stop using filler in your show, only use the best material

i learned this from sonny holliday.

he's a brutal guy and people are scared of him and sometimes thats why they stay[their scared to leave] but most of the time they're mesmerized by his work even if some of them don't like his character they watch in awe.

his patter works the same way only the strongest.

if your a beginner this is gonna be tough.

this is gonna take a while.

but after you got some street time under your belt remember,


by using "filler tricks" your wearing your weakness on your shirt.

sonny holliday said,

"i only use tricks that get the biggest impact, so my routines are these tricks put in a special order."

unfortunately he was only interested in learning one of my tricks!

if you do a trick and you get a huge reaction or a stunned look from the reaction thats the trick you save.

after you have a collection, put em together and now you got a proper routine.

go from there.

this goes for tricks,lines,jokes,costume,equipment, or what ever.

jimmy talksalot

rotation show or trickle show

what am i talkin about?

what is a rotation show?

its a show where you do a routine and at the end tell the people;

"if your waitin for the end of the show it ain't commin, i do this all day long over and over if you liked any thing you saw please put some money in the bag on the ground."

then you do a different routine and at the end of that one, you repeat;

"if your waitin for the end of the show......etc."

i think its best for a sidewalk and helps you get your routines tighter as you learn the order of your new show.

it also helps you understand which routines have the best effect on the people.

it's also a great way to keep a crowd all day on a pitch if your on a slow pitch.

some people call it a walk and pitch cuz people walk by watch a little and pitch money in.

this is not the strongest method of hatting.

but.

i think its a great way to make money while you practice and will take away from the monotany of doin your same show over and over.

be warned this is more for the art or show part of your show, in my opinion this is not a big money maker.

i feel your loosing a little money while you do this....but it could pay off in the end by improving your show.

it also comes in handy in a pinch if your on a dead pitch or your dealing with people with no energy.

jimmy talksalot rope routine-clip

intro repeat routine to crowd build

intro repeat routine to crowd build.

the idea is to to intro your show and educate the people to what your about to do.

you see sonny holliday doin it in the cellini dvd...."let me tell you what the 8 mins. consists of one card trick...one...etc."

a good idea is to have the propes out infront of you and point to each as you talk about whaty your gonna do.

i think it is very important to be doing a visual effect over and over while your talking about your show so the patter for the trick is your intro not the actual patter for the trick.

i've seen alot of guys do the silk vanish over and over not even looking at it while they talk about the show they are about to do.


you should keep rotating the intro when your done if you don't have a big enough crowd start over thats why its important to have a trick you can do over and over.

some times i do a silent mime/magic routine as an intro and repeat till the crowd gets big enough.

or

i do the flip routine and my entro goes like this;

"if you were out here 50 60 years ago this is smething you might have seen, i'm a sidewalk performer...and i know its true cuz my grandfather taught me how, i don't use trick stuff like those guys on t.v. cuz i ain't gotta milliom dollars its my hands i brought em all the way from new orleans to show em to you, i'll show em to you,you tell me what you think.........etc.

all this is before and seperate from your show[but you may wanna pull it together later].

on the street you must deliver what you promise

on the street you MUST deliver what you promise.

if your ballying [trying to stop a crowd] and you promise your gonna saw a lady in half, levitate or change a $1 bill into a $100 bill......you better do it.

you can not blow it off this will not work.

if you do not deliver its gonna cost you money and credability.

people are trying to avoid scams on the street.

now if your a salesman, not delivering can work in your favor, you can turn it into a humurous thing like,"yeh, kid don't believe everything you hear from a guy off the street selling you something." thats fine i know i used to do that when i was a pitchman. THIS IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT...this is street performing.

this is something i had to learn the hard way going from pitching svengalis to street performing.

if you make big claims, you will get a big crowd, but if you don't deliver they won't donate to your cause because they feel like they got jipped.

you see the product was your show and it didn't do what the program said it would.

did houdini build interest with the promise of escapes and then only did card tricks after they paid? no he did escapes like he said he would.

in your bally they stopped to see one thing and and were forced to see something else.

no matter how good this something else is, it becomes less good. hurts your show and your hat.

i know, me and my street performer friends have tryed and failed...thats why some old street performer years ago said "you must deliver what you promise."

ask your self this why are you making a claim you won't keep? is it because you feel the tricks your gonna do arn't strong enough to stop them?

if you tell the people your going to change a $1 bill into a $100 do it!

as a magician you should be able to this.

if you don't deliver on the street, your hurting your own credability as a magician, an entertainer.....and worst of all, the rest of us.

understand this doesn't apply to a salesman....he can get away with it people know salesman will do any thing to sell their product.

and this is not a jab at don driver.

don's a genuis.

and has forgottin more about our art than i know.

in fact i think his famous bally could be a great street show if you did exacly what you claim to do in your show and for your finale....you see that would make it a magic show.

but i'd definately hat before the finale, cuz the people are probably not gonna wanna tip you if your standing there with all those hunskys in your hand....know what i mean?

if you don't know what i mean get familiar with his bally.

you hafta play with the people, you're only playing

"you hafta play w/the people,your only playing"

this was told to me by a guy named pepe in covent garden [london].

he got the largest crowds i've ever seen. he does sort of a walk behind mime act..incredible.

one day he saw my silent act and offered instruction for me.the other guys told me this was a huge honor and i knew it so i took it.

i met him the next day and he started teaching about silent character and behavior. it was really hard.

i was having problems grasping concepts and thats when he said it... and a great big bell went off in my head.

we are out there because we want to play and they want to play also and the best work is gonna come out when you have more heads workin together on how to have a good time.

theres so many interpretations for this and they all seem to be good.

especally if you like interaction. i don't too much but its always gonna happen in a street show, and i thought i should mention it because it did so much for me and my show.

color,sound,movement, and break the ceiling-cellini

this i learned from cellini and sonny holliday.


4 things stop people.

color, sound, movement, and breaking the ceiling.

you should be using all of these to build a crowd or more importantly TO HOLD ONE.

suggestions;


pace the full edge back and forth from one side to the other don't be timid.

put your arms in the air [breaking the ceiling]and yell,"watch this"

use what your wearing as props for movement.

bang a stick on the ground, a drum, a cow bell.

have a sign....wave it around.

pace, rant, and rave.

bang a pot.

be annoying.

if you see some one leaving....START PACING and bang your stick honk your horn and watch them walk right back.

create these nervous habits its more interesting believe me

your an infomercial or the crazy man who talks to himself on the street

you're an infomercial.

you ever go to the grocery and they gotta tv goin with sombody cookin a recipe....or late at nite you see this 15min commerciall that runs over and over all nite long?

this is how i thought of myself when i first went out on the sidewalk or in the door way.

5min show over and over like an infomecial or the crazy man who talks to himself on the street.

over and over 8-16 hrs a day over and over.

needless to say the act got pretty tight i could do it in my sleep.

sometimes nobody would stop sometimes they would over and over 5min show.

when people hear a script being recited they stop they know its pro they see improv the know its amatuer at best at worse possibly a con or a hustle.

if the people come late i simply stop and start over.

i kept doin this progressing from 5mins to 10 mins to 15 until i got to about 30min shows.

it's about commitment and owning your own business

being a magician or busking or both is owning your own business, its better than a "real job"

its about being a fanatic.

its about believing in what you are doing, wether its a magic trick or your friggin life{cellini}.

its not about whining and bragging.

its not about doin it part time on the week ends any body can buy a magic set and do that.

its about taking a chance on you.

if your really that good at magic why arn't you doing it for a living?

instead of pushing those other products why not just push the most important product you and your show?

why are you making other people rich and famous?

we only live once and are judged after that for what we did.

...did you do your lifes work or did you do some one elses?


tyou need to support you your family freinds the dog what ever so figure it out.

booking festivals, great pitches, big hat show, company picnics what ever theres plenty of info out there.

check out

performers.net

but...did you do your lifes work or did you do some one elses?

focus on street performing first and magishing second

i was instructing a guy once and taught him show structure for the street.

he had great stuff for indoors but out doors he was limited to a samll amount of tricks and his show was weaker but he had asmall set show and was makin small hats.

now a friend of ours who was really skilled indoors came out and watched and critisized his magic.

so our friend went out and tryed working the street.

his magic was good but he was have alot of problems for the first time in his magic career. he couldn't understand why his magic was better but the other guy was makin hats with few problems....until it dawned on him....this is the street.

jackson square, new orleans, louisiana,u.s.a.

it's easyer to get forgivness, than permission!

this is a pic of "nick sharpe" aka "dr. street".he taught me this next one.



don't ask if you can work a spot.

our job is to congest a walk way.

no one wants you to do your show anywhere, got it, don't ask.

when they see you makin people happy, they'll change their mind unless they're stupid then they'll yell at you, in which case you still made money...don't ask.

don't start a show when the authorities are around, that's like asking.


when they shut you down, put your gullable face on and say, "oh, i'm sorry i didn't know."

they'll probably forgive you.

whaa

who's doin who a favor? stoppin a crowd.

the most popular method of stopping people i've seen is to hound every single passer by till somebody stops.then do a show and hat em. start over and start hounding em again.[mostly sidewalk guys].

this works.

this works good.

but i don't do it.

i have a different approach i do big flashy tricks or sight gags or just act so stupid that people stop in disbelief that any one could be so stupid.

i make a specktacle out of myself.

i got this from workin new orleans where they just wont stop because they think its a scam or theres somethin better around the corner they have to see. also from european performers.

understand this method is weak on a slow pitch with little walkers.

so why do i do it?


heres the deal, if i hound em they are only staying as a favor to me so when they saw a trick they did their favor and they don't feel the obligation to tip. now i realize its not that cut and dry but i'm moving to a point here.

if they stopped cuz they saw something they were interested in they're anchored and they feel like i'm doin them a favor and they need to repay me by not heckling,participating, defending me, and most importantly paying me at the end, its the least they could do!

how do i get em in without askin them for a favor?

i tell em if they want to see the stuff i'm gonna be doin they can't see it from far away and they'll have to come in closer and then i begin to sound irratated and i urge them to hurry "cuz i'm not doin this stuff again!"

leaving them still in debt.


i prefer having this kind of show theres no pressure.

if i hounded them there leaving me under the pretense that i stopped them from that very important what ever they were doin to show them this thing nobody wants to see yak yak yak they're rushing me,they're critical and if i'm lucky this is worth a dollar its not until they crowd shows up that i got any hold.


they stopped because it was their idea not mine they saw something that they wanted to see not what i wanted to show them. it was all them infact to incurage this i do a big sight gag and tell the people to move along theres nothing to see here as if i don't want them watching it.......


ever try tipping a secret to another magician in public you can't beat the crowd of with a stick, but when you say "all alright i'll do a trick for you" they all scatter like rats from a sinking ship [i got that line from koz]