PART 1

by the way THIS HAS HINTS, NOT FACTS and other magicians who have some questions .....how old are you??? This matters beacause the older you are/look, the more likly they are to say yes. But if the you see streets performers doing magic, that is great but not for you if you are pretty new. The only reason you should try to throw a hat on the groundis if the hat rises off the ground onto your head.
But also....unless you find a wall and want to do some weird walk around stage magic that you can carry around in a trunk or something like that,try to get a crowd, and also bring speakers and a microphone, then collect (if any) donations at the end

or also

what kind of magic do you do???if its close up and you can carry it (street like magic to be obvious) then try that on the street, if you mess up, WHO CARES..YOURE NEVER GOING TO SEE THAT PERSON AGAIN!!!!!!!)

But to apporoach someone there's many approaches:

Straight Forward: ask people on the street who dont look like they are in a hurry to go somewhere, just ask "Would like to see a trick?" is preety much how straight forward you can get. BUT this tends to get rejected more than the one below!!!

Casual:nice shirt wher'ed you get it??? Try to strike up a convresation first so you guys arent COMPLETE STRANGERS!!!!! But after you introduce your self (somewhere in the conversatoin) then go in for the KILL. The line i find works best after the casual apporoach and conversation is "By the way, do have a second for me to show you something???" this question and (to put it into magician words) routine will work better than the Straight Forward appropoach.

After trick: ALWAYS SAY THANK YOU because keep in mind that they: watched the trick, participated in the trick, put up with the trick, and agreed to watch and most importantly THEY SAYED YES TO WATCH YOUR TRICK!!!!!!!

I can not guareentee results but following my strategy's will work best and hopefully get you better reactions and more yeses than nos. please reply back with any comments...suggestions..or your strategies!!!!!!


READ: This is for street magic not to be confused with street performing!!!!!!!! anf not busking..just as some people call it "Blaining


PART 2

This is the second installment of the Tips on performing to strangers thread!!!!!! DO NOT READ THIS ONE IF YOU HAVENT READ THE OTHER TOPIC (Tips on performing to strangers) so with that being said...lets move on!!!!!!

*This article continues from the first*

PERFORMING:
When performing for someone:

Be prepared- There's no use in getting someone to say yes to you and you dont have your cards or the gimmick needed.

Know the trick- try to practice as much as you can before perfoming, wouldn't be embarrasing if you got them to say yes...and you fogot to do the trick??? but then again, keep in mind that it's not the end of the world and now you know you have something to work on.

Patter- Make sure you know what to say during the trick. Patter is one of the essentials in magic, it gives the spectator more belief in your magic. SPEAK CLEARLY!!!!! You need to raise your voice and pronunce your words correctly. If you do tricks for adults, and you use too much slang or sometihng like than they'll think you're an idiot, or if you say (as an example) i want to axe you something that tends to also make you look not as smart as you really are......so please try to use as much correct grammer as you can.

PEOPLE:

Casual Approach- Knowing how to use the Casual Approach can make or break you. It also matters who you are using it on. You need to keep in mind that most of the time, people are in a hurry and don't have time for your magic.
So try to use the approach on people who aren't walking fast, in a group (will be explained later on) and who look relaxed. Relaxed meaning, picking up speed in walking, looking at watch every minute, not dressed up in full suit (not always), or just looking woried or just walking with a quicker pace than everyone else.

Who to pick- the above section summed it up so let's break it down a bit more. Groups are rgeat to just try and stop on the street because then it's more likely that a crowd will form.
Also, try to at least stop one person that you normally wouldn't. So try to stop the mohawk guy with the pink hair, a nose ring and peircings all over his body with a tatoo of an ex girlfriend. That way thats just another group of people that might learn about your magic. Also, try to stop peole of all nationalities!!! i say that for the same reason you stopped the mohawk man.

TRICKS TO DO ON THE STREET:
Cards- Cards are one of the best things for street magic. They carry light and don't take up that much space. So try to open up your "perfomance" with a card trick or 2 ( What i use and what also tends to get good reactions anyway is, 2 Card Monte...go into Biddle Trick...end with Ambitious Card) those together make a pretty good combination. (keep in mind you can use what you do already if your comfortable and dont have to follow my advice)

Close up- these are pretty good if they carry light and you don't need a table for them. I say that because if they say yes, you need to take them all the way back to your table. And also keep in mind YOU ARE ON THE STREET!!!!! Someone is bound to steal or ruin tricks for you.

CROWD WORK:

Participation- Try to work the entire crowd, don't just do a trick for one person. Do a trick for one person, then move on to the next person if you have a crowd. What i tend to work best with is going from one side to the next alternating.

Hecklers- Noone wants to feel bad in fornt of a crowd of people. But some times you dont need to follow this rule...if he is calling you "out" then just involove him in it and have him help.....then do a trick and when he guess it wrong or whatever edited look stupid and continue this untill he/she shuts up...this may be mean but hey, they bring it down on their selves

BETWEEN TRICKS:

Patter: Even though this is right in between tricks for only a few seconds, a minuts at most, you have to know how to use it. After you finish a trick, just asy something like "yeah i know pretty weird but now i want you to...." to the same person or diffrent depending on who you're doing the trick to. If you "practice" this, you can get it down so you don't even give them time to ask "How'd you do that??" Since you're already onto the next trick, that's what they'll (most likely) be paying attention to.

ONCE AGAIN,, I CAN NOT GUARENTEE RESULTS...THIS CONTAINS NO FACTS, JUST SUGGESTIONS AND HINTS TO HELP YOU GUYS OUT!!!!!!!!



PART 3



This is the 3rd installment of Tips on Performing to Strangers...so please look through the General Magic section for the first and second one before reading this please!!!!!!!!!!!


Approaching People in Public:

If you do magic in a mall or just wandering around outside, i find it better to approach people who are sitting. Now I'm not saying don't approach people who are walking around, but I've had more Yes's than No's from people who are sittin than walking or just standing. If you are in a mall, then the best place i find to hit is the food court.


Connecting with Your Audience:

When someone says yes, let's say they are sitting down, ask if you can sit down. This even though it's not that great or broad as an action,will already take away that "complete" stranger feel. These next couple of sentences will lead into the next section. There is nothign worse than doing magic and having that feeling in your stomach where you know something isn't right. That feeling is (most of the time) the feeling of being strangers. The ways to get this feeling out of your system are very easy. One way is to open up your routine with Ambitious card or some type of signing card so then you can either read or ask thier name and have a reason. Or also, a way that I use is just simply, if performing to a group of people, Just look at one of them and say, "Now what's your name??" Or something of that sort. So Also, by the end of the routine, you want to have that "friend" feeling about that person who you just performed for.

Between Tricks:

When you've already done a trick, and you need some time to set up (say 2 card monte) then also, try to talk and start a conversation about where the person (or people) are from, or osmething of that matter. This gets the spectators off the cards and onto the conversation. So when you are finally set up for the trick all you need to say is, "wow, thats cool, so now if you would please pick a card..." But you don't want to act mean and demanding if you have to cut them off.

Routine and Performance:

You need to have some effects/ tricks down and have them be good to transition from one to another. I personally like doing cards in public because thier easy and one of the easiest things to transition form effect to effect.

nicely said

thank you!!!

I hope I can remember that piece of advice about being prepared.

You don't know how many times I've asked complete strangers if they want to see a cool trick and then, when one of the strangers agrees, I realize that I've left my Card Wallet with the packet trick at home.

I remember this one time I went out to do magic, then realized I didn't know any tricks!!!!!!! Boy was that embarrasing, I started learning right then and there!!!

I just realized something.

If you always carry your card wallet with you, this won't happen.

It's only 99 cents.

90 cents with the 10% discount.



Just make sure to put cards into it before putting it into your pocket.

oh yeah, don't forget to learn the trick either.
(Almost forgot that advice again.)

the bits that made sense a monkey could have worked out with common sense. The rest was absolute rubbish. Its just not right and completly useless.

darn it!!! I knew I was forgetting something!!!!!!!!

You crack me up monkey!!!

um...ben lewis2004...then dont use it

i couldnt have said it better myself...this should be a sticky

thank you