hmmm i need some advise on how to approach when i do street magic in public...cause sometimes it turns out bad....and sometimes really good.. ppl might think youre trying to sell stufff to them :( :huh:

Well, i guess the most important thing is to take note of which type of people you want to perform for. If you see someone in a rush walking towards the Great Singapore Sale and you approach him/her, most probably you will get your cards or props thrown on the floor before being trampled on by the many others behind. lol.

I guess it is best to target people who are more or less idling, coffee houses, or some waiting for friends that kinda thing. Of course nightspots are best because almost everyone is receptive to the simple entertainments that you can provide for them.

2cents worth. :D

Just whack. :D

But you gotta have a friendly look and explain to them. Use body language. ;)

- Ling

Simple entertainments? I don't think magic is simple entertainment.

try not to give the hi-can-i-sell-you-insurance-or-sign-up-for-bank-credit-card face.. you'd definitely get accepted. lol

If you want morale booster and not get rejected, I suggest you approach familes or people moving in groups. Big group usually don't turn you away. If you approach one person, he may reject you because Singaporeans are typically shy and they don't like the idea of a stranger approaching them.



:off: hey lukold, I realise my browser always hang when I vist pages with your name inside. i suspect it's got to do with your animated signature. :unsure:

Okie, its not simple then :) Thanks for sharing your views.

Smile, look confident (even when you're not!), dress nicely, and speak clearly. I should reiterate that again: speak CLEARLY :)

IMO, do card levitation..Hummer card, Real floating card, what have you.. B)
It sures attract alot of attention.. Usually those who have time to spare will stand there and see you levitate.. Approach these 'free' people and continue with your magic routines.. :)

just my worthless POV..

Catch their attention FIRST. Dribbling or springing cards catches attention, both visually and hearing. The moment you know that they're looking, do a quick colour change and they'll continue to watch. Thats how I get audiences during my bus or MRT rides.

At open places, I personally really like Fire Wallet, it is REALLY attention seeking, and after you got them to be interested, approaching them is a breeze, trust me. Just smile, and your first sentence should be saying that you're not selling anything or something like that. Haha, Singaporeans always think liddat. ^_^

if you are talking abt "street magic" where the magician goes around looking for audiences, i would (its not a standard):

1. get a magician look and ensure i do not look the least like a salesperson

-Dressing
-Style (dont act like one standing in the middle of the street with a clip board walking up to all sorts of people)
-etc.

2. walk up to them and do something visual (produce a coin from their ear, or produce a deck of cards, flames from wallet, etc). but whatever u do, u must actively engage them with words. (this "effect" will also aid step 1 above)

-eg. excuse me, you've something behind your ear. let me (reach out) get that (show coin) for you. OH! its a coin, interesting place to keep one.

-eg. excuse me (take out wallet), do you have change (open wallet) for er.. WAHHH! (fire, immediately shut) That almost burnt a hole in my pocket.

3. introduce yourself, tell them your purpose
"Hi, I am a street magician. Please allow me to show you some magic (say magic mysteriously)." then go on and do the magic.

-never ever ask them explicitly "can i show u some magic", cos chances are, they will say "no" as they wouldnt like to request something from someone. dont give them such a big chance to decline.

-always acknowledge their right of way and space. words like allow and permission will do well. but just dont wait for a reply, go ahead and do the magic!

-invoke curiosity and interest. the opening "effect" earlier will already do the job, but the way u verbally introduce yourself can also be put to good use. darren brown would intro himself by saying that he's "sort of a magician". this too creates curiosity to answer the question of "what sort of magician", "he's not a normal magician?".


just some scenarios that im imagining now, may not work for everyone. but the most important thing is to try all different stuff and see what suits you.

oh ok....boat quay area got alot of friendly people like at penny black for those of you who know? the bar penny black allllllooot of friendly people especially ang Morh one

well, wat i used to do was i only 'went after' ppl who were not busy. makes some senses i tink. and i dun talk to them lyk i'm trying to sell them stuff.

Hehe.. you should probably hold your deck in a prominent position so that they can see them. And mabbie do some flourishes when you're alone? Cos i'd usually chat up these pple and ask them to show me a thing or 2. :lol:

haha.. and don't look for aunties.. they are always so mean! give you that kind of don't-talk-to-me-face.. aunties are a no no.. :P

groups of gals wud b nice.. gals are alwaez so full of reaction.. lol

Moderator's Note:
Can you PLEASE write properly?

Groups of girls would be nice. Girls are always so full of reaction... lol

lol.. i have no problem reading, why are you repeating yourself?

well, girls are the main objective of street magic man. nothing but girls only.. hehe :rolleyes:

eh i tell u wad happened last week on saturday...i went to boat quay then my friend dared me to perform on some one from the outskirts of the bar. I went to this aussie group and the jeered and ask for more tricks...then at the end he passed me wad i thought was paper at first then i grabbed it and realized it was a $50 note tip ....lol only my second time doing in on the street rather id say the second person id done for on streets results were amazing

They jeered at you and still handed you $50? Hmmm, think it must be complete sarcasm towards your performance. If I were you I would have politely rejected the money and walked off.

did they like it and ask for more or did they not like it but ask for more?

Here's what my friends and i always do if we wanna do street magic.

Magician will say," Sorry to bother you, but i got a Dare form my friend the i have to do 10 street magic to 10 different people" follow by a smile and turn to that friend, the friends will smile as if he is waiting for the dare.

Haha this works all the time, they will think that you are doing some stupid tricks, but if u do a invisible deck or ACR, they will realise how good you are. haha. :D

I dun encourage those methods though. Daring is a form of insult to magic to me.

Magic is suppose to be mystical, not a way to prove that u can do something that others cant do. And street magic should be done randomly and free will, not because someone dare u and u do. Then i feel that u are being stupid to be manipulated by someone when u should be the one tht manipulated the person.

Be strong abt ur magic, take pride in them, perform when u feel that u wan to create mystery to the person u wan. Not when u are being pushed around. And who knows, ur frenz might be watching from ur back to see ur secrets.

Haha!!

its just he way of promoting himself(Lefty) to perform to people on the street. its just another variation.

i think you meant cheered right. If they jeered at you, i dont think they'll ask for more tricks and you'd even want to go on. Plus the tip?

anyway, great job and that's a big tip and encouragement!
caucasians usually would react and receive you better...

Agree with Larrydk.Don't let people control your magic but you control your own magic,you decide what are the magic you want to do. :)

Halo guyz.

Maybe theres problems with my english. What i was trying to say is that the "daring" thing is fake. Because both my friend and i are magicians. I ever been approach by magician that do the mystic way and my friends are like "what the H*ll is he trying to do". So using to Dare senario, i mean people will be more willing to so call help you finish your "fake dare" and in the end, amaze by your magic.

Peace.... :D

Lefty, I dont agree with u in using the 'my friends dared me' opener. Its okay to use if u just start out performing street magic and your friends dare u to perform, this will of course boost your self confidence as u have to do the dare. But if u use this as an opener and tell this dare to ur audiences, it's kind of like having them to 'sympathise' u to help u finish the dare. And this will also make them feel u have little pride for your magic.

Just my $0.02. ;)

Ya,

U have to give the free will mindset to the audience. By doing so, u are telling the audience that u have no choice but to do magic to them. Which give them a negative setting abt ur magic. Hmm, i personally think to learn street magic well, do it the hard way, ya that is to approach without directions and try to bring out the magic.

Dun be deceived by those shows that street magic is that easy, David Blaine or Criss or even Cyil onli shows their performances part. But in the end, how many times they are being rejected to be perform to the audience? They used an open mindset concept to approach any free willing audience. Hmm, and juz approach and ask, "hey, wan to see some magic?" The hard way lets u learn on how to handle different kinds of street walkers.

Well, i performed a few times and i feel that americans are easier to target than singapore dudes.. Haha!!

Hmmm... true. Guess that you guyz are right. By using the dare method, it really bring down the professionalism i suppose, ya american have very cool response but ine of my friends ever met any American HECKLER. they are more full time than any Singaporean heckler. buy anyway these cases are rare, only singaporean loves to hack... hehe... :wacko:

how would you know? Unless you're an Internet expert or computer expert.



Anyway, not only Singaporeans like to heckle, its human nature for everyone.

Martin Nash loved to hack too even though he wasn't IT savvy.



He was a lumberjack.
Must have hacked lots of trees.

Singaporean adults are probably hard to catch but i think kids will definitely want to see the trick. Especially those on the way home from school or something. And the reaction will be priceless. Its probably easier to start of the performance in the first place isnt it?

Actually the general influx of people who want to start off magic as a hobby is due to the many street magicians who hit off the trend. As a result many of those whom have seen a couple of effects want to learn them and after doing so quit the art.

Adults on the other hand tend to appreciate what has happened. They want to be amazed and are not as keen as the younger teenagers whom just want in on the secrets. I however am not against performing for teens or kids though, by all means. :)

Hi guys.I don't usually post here as I'm at Magic Cafe Site. Anyway I found out a few really great locations to approach people.

Sentosa East Coast beach. Tourist are there and they don't mind. Families are relaxing there so they are not in a rush. Great when there's a couple of school girls together.

Schools like NUS, NTU, SIM. Being a student myself, I hardly get rejected before. Especially in the school canteen. Nobody will ever turn you down.

Get a partner to film you on a camcorder. People will know that you are filiming and even harder to reject you. Try it.

Going back on topic, one good method of approaching people on the street is to ask something like 'Hi, I'm some sort of a magician, I would like to show you something.'

Looking at the sentence you can see that a few psychological factors are at work, the first line 'Hi, I'm some sort of a magician' leaves the person thinking 'what sort of a magician?' striking a little tint of curiosity to hang on to stay and see what happens next of if that question in their mind is answered.

The second line 'I would like to show you something' is simple but its subtlety is vital. One main thing in that line is that you do not ask them for a Yes or No answer as compared to asking 'can I show you something'(which the majority will use) leaving them with little or no room to back off and decline anything.

'Some sort of a magician' doesn't sound very nice or appealing. Makes people feel your character is rather dubious and may lower your credibility. I like the second line though. :)

Just say Hi I'm going to freak you out now. Yes now. :D

Just say "Sis theres someting behind your ear" and just pull out a sponge ball and get rolling..! B)