by The4thCircle » Jul 2nd, '12, 12:59
Jim Cellini and Mario Morris (and many other buskers, but I've only seen these two in lectures) both state that 3 things grab attention. Movement, Colour, Sound.
Cellini for the most part only uses his wand to hit things and make a noise, pretty much nothing else. He refers to it as a thumper.
A large bright production at the start of a routine grabs attention.
This is why I use bright pink sponge balls and ropes, and a dayglow green wand.
Technically a balloon is a large bright production of a sort.
A few other people I know state that a good opener is to produce a coin from a bit of flash paper. Anything which makes a sudden unexpected visual impact will grab attention. Also remember that attention must be grabbed repeatedly, it is hard to hold for any length of time, so plan your routines to re-grab it as often as possible. Obviously not every grab needs to be a noisy flash of coloured light....
-Stacy