This is a very daunting concept. When I first thought that I was sick of just performing to myself and wanted to try my hand at full blown performing, I thought the street was the obvious choice. What the street really is to a juggler is a free stage! A stage with no boundaries. Although this is good the street has some of the hardest crowds around. Other audiences like on stage shows have already paid to see you before hand so you can concentrate on the show and not on hat lines (explained later).
The first thing you MUST have before performing is the skill. This doesn’t mean that you are the best juggler that ever walked the earth. Not even a good juggler sometimes, but a juggler with a good show. Successful street acts don’t have much juggling in at all. They have big big build ups which is a mix of comedy and general fooling around, and sometimes getting up a volunteer.
The juggling comes right at the very end and sometimes only lasts for two minutes or so. This is all due to keeping the attention of the audience, from my experience it became very quickly apparent that if you stand there and juggle that nobody stops. They look and think that they have seen it all and keep going into the next clothes shop. If you stand there and shout about all the things you are about to do and the fact that its going to be very hard and dangerous. Then it will be very hard for people to keep walking as many of them do not encounter this kind of thing everyday and get intrigued, which will make them stop.
Making an audience stop is incredibly important. Probably the most important thing of your entire show. I spend most of my show attracting an audience then adding to it until I feel that it is at the size I want for my show. After that I then do what I was promising, like balance on a rola bola juggling 1 apple and 2 knives and eat the apple!
As I just touched on above there should be a structure to your show. It is very important that the crowd feel that the show is going somewhere, not just carrying on and on and on with the same material. There must be a beginning where you tell of what you do and interact with the audience etc. a middle where you get your volunteers and try to build a strong bond with you found audience. Also in this section it can be good to do some other juggling tricks to keep there interest, because you have to remember that they are not there to see you, they are there to shop and you are distracting them. The end should not sneak up on the audience, they should know exactly where it is. As many of us haven’t mastered telepathy you are going to have to resort in just plain telling them before the big trick that this is the end. This is when you do your hat line.
Hat lines are what makes your audience remember that the show that they are watching isn’t free, the time when they realize that they should pay you as you have just given them a service. Hat lines are either very funny or deadly serious. There are many classic hat lines around that can be found on the internet but I believe that you should think of your own. Many lines in your show will be show specific anyway, due to what happens in the show and usually who you meet from your audience. There are some dos and don’ts. You must never ask for loose change because funnily enough that’s just what you will get. Lets face it who wants some bodies coppers? Don’t beg for money or force the audience. Only give one hat line before the end of the show else the audience might become frustrated with your money grabbing attitude. Be sincere with your request for payment or they will think its another joke! Ask for what money you think you deserve, just like if you ask for coppers you will get them, if you ask for notes then they get the idea that this isn’t unusual.
When you are collecting the money I like to hold the hat, not just leave it on the floor. This lets the public get a chance to talk to you, and gives you the chance to get feedback from them. Its also harder to not give you money if your right in front of them!
Although the content of your show will decide weather the audience had a good time or not. Its going to be a lot easier to persuade them they have had a good time if you started on a good note. Their first opinion of you is going to go in your favor and aid your show, or it will haunt you and you will have to dig yourself out with your show. Just remember you wouldn’t go to a job interview without a suit. This is exactly the same! You are doing something out of the ordinary therefore in my opinion you should not look ordinary. In my experience it seams the more gutsy you are with your attire the more professional you will look. Professionals get more respect and more pay.
Now lets go onto the law stuff. I personally have never had much of a problem with the law. I have obtained a buskers license for my home town and that’s it. Most of the time there is no such thing for that town! Just try to stick to the rules and you will be fine.
1.) Don’t block and passageways with your audience
2.) Don’t put members of the public at risk, cordon off the area that you are going to use!
3.) Don’t block entries to shops!
Most of all you should never street perform if you are just doing it because you want to get rich quick! You wont, you probably wont get much at all if that’s your motivation. You should do it because you love it, people can sense neediness!
JUST GET OUT THERE AND HAVE FUN!!