hurtful, difficult, soul draining experience. Or it can be bliss, heaven, rewarding and beautiful. Usually in the same day!

Hi Nick,

Thanks. I'd love to take credit for the whole paradigm, but it was actually Cellini who gave me the idea.

He explicitly told me that he thought of street performing as a boxing match. He wanted to knock out his "opponent". A series of blows aimed to obliterate their sense of the impossible.

But on other occasions, when I was having a difficult time, struggling to engender the morale that I needed to progress, he would tell me, "Attack, attack, attack!"

From there I ran with it. Finding that I could increase my morale if I thought through my openings specifically, but generally the entire show, as a military maneuver. A military campaign.

All of this is in no way intended to detract from the bravery of our men in uniform. And I don't mean to compare the bravery needed to enter a real battle, with the bravery needed to do a show. That would be absurd. But, the principles are the same. The psychology is very similar, if not identical. So the paradigm has profound lessons that can help us all progress. As Clausewitz writes:

"Theory then becomes a guide to anyone who wants to learn about war from books; it will light his way, ease his progress, train his judgment, and help him to avoid pitfalls."

Just substitute the word "magic" for war in the quote above and you'll see the direction my life has taken for the last 15 years.

Gentlemen.
I read this Forum, while sitting on the toilet, after breakfast;
in the early afternoons.
I've squeezed extra hard,
the past few days,
reading this 'stuff'.

"War is a state of armed conflict between societies. It is generally characterized by extreme collective aggression, destruction, and usually high mortality. The set of techniques and actions used to conduct war is known as warfare. An absence of war is usually called "peace."

While some scholars see war as a universal and ancestral aspect of human nature,[1] others argue that it is only a result of specific socio-cultural or ecological circumstances."

"Peace is a period of harmony between different social groups that is characterized by lack of violence or conflict behaviors, and the freedom from fear of violence. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility and retribution, peace also suggests sincere attempts at reconciliation, the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the establishment of equality, and a working political order that serves the true interests of all."


This concept of Street Performing, to be compared to War,..!
I find to be sick.
I am SURE,
for SOME,..
it is.
We have the choice.

I don't know what Social,
or Biological pressures we all grew up in,..
but true freedom is taking control of our moment,
and living it as WE understand desirerable.
OUR desicion.
OUR choice.
OUR action.

For me,
I strive to eliminate the fear,..
on both sides;
and create "a period of Harmony."

,....agression. destruction.,... mortality,..?
,for what?
a fat hat,..?
or,
...fat head?

naaa.
phewy with this 'Art as War' ****.
phfuuuuu!

with a slightly turned stomach,
gallagher

P.s.: the four stars, after "Art as War";
was actually a word.
It started with S.
,and ended with T.
In between,
there was an H and an I.
gallagher

Hi Gallagher,

I certainly understand that people have some very strong feelings about War and can see that you are one. However, I think you're being overly dismissive and not thinking rationally regarding this subject.

Plus, this thread is getting hijacked, so please indulge me a few moments here and if anyone is interested in continuing this discussion, they can start a new thread to do so.

First, your definition of war is mostly correct with an important omission. War is armed conflict to be sure but if you haven't read The Secret Art of Magic, specifically my introduction, then you're speaking from a place of ignorance here. No offense intended Gallagher, just that I took pains to outline my thinking there that space will not allow here.

One more point, if a ruler wants to conquer a people and they offer no defense; pacifists, allowing themselves to be slaughtered, there is no war by definition. It is only when people stand to defend their values, their territory that armed conflict begins. That, to me, isn't a bad thing. I wish it didn't' happen, I wish we could all live in peace and not suffer as we do, but that's not the real world. That's a utopian fantasy that has never been realized, and most likely never will. Human nature being what it is.

So again, if someone wants to start a thread, "Comparing Art and War is Shyte", I'm ok with that and we can take the discussion there. My apologies for straying off topic here.

My intuition tells me Eric is making an analogy with art and war.

Gallagher,
This book is not advocating war.
You can not judge a book by its cover.
Free your mind and think outside of the box.
With respect
Mario

Sorry,
didn't want to get the Thread going in a different direction.

Back to the initial problem: Keeping an interested Audience.
It is a struggle,..
can be a struggle.
Experienced Performers,
especially 'successful' experienced Performers(!),
can really find this frustrating!,..
after two,.three,..four great Shows;
a hanger!
It helps, (i tell myself),
remembering that. "this IS the Streets".
We can never fully control them.

The methods we choose,
to 'do our best',?
As we see,..
many possiblities.
The route we walk, however;
becomes our path.
Remember,
we choose.
gallagher

p.s.: ..i find it sometimes helpfull, to me;
to lower my expectations of the audiences,
at times.
At times, I go into a Show,..."giving them a break".
This can be very soothing for the soul, the Show,... the heat of the moment.
,and can often be quite surprising(!).

p.s.s.: I'm extremely lucky to share my times and tribulations and troubles, with a partner.
She tries to go into each Show with a totally different mind-set, as I.
She truely tries to love and appreciate and see everyone with happiness(!).
Really!
,as I'm at times, struggling away(!),
she's up there reaping in happiness!
It works for her.
Playing for three,
or thirteen hundred.

Here are some of my thoughts this year. I say this year because the more I do this the less I discover "I know". Nick W the busker I think you are talking about build is CONFIDENCE because he has been doing street shows for almost Ten years and we call his build the Justin Beiber build because girls love him. I think the best build and best show is the show that you LOVE doing and makes you have A GOOD TIME because people sense a good time and if you are having a good time so will they and that is attracts people like a magnet.

I would like to know what we are defining as character and what we are defining as attitude. I thinking of character as an example Charlie Chaplin and attitude as confidence. So I love this thread but think it would be helpful if we were all on same page.

I normally don't do a magic show because I have not figure out how to make it pay like my danger show. Maybe because I love the physical aspect of danger show. In my danger show I find it helpful to introduce my next prop or volunteer before I finish the prior stunt or trick. I also advertise my finale through out my show.

I love this topic.

Well, doing shows for 10 years in my eyes is an insignificant blip on the radar. Theres guys here who have been hitting it harder than I, more often than I. Justin Beiber build?!!! I don't know if I should be flattered or not by this lol! It's all mental. that's all I'm trying to say. Before I start a street show I have it in my mind its going to be huge, regardless of the situation. there are things that can hurt my confidence, but on the whole I begin each show knowing its going to be a huge crowd.

-people will walk away. don't try to control that. don't get offended by it.
-it will happen less the more you do it but only if you analyze your technique and improve it.
-I do not try to get attention of just the girls. I do not try to get attention of just children or men or teens. I look at everyone THE SAME. We are just humans with different layers. peel back the layers and we are all THE SAME. If you try to act too suave, first you will fail. most magicians ARE NOT smooth enough to carry a whole street show like that. If you act too childish nobody will respect you. if you act too rough people will walk away. Try to create asexual characters maybe. Just be a conduit of fun and magic and entertainment.

its all a balance. everything. all of it.

tip to save a headache- if you ever get a group of teen girls at the start of your crowd. do not do the show. do not let your ego swell and think "great, I have all these girls watching me and my crowd will swell". yes they will watch, and they will absolutely walk away without tipping. don't kid yourself. don't start the show with 10 girls as your anchor. wait for a young couple or family.

half way through your show if you get 10 people peeling away, even if your show rocks people will think "looks like he lost them" and that will detract from the show. save yourself the headache.

back to the original topic, keeping the audience with transitions, stay in the present moment with them, BE the present moment and BE the transition, and like Eric said, let then know you are giving them a beginning middle and end.

I used to use the Lady Gaga build, but soon abandoned it because I couldn't stand the smell of rancid meat.

Yeah it's better to do your own build, that way the surprises you plan, actually work.

Nick, you said much there. "For those who have ears..."

I think the point is, if you feel uneasy about transitions, it's because you didn't prepare for them. If you prepare for them properly, there is no tension and hence, the audience doesn't perceive (your) discomfort. If you're not prepared, well then you feel uneasy because you've lost people before and yada, yada, yada. It's a loss of control.

Why?

At the conclusion of a trick, they should be riveted, waiting for the next.

Prepare and execute, then you are at ease because you know. And isn't that why they're standing around you to begin with?