Advantages and Disvantages of Busking

Busking is magic on the street, but none of this David Blaine stuff. Busking is performing for real people for real money! No Hit and Run stuff, Busking is putting on a show, not a trick, but a show, and then actually get them to pay you at the end. Well, I’ve decided to make this essay for anyone who is interested in maybe doing magic for money, street magic is great, but busking is going one step further and actually getting paid.

First of all, when you start doing Busking, if your not careful people are going to mistake you for a street hustler. That’s why I advice you stay away form the ‘Three Shell Game’ or ‘Three Card Monte’. Imagine you are the spectator. You look over and someone’s doing find the pea! People are going to think that you’re going to fool them into putting a dollar down on the table. Same goes for if you’re just standing at your table, shuffling a deck of cards. Cards can give the impression of street hustlers. I use cards in my act, don’t get me wrong, but presented in the wrong way, people are going to get the wrong idea. Putting a sign in front of your table is also a good idear to set you apart from street hustlers.

Secondly, how to draw a crowd. You’re not going to get very far shouting and screaming and people. Go over to groups of people and say “Come over here guys I'm going to start doing some magic.” Be friendly, but don’t take no for an answer. Be careful who you do that to though. I’m probably stating the obvious when I say don’t go over to a group of Business men. A family with some children is good, a group of giggly girls is also good. Once you’ve got a fair crowd, say to them that you haven’t got enough people to start the show yet. So get all of your spectators to cheer after three or something like that. For many people passing by, curiosity will get the better of them and they will start coming over to see because something exciting must be happening. Not only does this get a crowd but it avoids everyone getting into