Approaching people on the street... (Tips wanted)

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Approaching people on the street... (Tips wanted)

Postby Citrus » Jun 14th, '06, 14:42



Hey

I've been doin magic for quite a while now and i have done a lot of tricks at school and to the family :lol: and can pull them off fine and i get some great reactions. So i feel that i want to start goin out on the streets to do magic. (O and btw i do mostly card magic)

:?: This is my question :?: --- I was wondering what most of you say when going up to someone/a group in the street to show them some tricks and what have you found to be best method of approaching them?


Thanks to all who reply :P :P :D :D

-- The World Invites Deception --
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Postby Tomo » Jun 14th, '06, 14:49

Rather than "some" tricks what about starting with "a" trick and see how you get on. For an intro, what about "Hello. Would it be okay if I show you something interesting I've been working on? It won't take a second," and be shuffling a deck, or giving some other clue that you're a magician not a perv. :wink:

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Postby Citrus » Jun 14th, '06, 14:57

HAHAHAHA - (the not being a perv bit made me chuckle :lol: )

Thanks i shall do that, good advise :D

Cheers

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Postby monsieur incredible » Jun 14th, '06, 17:14

you could always buy a dog and then herd them like sheep to where you're performing :lol:

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Postby Stephen Ward » Jun 14th, '06, 19:24

Please be careful about approaching strangers on the street

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Postby MiniMindFreak » Jun 14th, '06, 19:51

ok I gess the mods deleted it for a reson
so please write the reson
I wrote

I'm not a perv, wanna see a trick

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Postby Stephen Ward » Jun 14th, '06, 20:04

I don't think they did must be a bug. One of my posts has gone on teh haunted key thread and nothing is wrong with it.

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Postby MiniMindFreak » Jun 14th, '06, 20:06

o ok then cool

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Postby trickyricky » Jun 14th, '06, 20:16

monsieur incredible wrote:you could always buy a dog and then herd them like sheep to where you're performing :lol:


Hehe! This made me chuckle lots!

'And for next trick......get 'em boy! [whistles]'

I just tend to go up to someone and go:

'hey! no, wait, put the mace away! Honestly im not a creep or anything! Just wandering if you can show me a trick.....no? well, how about if i show you one then? hey, put the mace do.....arrrgggghhhhhhh my eyes!!!!..............so thats a no then?'




Sorry, i dont really perform on the streets! Think it would kind of be dangerous if i did.

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Postby Citrus » Jun 14th, '06, 21:02

Hey thanks for your replies :D :D

Great help thanks, and sum funny comments :lol:

But I'm 16 in a few days so i think i shud be safe enough :? (I'm a big lad :lol: :lol: ) but thanks for your concern :)

Cheers again ppl :D

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Postby DW » Jun 14th, '06, 22:08

It's weird, some people can be real funny with magic. I remember watching one of my buddys do a trick to a couple in a bar and the wife really didn't want to know. So staight faced, face screwed up like she had a bad smell under her nose. I was shocked. It was the first time i ever saw somebody react so strangely to someone just wanting to entertain them with some magic. It's like the magi had some sort of fatal disease or something. :?

Dan :D

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Postby themagicwand » Jun 14th, '06, 22:48

I once had a woman run screaming out of a pub I was working in when I approached her and her friend. Her friend was very embaressed and politely explained to me that her friend was terrified of magic.

Well, my brand of magic does tend to be a little...dark. :twisted:

The best (and indeed only) way to learn how to approach groups of strangers is to actually do it. You'll quickly develop your own technique and "chat up" lines. Plus you'll grow balls of steel, a good thick hide, and your magic will improve 100% overnight. It's all good!

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Postby Mahoney » Jun 14th, '06, 23:49

themagicwand wrote:I once had a woman run screaming out of a pub I was working in when I approached her and her friend. Her friend was very embaressed and politely explained to me that her friend was terrified of magic.


lol :lol:

Just like the peeps on David Blaines street magic shows :)

I think approaching someone in the street to do some magic for them is one of the hardest things in terms of nerves anyone can do. Much worse than public speaking even.

Some people are just naturally gifted at it, others (like me) have to fake it. Generally you only have to appear confident at first, then you will actually become confident as you progress through the interaction. But you have to start somewhere, every interaction will make you more confident. When you approach people on the street, you are not invited and people are often wary, and rightly so. Magic goes down well in bars, because people are expecting to be approached and talked to.

There is a thing in supermarkets where people will gather around the busier parts of the shop, as there obviously must be something rather attractive about that product or whatever. With street magic it is the same if you wish to gather a crowd. You might even like to get some friends 'in on it' just as spectators, then people will come to you as they are walking along like "oh look something cool is going on over there. Magic! Great!". I've seen this demonstrated on "The Real Hustle" with 3 card monte, to great effect.

I'm no expert, just some thoughts ;)

Andrew
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Postby grum7n7 » Jun 15th, '06, 00:58

Yeah im actually going to Virgina Beach, Virginia in the US next friday and I am planning to do some street magic like 2 card monte and a transpo or something ect. I have done some street magic type stuff like in a mall or around town but not really in a big huge place like a popular beach. Virginia beach is really popular and there are loads and loads of people on the beach and the board walk. My questions are, what tricks would you guys suggest. Im fairly advanced and can do lots of card stuff. And another question, it seems that since there are soooo many people that even just doing a single trick on the boardwalk would attract many many people and I fear this would be a problem because I dont think it is possible to totally misdirect a whole audience like that. There always going to be someone that maybe just had some other street performer fool them and want to get back at the magician and burn the deck the whole time. Or they just hate magic and want to try and embarrass you. Should I be worried about the big crowd? When I recognize too big of a crowd starting to gather should I finish the trick and stop, then move to another place and start over?

Just some thoughts and questions I had. Im trying to get even more comfortable with performing to strangers and I see this as a perfect opportunity.

Any input on this??

Thanks guys :D

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Postby mark lewis » Jun 15th, '06, 02:20

Here is the best tip about approaching people on the street to do magic.

DON'T!

I have never heard of such a bloody stupid idea in my life. It seems to have come about because daft teenagers watch David Blaine do it and it doesn't occur to them that he has a camera crew in tow.

Go up to people without a camera crew and you are liable to hear only two words. The second one will be "off"

No. It is far cleverer to get people to come to YOU in a public place and ask you to do something. Before long you will have the entire population whole surrounding area around you if you do it right.

When I was young and foolish I did magic on buses, parks, street corners, hotel lobbys, bowling alleys, cafeterias and other sundry public places. It created a sensation and the experience gained is the reason I am so good today.

And yet never once did I ever approach a single soul. They came to me. I was doing this daft so called "street magic" when David Blaine was breast feeding.

But don't approach people. Get them to approach you. You will be in a stronger position and people will stay for longer.

How do you do this?

There are ways you know............................

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