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Hey guys, have just got back from a long weekend in Amsterdam to celebrate a mate turning 40, had a blast

Was strolling around the city centre yesterday, when I hear a guy in Dam square, being quite aggressive on a hands free microphone, he has an audience of around 50-65 people in a semi-circle and is all "come on guys, for f*** sake, its not complicated, move closer, move towards the rope" (he has a rope set up to form a semi-circle), "come the f*** on guys, its not f***ing complex, the quicker we all move closer the quicker I start the magic" - I go and stand and have a look. He is promising to finish the show with an escape from a straight jacket and 30 foot of chain around him.
It all of a sudden became very compelling viewing, as he set about abusing most of the people walking by

"get your hands out of your pocket, we know what you're doing"

"did you know one in three guys in Amsterdam is gay (as he turns to three guys) HI GUYS!"

Turning to two old guys..."hey you two, how are you? When did you get back together?"

And this goes on and on! I actually found it amusing, maybe slightly on the aggressive side but he kept the crowd for an hour! At the end in his straight jacket and chains he asks people for either 10 Euros or 5 Euros if they can't afford that, ballsy I thought as most people would just be tempted to chuck some change in imo. In the hour I saw, and I found out afterwards this was pretty much the whole show, he did 3 tricks, a cigarette vanish, a bill change, and the escape finale.

Afterwards I went for a beer with him, and he counted his money up, just over 250 Euros, not bad for an hours work, and a quite unique style! He came across as a nice guy, showed me a couple of things with cards and coins that were pretty good as well

Anyone seen this guy perform? Anyone know him in fact? Mark Cmor if memory serves...

I find some of these street magicians pretty horrifying in their rudeness, profanity and vulgarity. They reduce themselves to street beggars when they do that. But here is a chap who never acts like that. He treats magic as an art. An old friend of mine who has worked the street for 30 years and travelled to 30 countries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwEvBJyy ... re=related

I believe that the guy you saw spent a few months in Ireland. Very aggressive style, but funny. His cups and balls is top class. A real hustler - did you pay for his drink?

I know who Mark Cmor is. The chap is Canadian and lives in the same city as I do. Here he is performing in Amsterdam.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgWYRcQGJ3o

TonyB wrote:I believe that the guy you saw spent a few months in Ireland. Very aggressive style, but funny. His cups and balls is top class. A real hustler - did you pay for his drink?

Yep, I paid for his drinks, spending 45 minutes in his company was good fun as well, he came across as a real likeable guy - not only did I pay for his drinks, I changed up all the English coins he had gotten from show as well...doesn't sound like much, BUT these coins stank of so much pot I had to leave them in my hotel sink overnight, with soaps and shampoos just to ensure the sniffer dogs weren't going mad at Gatwick

Heres a clip where he gets a fair few funny gags in, lot less swearing than when I saw him yesterday, but good humour imo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3Vy2VdHb80

From your description I thought I'd hate him but I couldn't help but like him.
Did your bike not come with instructions

Yeah pretty good stuff, knows how to keep the crowd waiting. But wow- he did go on a bit...

I think buskers are compelled to "go on a bit" in order to build a crowd. I do think that the chap in question is talented enough not to use profanity and coarseness and would make just as much money if not more if he would curtail it a trifle. And in fact more than a trifle. It is completely unnecessary and terribly working class. Besides, it is terribly unbecoming of a Canadian who are normally terribly prim and proper.

I spent a day in his company at the Puck Fair in Killorglin a few years ago. Tremendously funny, great company, but I had a feeling there was a streak of ruthlessness in him - he would see his granny for a pint.
Still, it was an education to see him in action. A real hustler.
Seeing those youtube clips is a lesson - I wish my street act was that strong!

I think I have had brief conversations with him but cannot swear to it.

Karma wrote:From your description I thought I'd hate him but I couldn't help but like him.
Did your bike not come with instructions

Probably my fault for painting a bad picture, the humour is right up my street, but probably not for everyone, and after 5 minutes of talking to him, when he suggested we went for a drink, no way would I drink with someone unlikeable, life is too short

TonyB wrote:I spent a day in his company at the Puck Fair in Killorglin a few years ago. Tremendously funny, great company, but I had a feeling there was a streak of ruthlessness in him - he would see his granny for a pint.
Still, it was an education to see him in action. A real hustler.
Seeing those youtube clips is a lesson - I wish my street act was that strong!

I disagree quite strongly with this Tony, for a start he doesn't drink ...the smoking on the other hand...wow! I've known some people that like a puff but I have a feeling this guy was on it all the time!
I didn't really spot the ruthless streak, he seemed to lack ambition if anything, before my flight home on Monday I went via Dam square to say goodbye and he was just standing around, "s*** Dean, quiet, even for a Monday, not sure I'll get a crowd going, you got time for a drink?" - obviously I felt guilty so suggested he gave it a go, now to say he "gave it a go" might be bending the truth, but he put the mic on, made fun of a few people, then was all "f*** it, lets go!"

Maybe different environment from when you met him or maybe the streets have ground him down? Certainly didn't have much get up and go when I met him, top bloke none the less and would recommend him to anyone in the same City that he were performing.

He drank when I met him - in fact he bought ten of us a round, using other people's money! I noticed he would not start a show unless there was the prospect of a good crows (and a good hat) and he would abandon a show after ten minutes if the crowd was not growing sufficiently.

But I did enjoy his company. And his show was very good.

I have noticed that buskers don't work very hard. A svengali pitchman has to do demonstration after demonstration after demonstration non-stop for hours on end. Buskers seem to stop frequently after every show and go off for breaks very frequently. No wonder so many of them are broke.

I agree, Mark. On the other hand, it takes tremendous energy to build a crowd when no one really wants a show. So I appreciate why they need the breaks.

I suppose it depends on whether they are doing a "circle" show or a "sidewalk" show. The Circle show is a much larger affair and in fact can take up from 30 t0 45 minutes. A Sidewalk show is really only around 15 minutes or so with a far smaller crowd. I think a break is understandable after a circle show but it shouldn't be for ever. The sidewalk show even less so. Buskers seem to take an awful long time to build a crowd. Pitchmen/grafters do it within a minute or two. I can usually get a small crowd within a minute. After another minute or so the crowd will be much larger and the equivalent of a buskers sidewalk show.

Another difference is that buskers are often thinking "art" instead of "money". Grafters NEVER think about art. We just want their money. Our mentality is different.