Busking, me!

Liam · Busking, me!

i love how well i phrased that title!

anyways, i just started renting a booth at my towns weekly farmers market.
I plan on busking.
I'm starting to form my routine, and i have some questions
first, my routine as it is now

1)Blindsided
colour changing deck (red-blue)
2)Chicago opener
selected card changes colour, then turns into second selection
3)Silenced
card transpo using my mouth, you know the trick
4)Sand Trap
Card to imposible location and sandwich effect
5)asher twist
twisting the aces
6)Reset
long and winding, to packets switch places.

Now for the questions:
How long will spectators watch for?
its almost like a festival, theres plenty going on, will people watch for like 10 minutes?
I cant come up with interesting patter for the asher twist, any ideas?
what to do if/when i mess up?
nervousnes, how can i over come it?
how do i ask for money?

brian, i'm pming you about a move in sandtrap i dont particularly like.

Michael Kras

I think those are all excellent effects to perform. Quick, visual effects, no long routines. However, I recommend a bit of variety in your act... some rope, coin, linking rings, it's limitless. And think about the loads you could steal under your booth table top! You could execute a seamless bottle production during a routine involving a silk.

BrianMillerMagic

I would definitely do way less with cards and do much more with rope, sponge balls, etc. If you start to draw any kind of a real crowd, most people won't even be able to see cards. You'll have to learn how to busk and get money through trial and error. Entertaining is your first priority; not magic. Oh - and I PMed you back about SandTrap.

Liam

And i've done it!
Going back to next weeks also.

So i quickly learned something.
if you are doing show after show and you only have one deck, it should not be setup! I ended up doing a compleatly ungimmicked and insetup routine.
I felt like such a purist Smile

Tricks i actually ended up doing:
-Sandtrap - Brian Miller
-Reset - Paul Harris
-Bodygaurds - Jay Sankey

at the beggining i was doing The Asher Twist (Lee Asher) also, but i veared away from it, it wasnt seeming to merrit much of a reaction.
Maybe it was just a silent awe reaction, but it made me feel nervous so i cut it from my act.

One thing, it wasnt really a busking situation.
it was more of a.... very low budget trade show situation.
So it was close up, and i didnt have any trouble with people not being able to see, although at some points I was almost compleatly surrounded.

It felt good, it was really my first proffesional appearance.

I got two good stories!

Number One:
These guys were standing around acting cool. They kept looking over at me. Eventually they whispered something in amongst themselfs and walked up to my table smirking. They were obviously looking for trouble.
I showed them body gaurds. After the card they chose had vanished, they had changed their minds about me compleatly. They all swore in disbeleive. Then when it was in my back pocket, two of them walked away and one of them started yelling swears. Then they all gave me a bunch of money.

Number Two:
Okay, so i was beside a booth with this women working in it. After about an hour she came up and asked to see something. I showed her the whole routine. She tipped me 5 bucks then returned to her booth. Then a couple of hours later while i wasnt performing she came and asked me if i ever did parties, like family reunions. I said no, she asked why. I told her i hadnt performed very much. Then she complemented me a bunch and then asked if i thought i would be doing parties by the end of the summer. I said maybe, and she gave me her card. Apparently she wants me to do a three hour walk around gig at her family re-union at the end of august.

This is a long post.
Just thought i would point it out.
Now that i have started performing, i think i will be able to start making good money.
Now i thought i was in the hole 320-500 dollars with my dad.
But after today, he said that if i promised to spend all the money that i was making busking and performing on magic, i wouldnt owe him anything.
WOW!
i would have been doing that anyways, but that puts me far into the clear.
But now i'm thinking... this is like... a bussiness now.
And i have money to invest in it!

So what to buy...
one thing i think i want is a time machine. Dont know wich make, but the effect sounds great.
Although i'm mainly cards at the moment, mentalism appeals to me to.
I think for walk around, the time machine, my cards, a self tying shoelace, and interlace would be great. And i already own all of that except the time machine.
But some increadibly dirrect mentalism would be nice.
Something like
"Think of a number from one to ten, i have a prediction on the back of this card.....Name it out loud..... Exactly"

so ya, open to suggestions.

And a question:
I want to start table hopping, i have for a while but i've never had the confidence. But now that i do i'm still troubled as to how to approach it.
I know about offering to do the first night free, and telling everyone i show anything to to tell the manager how much they liked it but...
Do i like, email the manager?
or do i show up one day?

Michael Kras

NEVER EVER EVER email the restaurant manager. They will eigther deny you or not reply to you at all. Going in and showing your stuff shows confidence and really will improve your chances. Don't phone either, that's just as bad.

For some reason, Twisting effects can sometimes be a very low reaction-getter. I'm not sure what it is, maybe because it's implicitly magical while somehow also being explicitly magical at the same time. They are seeing the magic happen in real time, yet each magic moment happens under cover. I find the strongest way to perform twisting effects is by making sure the spectators can see slightly underneath that packet in play. Asher's effect does not allow that. If they can see under the packet, therefore you cannot be just turning over the cards. Because, really, how easy could that be? In the spectator's mind, twisting effects are often thought to be just that UNLESS you really milk and prove the fact that you aren't just turning the cards over under cover of the packet.

Liam

hmm okay

what do you think about the time machine?

BrianMillerMagic

Restaurant magic is a whole different ball game, and they will rarely hire anyone under 16 years old, if not 18. The correct approach, however, is to call and ask for the general manager. When you get him/her, explain that you are a local magician and you would like to meet with them some time for a few minutes to discuss the prospect of adding magic to their restaurant. If you can land this meeting, you're 95% there. The other 5% is selling your business in the meeting.

The very last thing you ever want to do in a meeting is perform for them. They are a business person only interested in customer satisfaction and their bottom line, so you treat it like a business meeting. The managers don't care about your tricks, only about what you will do for their business. If you can't sell the manager on the idea in under 8 minutes, you likely never will. As a last resort, you can offer to come in on one night for one hour free of charge to show them how you work and what you will do. If you do this, you have to absolutely nail that night.

If you want to get into restaurant magic, first learn the restaurant business inside and out. You need to know how a restaurant functions like the back of your hand.

Lastly, I would never, repeat never, promise a restaurant that you are going to increase their business. You cannot guarantee that, and if for some reason they have a really bad night just by chance on one of the first nights you're there, you'll lose your job faster than you can Elmsley Count.

Re: The Time Machine - I had one for years, it hardly ever functioned smoothly, and I don't recommend it. But I may have had bad luck.

BrianMillerMagic

Wolflock

I am in full agreement with Brian here. The aim of a restaurant magician is to get the customers mind off how long they have to wait for their food on a busy night. You keep them happy and not angry. I have done performances in a meeting, but not for the manager. I find that giving a free little demonstration for him to a table, which is there already, works beautifully. He gets to see the reactions from the audience themselves. This has always been one of my best adverts (just make sure that you are good at what you do).

Few more tips. Dress smart. Dont go in there dressed in a Tshirt and Denims and expect the manager to take you serious. Show them that you are serious by looking good.
Practice!!! Dont go in there thinking that you are good, know you are good.
Have at least three different routines at a time. I have many repeat customers calling me over to show more magic. If I have a new routine that they have not seen, then they will be mesmerised all over again (and 9 times out of 10, will come back again to see if I have something different on another night).
SMILE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So many magicians are so bent on looking serious and mysterious, that they forget to smile and be friendly. Even a Heckler can be turned into an allie with a quick wink and smile.

Try to stick more with impromptu effects which are visual and freely available in the restaurant. I (personal opinion) have found that many people do not like cards and most get tired of card tricks. They want to see a magician, a person who can perform a miracle with anything at his disposal, not a person who does a few tricks with cards and ONLY cards.

Regards
Wolflock

Michael Kras

Excellent advice Wolflock! And it's great to have you back!

Wolflock

Thanks Mike

Been a bit hectic getting things sorted out while travelling around in a new country.