Street performers.

[drewman230]

I have a full time job, but I just want to travel the US and Canada. I have been doing magic as a hobby for about 16 years. I do shows and have done street shows. Most street performers do not tell you about their spots where they make their money. That is fine, I can understand that. But how much cash are you pulling in a month? Is 2k a month an attainable goal for only working a couple of hours a week?

 

[PastTense]

That number sounds crazily overoptimistic to me. Two hours a week is roughly 9 hours a month. $2,000/9=$220 per hour. If people could make that kind of money a huge number of people would do it. But I know absolutely nothing about this subject.

But I think this is probably the wrong forum to ask. There are probably forums about street performing and magic where people might know.

 

[drewman230]

Well If I do a regular 30 min to an hour show I charge $300 to $500 depending on the type of show. But that is different from the streets. Maybe I will bribe a street performer for some info. I think cash will suffice.

 

[Patrick46]

ask the source...there ya go!!

That's pretty good money for an hour show...you must be pretty good!

If you ARE that good, then maybe you can bring those kinda paychecks home busking on the streets...but I'm sure it highly depends on the location, and working the right crowds.


I was really into magic in high school, but that was a few years ago. I think I've lost my edge.

(are you gonna keep all your pigeons in the van with you???)

 

[PastTense]

Well if there are any places with street performers nearby you can just watch and see how frequently people contribute and perhaps how much. For example, if it looks like if there is a contribution once every couple minutes and the average contribution is a buck that comes up to $30/hour.

 

[drewman230]

Lol no birds. 5 silver dollars, a deck of cards, a rope, 3 copper cups, a magic stick ( not a wand lol) my collapsible table and my bag to put it all in. I have a rough idea on how much is made on a good day. But those guys usually pay a fee to perform in the area. I will just ghost some street performers the area. It is really not about the magic, it is how well you can sell your personality. Making the noise to draw in the crowd then keeping the crowd, and then making it worth their time to listen to total stranger for 15 minutes.

 

[Patrick46]

well...it sounds like you know what you're getting yourself into...that's for sure.


that's better than 90% of where most people start out!!

 

[Mackerous]

I'm a professional balloon twister who also busks a fair amount. $2,000 is pretty optimistic sounding to me too. I target places such as farmers markets and street festivals and in a good city will make $30-50/hour. Magic is crowd work though, so you could make more.

I've never had an issue talking to other buskers about spots and such, as long as you make it clear you respect their territory. If you have different target audiences, they might even let you set up next to them. I worked Fremont Street in Vegas and had one of the photo opportunity costumed people let me work right by him.

 

[user 423]

.... one of the photo opportunity costumed people let me work right by him.

What kind of costume(s) did he use?

 

[Mackerous]

The one in question is a very buff gladiator. There's tons of them out there though. Easily the most plentiful act. Some are in trademarked costumes (spider-man, other super heros) some are look alikes (I saw Snoop Dogg hanging with Tupac), some are just ridiculous (fat bearded man with bad teeth in a wedding dress). They go for quantity. You have drunk people tipping a buck a picture all nice, you can make some nice cash.

 

[bvanevery]

Two hours a week is roughly 9 hours a month. $2,000/9=$220 per hour.

Lots of musician street performers in Asheville NC and no way anyone's making that kind of money. First off, too many street performers in a small area. Second off, if that kind of money was sitting in their hat or guitar case in front of 'em, the druggies would run by and grab it. They do tend to stay playing, I've never seen any of 'em clearing out their money during their set, so stands to reason they can't be accumulating that much.

Third, I don't know the street performance laws there, but I've never seen anyone perform for longer than an hour or so. This leads me to believe they may be limited to how many hours a day they can perform. Fourth, the only time the good ones come out is on the weekends in good weather, when there are lots of people on the streets. This isn't a during the week plan and it isn't a late fall / winter plan. People come to Asheville to watch the leaves change color, but once those drop, the crowds are gone.

 

[user 423]

So how do you think a buff gladiator photo-op dude would do in Asheville?

 

[Malibusurfer]

Two words: Venice Beach

 

[drewman230]

Most of the the guys I have talked to recently said their shows are between 15-20 minutes. With an average of $30-$50, depending on the crowd. The people I talked to told me that they will some times do 10 shows a day. With a 10-20 minute break in between each set. So with a break and a show, potential income for the day could be around $300 to $500. Most of the performers I talked to told me that a most cities issued permits for performing. And most cities did not want any fire in the acts. This is of course under optimal conditions. I guess I would not need to make that much just enough to cover gas and food to the next place. I really do not spend that much money. I have always been a conscientious buyer. And now that I have been in the van for a year, it is even better.

 

[user 423]

"Ain't nuthin' to it but to do it"...

I guess you'd see widely varying results around the US but you shouldn't really need $2k/month to get by in a van. Have you thought about ren faires?

 

[caseyc]

I recently bought a simple acoustic 6 string guitar. Turns out learning chords and finger placement is d@mn harder than I imagined, haha! Hopefully maybe one day I'll be good enough to use the guitar to make a few extra dollars in my future retirement. I'm sure I'm dreaming!

 

[drewman230]

"Ain't nuthin' to it but to do it"...

I guess you'd see widely varying results around the US but you shouldn't really need $2k/month to get by in a van. Have you thought about ren faires?

Well I guess they would pay me to leave the fair so they didn't have to look at me in tights. But that would only last for so long.

I have a friend I could possible get some work from. He does shows for fairs that travel through out the US. He and his wife are on the board of directors for hiring new talent. He does the main stage shows and palor shows. I could do that for a year to see if I like it.

 

[bvanevery]

So how do you think a buff gladiator photo-op dude would do in Asheville?

Totally inapplicable I'd think. Asheville is an artsy, edgy, hippie, yuppie, Biltmore tourism kind of town. Lots of organic foods and such. I mean, sure, people might be intrigued by a novel and totally not-fitting the landscape kind of act, but I'd be surprised if you'd clean up with it. What you're describing sounds like Vegas or Florida. Muscles and bods.

Might have more luck with a buff Highland Gamer act, if you can perform any actual feats of strength. In a mountain area it would definitely have more of a regional flavor. Oh I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok....

 

[sephson]

When I was in college, I worked at a little mom and pop retail shop in my home town. There were a number of street performers who would come out on the weekends and play an instrument on the street corner. Most of them were pretty unremarkable, mediocre at best. There was one who really stood out from the rest though. He was a middle aged man with a small flute and in general, a very nice guy. Now, what made him stand out from the rest of the crowd was that he was under the delusion that he could actually play his instrument. He couldn't have played a single decent note if his life depended on it. People would do everything in their power to get away from that street corner as fast as they could so they wouldn't have to listen to the awful racket coming out of that man's flute. Naturally, this irritated the local businesses because this flute player was driving away their customers, but there was nothing the police could do because he wasn't breaking any laws. Personally, I just tuned him out and resigned myself to a slow day at work.

 

[vagari]

I put up a sign that said pay me to shut up and then I started singing. I made a killing. The sound was as annoying as running fingernails on a chalk board. I had poeple coming for miles to pay me to shut up.

On a serious note. I give money to street performers before beggars. At least their doing something and some are pretty good.