In performing street magic, what is the best way to open a conversation and starting a performance?

Question

I really want to do some street magic to some bystanders, customers in a restaurant and etc. But i could not seem to find the right words to open or engage in a conversation leading to me performing magic.

Answer 1

who wants to see something amazing. never performed before. it' ll please you exhilerate you send a tickle down your spine. youll leave here with ahhs. who wants to see some magic. lets begin.

here are some tips. be confident positive and aware. your trick might not be goin right or people might not be likin it. improvise. last of all be yourself

Answer 2

There are many ways. One way would be to walk up to a person and saying, "Hey, you dropped something!" They'll turn to see you holding an item. You could reach out to give it to them, only for it to have disappeared from your hand and reappeared in the other. If this hooks them they may ask to see more, otherwise you can ask if they want to see more. Or you could do the straight forward approach: "Hi, I'm John Doe, would you like to see some magic tricks I have been working on?"

Another option is to get people to come to you. There are many ways to do this, I will tell you three. One way could be to do interesting things with cards; like shuffling them into the air in an exaggerated fashion. Another way isn't magic at all, you could juggle. It's a great way to draw a crowd. People like to see real tricks that people can do just by having the skills. Another way is to do yo-yo tricks. This is even more likely to draw a crowd because people don't see it as much. You can do many amazing tricks with a yo-yo. As a bonus: once you've got the attention of someone and are doing a magic trick, more people are bound to gather. Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd.

Location, Location, Location. If you plan to draw a crowd, you have to be in a good place to do so. Places that people frequent. Perhaps outside your local public library. Outside a store, or a movie theater. Even in a park. You could perform outside a restaraunt, specifically a resturaunt with outdoor seating. If you want to perform outside any of these place you should ask the manager of the establishment. Chances are they will say yes, they would love it if you draw in customers. There are certain places I don NOT recommend. DO NOT do magic tricks outside a church. DO NOT do magic tricks outside a hospital. It's probably NOT a good idea to do magic tricks outside of schools because many kids would love to ridicule it.

Just position yourself where people can see you and gather around, but where you will not be in the way. don't stand in front of a door, it annoys people and you will get in trouble with the owner of the building.

Good luck, I hope it works out.

Answer 3

Good topic on some lines here:

http://www.magichat.co.uk/forum/viewtopi...

Basically, if you've seen Blaine and similar people performing on the street your first thought might be the whole "Would you like to see something?" approach. Or perhaps "Would you like to see some magic?"

When you think about it though, I mean REALLY think about that from the other perspective, I mean sure, it gets the point across, but does it sound that great? Not really. It's just not something I would recommend using.

Imagine someone walking up with a deck of cards in their hands asking if you want to see something. Not an interesting approach.

Really, I would usually start by introducing myself, walk up shake their hand etc. "Hey, my name is ____ ____, I'm a local/close-up/whatever performing magician, could I have a minute of your time? Perhaps show you a few things I've been working on?"      (by the way, telling someone you are still "working on this" when doing an effect catches them more off guard as it seems like your just practicing even though you've practiced it so many times before and have it down)

Find something to fit your personality, but most of all, make sure you HAVE a personality. Be friendly, be mysterious, be whoever you want to be but make sure to be someone and to have some kind of feeling in your voice. Blaine may get reactions, but the performance...is not one. Don't go with that monotone same sounding almost bored voice. It doesn't sounds very exciting or intriguing. You want them to WANT to see what you have to show.

Just like all of your different effects, you want to make the approaching lines or patter your own. Walk up, or if standing next to them already...go ahead and get their attention either by starting to talk to them or pulling out your cards etc. Sometimes I may just walk up, shake their hand (firm grip, but not too tight, just to show confidence), introduce myself, produce my deck (from a palm) and go into whatever patter "I'm doing an experiment for school on probability and people's ability to pay attention to certain actions."

Be confident, create your own lines, make it your own and make it to fit your character...  

Answer 4

Would you like to see something amazing? (...strange, ...crazy,...weird)

I was wondering if you could tell me how this works.

Have you ever heard of David Blaine?  I think he's rubbing off on me.