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So my friend has been round town doing street magic for people and recording it. I want to join him soon I just don't know what DVD's to buy that would be good for street magic. Do any of you know any good DVD's?

I'm afraid that one DVD won't make you a good street magician

wouldn't it be nice if life was that easy

It would be a lot better for us as well, given the recession and all that fun stuff.
CUPS be damned!

Let's be kind, guys

What sort of level are you, Desmond? If you're a beginner, check out this thread

Like everyone has said there is no one dvd that will have everything that you want. What I suggest is to put together a list of the effects that you would like to perform and start from there.

Big D

There are plenty of good starter books out there that you might want to have a look into. Mark Wilson's Complete Course, Royal Road to Card Magic and Bobo's Modern Coin magic are more than worth a butchers at.

It completely depends what type of street magic you want to do.

If you want to go with the whole, stick in one place, draw a big crowd and keep them there, gazzo has a bunch of stuff available on it. Also you should read anything written for conventional buskers will help you out with that kind of audience management.

If you want to go with the more hit and run style try getting in contact with Owen Lean (roadmage.com), Owen has had a very successful career with this type of magic. It involves setting up his mini stall (Which is basicially whopping a suitcase on a stand), doing his routine, and quickly moving on to set up somewhere else.

If you just want to do it for the hell of it (IE not busking), then just go do it. With practice, any simple trick can blow someone away.

I would suggest taking a look at 'Born to Preform' by Oz Perlman (Available at penguin magic), that DVD contains a bunch of card tricks, all of which can be preformed in hand, and if you are just intending to do the whole walking up to strangers thing, that is vital.

True to my nature, let me play Devil's Advocate here for a second and give you some brain food to ponder...

1.) What sort of personality do you have? Is is natural for you to be loud and agressive (as in a go-getter/hustler) and take direct action? How's your level of confidence and competence when it comes to performance?

2.) Why do you want to do street magic? Are you just trying to fit into the current trend? Do you feel you just can't get legit work? Are you simply unwilling to take a job that lays outside of magic?

3.) Have you looked at all the legal issues around busking? What about the social stigma and the rather negative impression it leaves on people if and when you employ the "guerrilla" styled mode of showing off?

4.) Are you aware of the fact that Busking requires long hours, no matter the weather or time of day (it is a job, after all)? What about your approach in soliciting the tips or, in some cases "sales" (pitch items such as Svengali decks, the Wonder Mouse, etc.) so as to make your efforts pay off?

I'm not trying to talk you out of taking this route, only trying to help you (and others) take a slightly different look at this fad and hopefully, get a bit more honest about things.

Not everyone has the tenacity or personality required for being a good busker/sidewalk performer. HOWEVER, there are ways of "working the streets" that differ from what most of us envision, such as getting permission to work the lines outside dinning facilities, night clubs, etc. where you don't have to take on that more "in your face" persona that is otherwise demanded of us. My point being that no two of us are alike and what works for your friend may not be right for you.

Granted, the only way you'll know is to do. You never learn to swim until you jump into the pool. But in this case you need to know how to do more than tread water. HOWEVER, you also have to understand that having some failures and bad experiences here and there is nothing more than growing pains, so give the agenda some time. After six months or so of trying and working at it, if you aren't seeing improvements when it comes to public acceptance and support, it's time to look at new pastures.

For most, busking was what we did when times were lean and we needed to hustle in order to pay rent, it was rarely a career goal (even though some took that street character and used it in the role of pitchman, hawking their own products as well as those of other contractors) e.g. when it comes to the crux as to what it's all about, it's not the tricks but the sale. In this case you are selling two things; yourself and your skills. Your success will be measured by the cash in the hat at the end of the day.

I personally loathe street work though I have found a way of doing it in my role of Psychic Entertainer and holding to my own P's & Q's of not doing "Magic Tricks" but rather, creating wonder for my patrons. In other words, I'm not "showing off" in the way most Buskers tend to do, I'm creating an experience -- a psychic encounter... and for a fat man in a wheelchair, it's proved to be rather fun.


The Moral of the Story Is... think it all through and understand that it's not just the effects you choose to do, there's a ton more to it all and like most all of Magic/Theater, the first step is to define who and what you are as your performance character based on what you know you can pull off on a regular/steady basis.

As to the "tricks"... firstly you need to heed what Chris Carey taught us decades ago... DO THE STUFF THAT'S YOU! Don't go out and do this or that just because it's cool and everyone else is doing it. Stand out from the rest and do your own thing... what fits your character and claims.

Decide what you are; magician, mentalist, clown, etc. Don't try to do it all! FOCUS so that you become good at being one thing vs. mediocre at a lot of things. I can assure you, those that focus and evolve within a given area of expertise, go further faster than those attempting to be a jack of all trades; so do yourself a huge favor and DON'T try to be like someone else

I'm certain Mr. Lewis will chime in on this thread sooner than later and I'll tell you up front LISTEN TO HIM! He's done far more busking work than most anyone I know of on this forum; he's a noted horse trader and snake oil pitchman that KNOWS his job and lives up (down?) to it on a rather steady basis.

Best of luck in your journey

And if you managed to read through Craigs post without wetting yourself, you have passed a rite of passage here on T.M.

Craig,

Nice post mate. I agree fully Sometimes I fall asleep with your posts, although I don't necessarilly dissagree with them. But this one deserved recognition. And I am not getting at you buddy so don't get uppity

I have to admit, I find it hard to read through Craig's posts, but try to get the general gist. Having read the summary, I have to say it's a really nice post and probably worth trudging through its length.

Nice post craig. Now can I introduce you to the bullet point?

Graig's going to kill us, I swear he's going to kill us with words!

*fear*

WOW! 2 out of 12 posts actually went a little way towards answering his question. We all know what he means; quick and direct in the hands effects: if you don't know that then you shouldn't be giving advice.

I'm sure one of the two suggested Oz Pearlman Born to Perform. I would also suggest looking into any "Daniel Garcia Project" and any Jay Sankey multi-effect DVDs. Failing those I'd say Royal Road to Card Magic has many great effects which can be adapted to an in the hands situation and also any of the Paul Harris "Art of Astonishment" series. The latter are expensive books but feature an incredible wealth of material.

Let the onslaught follow.

JellyBaby wrote:WOW! 2 out of 12 posts actually went a little way towards answering his question. We all know what he means; quick and direct in the hands effects: if you don't know that then you shouldn't be giving advice.

Let the onslaught follow.

Oh leave us be, we've been drinking!
*burp*