Last Night's Gig - Results (Busking)

[Dylan P.]

So a while pack I was hired by my town to be one of 10 entertainers that would perform on Thursday nights on my Main Street. It is called "a stroll". It is basically just a tourist attraction. There are are a bunch of entertainers outside different shops and restaurants and they just make every thing a little more lively. Whatever. The town asked me to do it and I gladly excepted, it was a good expierence that I will continue doing through the end of the summer. The town is paying me 75$ an hour, plus my tips. So here is what I was doing.

I went to my designated area, and set up a small table, just big enough for my close-up mat to lie on. I also laid down my tip jar. Here is the kicker. To draw more peoples attention, especially kids attention, my tip jar was not a JAR. Instead I used, the commonly thought of stereotype, of a magicians top hat. Kids seemed to be drawn to it.

This week I worked out there, busking from 7:30- 8:30. But by eight O'clock all of the families were gone and I was left with teenagers without any cash to tip me, but I just wanted to perform so i performed anyway. But in the half hour from 7:30 to 8:00 I made exactly 20 dollars in tips.

I am going out to busk today. Not for the town but just for my own personal enjoyment. It will hopefully be a good time.

Dylan P.

 

[Lyle Borders]

Tip jars that are unique rocks. I use a bottle with two decks of cards inside. People come over and can't figure out how the heck I got them in there, and as they look, they see money, feel bad, and put more in. Last time I used it I got $40, all at a small gig of poor college kids.

 

[William Draven]

I use a brandy snifter with the word "tips" etched into the side of it.

Do you salt your tip jar?

 

[Dylan P.]

I use a brandy snifter with the word "tips" etched into the side of it.

Do you salt your tip jar?

I do salt it. I leave a five and 3 ones in it. Then people start tip. I find that eventually when the hat looks full, people seem to think that they shouldn't tip me anymore. So when I have a few minutes with no spectators I'll clean out the hat and just leave the five and the 3 ones. Then people start to tip again.

 

[Guardian452]

how much did you end up making? I'm assuming the kind of busking your doing is a trickle show, especially because you are doing close up effects on a table.

Do you hat the audience? or do you keep doing tricks and people can tip and leave whenever they want?

20 dollars, in half an hour, sounds alright.

you should really work out a routine, then do a show, hat the audience, draw another crowd, do a show.

You're losing money if you are running a trickle show- simple fact

 

[Dylan P.]

how much did you end up making? I'm assuming the kind of busking your doing is a trickle show, especially because you are doing close up effects on a table.

Do you hat the audience? or do you keep doing tricks and people can tip and leave whenever they want?

20 dollars, in half an hour, sounds alright.

you should really work out a routine, then do a show, hat the audience, draw another crowd, do a show.

You're losing money if you are running a trickle show- simple fact

Last night was a trickle routine for the first half of the night. The second half I did use my structured routine. The Jazz style performance was me getting warmed up.

Today, when I went out, it wasn't really a time that I was performing to make money, I was more scoping out the street, trying to figure out where the most people were at what time. So, today I was performing jazz style and made 40 bucks in 45 minutes. I also determined that I should set up near the joke shop around 4:30-8:00. There are TONS of people, amny with kids, that would be willing to watch a full fledged routine.

But may I ask this. You tell me that it must be that I perform trickle style simply because I am working close up with cards??? But when I read your thread, don't you do more than 3 effects, and don't they generally use cards???

 

[Guardian452]

I do do a routine with just cards. but you also said that you had enough room to lay out your close up mat

 

[Dylan P.]

I do do a routine with just cards. but you also said that you had enough room to lay out your close up mat

Well, wait. I don't understand. Of course I'm going to lay out my close up mat. Why wouldn't I?

 

[Guardian452]

I was going for a play on words- with CLOSE UP, mat.

I use a 24 x 20 (if I remember correctly) table with a border and a felt top, so I can do close up or bigger shows..

never mind

Dylan, keep informing us about how much you make and each time you go out, I'm interested in your growth and your grwoth in $