Busking advice

General
1

I’m by no means the greatest unicyclist in the world. I can ride forward no problem, can kind of idle, can hop and I’m just learning SIF.

However, since I get quite a few comments (at least some positive!) I was thinking of just doing a little unicycling with a hat in front of me and see if anyone decides to give me money!

I was also thinking of offering to give people a go for £3 or something.

Does anyone have any opinions on this? Got any ideas for how I could look a little better than I actually am on my unicycle?

2

Successful buskers are not the ones with the best tricks–they’re the ones with the best personas. You could go out there and do a 360 varial crankflip no-footer tire grab, and you won’t get anything for it if people haven’t connected with you.

There are other threads on some easy crowd-pleasing tricks (jumping rope being #1), but what you should mostly develop is stage presence and working the crowd.

3

Keep it simple, do it well.

No one is impressed by clever tricks unless they truly understand how difficult they are.

A busker’s job is to entertain, not to impress or educate.

You also need some patter. The whole thing needs to run smoothly whlst appearing spontaneous.

4

Yeah, I suppose that makes sense. Non-riders probably don’t realise (or perhaps wouldn’t even spot) the difficulty of a crank flip or something like that.

5

One word: giraffe.

6

http://www.performers.net/ Is a wonderful resource for any aspiring street performer.

Decide what kind of show you want to do: is it a walk-by show or a circle show? If it’s a circle show, have a definite beginning and end, and a good hat line (and a hat).

I wrote a new hat-line limerick last week:

As the stocks in my 401(k)
Grow smaller and smaller each day
I’m here as a clown
Until the market rebounds
So put some cash in my hat straight-away.

I haven’t had a chance to try it yet, but you’re welcome to use it, since you’re all the way across an ocean and stuff.