U of M Redux & Beale St Day #2

Tuesday morning, I went back to the University of Memphis.

That place was just so perfect for busking that I couldn't help myself. I went back. I had some fun... but, unfortunately, I left after an hour of performing with, essentially, an empty hat. It was the worst I had done on the campus thus far.

I need to get there earlier if I want to get a crowd.

And, honestly, I need to use the hat lines. It felt too contrived the last time I was there... so I was trying to be more natural with my hat lines. That essentially meant that I barely gave a "final hat line." That said, there were more people Tuesday than before who came up to me, thanking me for the show and apologizing for the fact that they didn't carry any cash on them that day.

So maybe it was a combination of bad luck, bad timing, and bad performance structure.

I packed up at the end of the lunch rush... intent on figuring out a better script.

--

That afternoon, just as I was thinking about the scripting, I got a phone call from another magician in town. I had contacted Don Driver, the creator of "Building a Tip" - a DVD on building and maintaining a crowd in a busking situation. I tried to purchase his DVD, and Don put me in touch with another magician who wants to start busking in Memphis.

I met up with this magician, and we discussed busking. I got the chance to look over a script for Don's bally. Needless to say, I spent the next few days practicing and practicing and practicing... To the point where I could say what I needed to say, throw in my own jokes, and go on with my own show at a comfortable level.

Today - Friday - I went out to Beale St.

The bally worked like a charm. I stood in the middle of the busiest part of Beale St. at 12:00pm (which was a little busier than usual because of a lunch crowd? maybe? and yet, it was pretty dead compared to other venues that I've seen in cities in the northeast). I took a deep breath, climbed on top of this little stone structure, and started yelling.

"We are going to have a little fun - we're going to do a little magic. Watch!"

And on I went.

Pretty soon, I had a decent crowd. I was shocked. Nervous, too... though I hadn't been this nervous since I started busking. I was about 3/4's through my show... at a little break right before I was going to give my first hat line and move onto my strait jacket finale... when a guy walked up to me and asked me to move my show outside of the Beale St. barricades.

First problem that I encountered: I had a couple people leave as soon as the bally was over, and they found out that I wasn't going to immediately change ten one's into ten ten's. People were still sticking around though. I need to fix that... fix my transitions so there aren't any points in the show where people will feel like they can leave.

Second problem: Transitions again. The man who had walked up to me was politely waiting until the end of the show before he asked me to leave. He stepped in during an applause bit - when I took a breath to grab the strait jacket. Transition problem right there.

Third problem: I was asked to move. DOH! I really wanted to try out this new bally. But off I went... outside of the barricades... and there, I had almost no foot traffic.

I packed up my stuff, tried walking down to Main St., only to find that Main St. is quite dead even in this nice weather. Back up to Beale St., set up outside the barricades, and waited.

A couple people walked past, and I did some effects for them, but I couldn't get a show going.

Then I walked up and down Beale St. again, looking for this guy. Went up to Beale St. Management, found the guy, and he was convinced to let me stand in the park (right off of Beale St) to perform for today only. He did say that he wanted me to come back in mid-March to April. He saw my show (the ONE real show I actually managed to give... though I didn't get the chance to finish it with the finale there), and he said it was good. I hope that's true?

But yeah. I set up at the park off of Beale... and I was allowed to stay there until 4:00pm, when the guy who actually rents out that little spot comes in to work.

First problem: Once again, foot traffic. Most of the pedestrians were on the other side of the intersection. The park was a little bit out of the way. I would need to yell out really loudly for anyone to hear me from that far away.

Second problem: There a band in the park, not too far from where I was. Once again, I had to worry about projecting my voice out so that people could hear me.

Solutions? I tried the bally... but I never got too far with it. As soon as I started talking, the few people who were there to hear would be almost gone by the time I got up to a point where - last time - I started drawing a crowd. They were just walking by.. and they were trying to get to the busier end of Beale. In the end, I just ended up standing there and performing for small groups of passerby every so often.

All this started at 11:30am... and I left at around 4:00pm.

Third problem: NO HAT LINES! I couldn't get any of them in there for the small groups. Maybe I felt more awkward when I had to say them to groups of two or four people. I probably did. And yeah, most people did tip, but they weren't nearly as good as when I had larger crowds and I could give my lines without feeling like I was being too pushy.

Oh. And I encountered my first creepy guy today. This guy with longish hair and a hoody hovered around my table all day. He would walk away as soon as people were there to watch... and then he would come back, stand right near me... or walk in circles, pacing.. waiting.. I don't know. For what. I wasn't really making enough for anyone to REALLY want to steal from me.

He might have been desperate.

Or he might have just been a creepy guy.

Good news? I think I'm on pretty good terms with the vendors and the musicians in that area. Maybe it has to do with me being the only girl working those parts... but a word here and there, and I'm confident that they were watching my back.

Still, when I packed up to leave, this creepy guy essentially followed me.. though he stayed on the other side of the street. I stopped at a corner cafe, chatted with the guy there who helped me find Beale St. Management earlier, and watched the creepy guy in my periphery. I told the guy at the corner cafe that I was avoiding said creepy guy, and he said he'd watch out for him. Creepy guy turned and left, and I grabbed my table and bag before heading off to my car.

Went home - arms hurt from carrying around the table all day.

Reflections?

-I need to get luggage straps to make carrying the table easier.

-In five hours, I made as much as I made at U of M in one hour. Having foot traffic makes a huge difference.

-The dollar bill bally works! I just need to use it.

-And man - the anthropologist in me is aching to go back out to the streets to get to know the vendors and other street performers better.

Plans for the future?

I'm thinking of going out tomorrow morning to perform at a farmer's market in the area. I hear there's a decent flow of people.. but I also hear there aren't really ever lots of people there at one time. Here's to hoping.

Maybe I'll go outside a church Sunday afternoon and try to catch those guys on their way home. The bad news? One of my former bosses go to the church I'm considering performing outside of. I don't want to see him. We'll see, huh?

I've lost the chance to perform at Beale St, pretty much, after the guy asked me to stop. I might try Overton Park sometime.. and I'll go back to trying U of M during the weekdays. Good news? Trolley Tour takes place the last Friday of every month... and there are actually buskers there. Real street performers! It's the only time in Memphis that I've seen other non-musician buskers out. I'm doing that, definitely. I'll find away.

Advice, suggestions, comments? Feel free to leave them.

Until next time!

Beale St: Day 1

Fail.

I don't know what else to call it. Fail. That's it. I spent a long time just driving around downtown... trying to find a good area with a lot of pedestrian traffic. I settled for Beale St, which was ok - nowhere nearly as crowded as the University of Memphis campus. Did one OK small show for a couple of tourists. I did two hat lines - one before my finale and one at the end. My last hat line didn't come in quickly enough, and most people were gone by then.

I need a stronger opener. The crowd builds up as soon as I do the straight jacket... but that's my finale, and it doesn't last long enough to warrant a bigger hat, it seems. And grown-ups.. unlike college students... don't yell or laugh as loudly. It's harder to draw a crowd on Beale than it is to draw a crowd on a college campus.

That said - there were also some other buskers around. The moment the Beale St. flippers showed up, I felt like I was intruding on their territory. They weren't that successful in filling up their bucket either... and they definitely didn't work at drawing a crowd. Other than those guys, there were one or two musicians sitting around, playing music.

I strolled around and did some magic. My table's not ready yet... and I think not having it there makes it so that I'm moving around too much. I need to pick a spot and stick with it (maybe?). And then I need to draw my crowd in, as opposed to me going around trying to grab a crowd.

How do I do that? What's a good attention-grabber... in a street where there aren't really that many people? I have to figure that out... so I'll keep on doing some research.

So yeah. Fail. But I'll try again.

If I fall down seven times, I will stand up eight times.

Strait Jacket Escape

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqS4aKmklxY

First day of busking - I'm on the University of Memphis campus. I ended my routine with a straight jacket escape... Phones and cameras appeared all around me, and.. it seems... someone decided to put the escape up on youtube.

Let me know what you think, if you're reading this.

Some busking, getting kicked out, and meeting other magicians..

The weather's been horrible.

After the random glimpse of spring on Monday, winter set in again... Though I might have been willing to stand outside in the cold, no one wanted to stay and watch. As a result, I had to stay inside for a couple of days.

I used these past few days to clean up the house, practice some magic, and start my construction of a busking table. I bought a restaurant tray jack from a restaurant supply store in town. Went out to Home Depot and got myself a nice slab of wood... and I even got a friend to drill in two metal brackets in which I can set the table in. I still need to figure out how to hold everything together... and I need to figure out how to put everything up on my shoulder so I can transport it around.

Anyway- today.

Today I was restless.

Maybe it was because of my dreams from the previous night. I dreamt of my students. In my sleep, I imagined that I had driven to my school for breakfast duty - out of habit... because I had forgotten that I don't work there anymore - and some of my students attacked me with hugs. I woke up restless. I needed to see them.

So, regardless of whether or not I was allowed to, I decided I would drive to the school and see my former students during their recess time. And after all that, I decided - good weather or bad weather - I was going to go out and busk.

With my decisions made, I dressed up in my busking outfit, hopped into my car, and drove directly to Omni Prep Academy. As soon as I walked in, the familiar cries of young children reached my ears. Those voices... followed by that name of mine - "Ms. Ling! Ms. Ling is back!"

A stampede of children, hugs, and tears followed that cry.

It was... a sweet moment. I said hello to my friends and former colleagues, said goodbye to my kids, and did what I could to ignore the pity of the school's administrators. Unlike those who are still stuck in that school, I am happy. And I am free.

That sense of freedom struck me more today than it ever did since I left that school.

After I drove off from Omni Prep, I went to the University of Memphis campus. Once again, I walked straight to the student center. This time, instead of setting up outside, I walked into the center and performed in the lobby. I got two shows in - approximately one hour in length, making the same amount that I did before - before a man walked up to me and asked me to leave.

As he spoke to me, he brought up that he was a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. He said that, since I wasn't a student there, I would not be allowed to come back and perform again, unless a student group hired me to be on campus. He warned me, he said, because he did not want campus police to hold me for trespassing.

He proceeded to give me his card, and he suggested that I come to his friend's show later that night. He also pointed me in the direction of a local magic shop. After talking with a student that I had performed for and getting the contact information for the university's student activities committee, I went straight to that magic shop.

Talked shop with the magician in there for a quite a while.

Left.

Went to a friend's house to borrow a drill. This is for that table I mentioned working on earlier.

Went home to grab some food.

Then out again to watch the magic show Nathan (the guy who stopped me from performing at the U of M campus) introduced me to. This show is called Larry! It's a magic/juggling act. I watched from 8-10pm (it was a pretty great show, with a good mixture of magic, juggling, and comedy), and spoke with Larry afterwards. Had a long conversation with him, Nathan, and Joey (a mentalist who was at the show).

I stayed to watch the midnight improv group.

I didn't get home until 2:15am. All I can say is - wow. Thanks to my job teaching at a charter school, I forgot how much fun life can be. I also made some great contacts tonight, and I got some suggestions on where and how I can busk. The biggest upset, though, is that I won't be able to perform at University of Memphis anymore.

I don't know.

The ask forgiveness, not permission, mantra seems to work great for me. The guy who asked me to leave is a magician who doesn't actually have the authority to kick me off campus... but his warnings about the police holding me for trespassing are scary. I don't know..

That pitch was so... perfect. I could perform outside on nice days, inside on bad days, and... there are always people there wandering around. I'll try and fight to stay there. In the meantime, I guess I'll look into performing downtown or somewhere else.

All in all, I had a wonderful day. I may be joining the IBM soon. Not sure... but I will see if I can keep on working as a busker. I'm not going to give up on that just yet.

Busking

I am a busker.

I was a teacher for a little while. My mismanaged school cut certain positions for budget reasons... and, all of a sudden, I was unemployed. I had moved all the way from New Jersey to Memphis for this job. As of Friday, that job no longer exists.

So what do I do? I could go home. My parents are supportive... but I don't want support. Not yet. Not now. So soon after I set out on my own, I'm not going to give up and make that shameful trip home. I'm here at least until July, so I might as well make the best of it.

With every tragedy comes an opportunity. I've decided to become - for the first time in my life - a full time professional magician. That means, for now, busking.

What is busking? When you walk through a busy tourist area in any given city, you might find mimes, jugglers, musicians, fake statues, and magicians entertaining pedestrians. These performers work to entertain an audience, they pass a hat around, and then they start again with a new crowd.

Opportunity and necessity has turned me to this ancient trade, and I'm finding that I'm loving it. Of course, I still have a lot more to do and learn. After all, today is my first day.

And what a day it was.

Today's warm and sunny. It's going to be rainy and cold the rest of this week... so I thought I'd make the best of it. At 1:00pm, I set out with my Charlie Chaplin get-up, minus the moustache (that's a story to tell another time... but the costume fits), slung my bag of supplies over my shoulder, and headed out to the University of Memphis campus.

Today's routine:

1. Beginning - Card effects: 2 Card Monte, a color changing 'wild card' routine, Ambitious Card

2. Middle - Sponge balls (or just Ambitious Card)

3. End - Straight jacket escape

I did card effects because I'm most comfortable with those. They drew people in at the beginning and legitimized my magic. In the middle, I did a sponge ball routine. I feel as though I may need a meatier middle section... so I'll keep on thinking on that. I ended with a straight jacket escape that built up a nice... large crowd. I passed out my hat and started over.

With the new crowd that had been drawn in during the end of the escape, I went back to the cards.

The good thing? I hit the university right during their lunch rush, so the crowds came easy. At the end of that second show, I checked my phone and found that my phone had died mid-show. Since this was my first time out on my own, I didn't feel too safe without having a phone around as a precaution. I headed home to recharge everything and reflect...

I gave out my email address to several people who wanted to get in touch with me for future events. One of the staff from the school asked about booking me for a small stage show. Some students wrote down my information for the University of Memphis newspaper.

So yeah. I thought I did good. In about an hour, I made more than I thought I would - I hadn't really been expecting anything at all. And I got some experience... Now I think I've figured out when and where I'm going to be busking most days.

Thus begins a dream that I thought would never come to fruition...

Keep checking here, and I'll keep blogging about my experiences busking in Memphis.

New Zealand Blog

Since this is more of a magic blog... with things in it that non-magicians probably don't want to read, I've started a blog focused just on my trip to New Zealand. If you're interested, here's the link:

http://abroadinaotearoa.blogspot.com/

Astonishment in Aotearoa

I'm writing from Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud. In English, Aotearoa is crudely translated to "New Zealand." It's a small island nation off the coast of Australia with rolling hills, beautiful harbors, glaciers, many species of endangered flightless birds, flocks upon flocks of sheep, and, of course, it's home to the legendary hobbits.

Fortunately, it seems my very presence on this island has driven New Zealand's monkeys into the sea... where they are all currently permanently checking their eyelids for holes. What does that mean? Go ahead. Check your own eyelids for holes. Check for a minute or two... and then imagine doing that for ETERNITY.

While you check your eyelids, I'll go ahead and talk about my experiences these past few days. It's been wicked fun... and, as they say here, totally sweet as!

Yeah.. er.. By the way, since I didn't manage to take my camera out of my bags yet for this four day orientation, I'll find pictures online to show you what I saw.

July 2nd: I got onto an Air New Zealand jet from LAX. On the plane, I watched 21 (about Black Jack) while the flight attendants served some of us free red wine and coffee. I was a little surprised by the wine, but it was a sign that I had left the States.

July 4th: After thirteen hours on a plane, I discovered that a giant line in the middle of the Pacific Ocean has eaten the 3rd of July. I also discovered that it was no longer 7/4. It was 4/7. And, worst of all, it was winter.

I called home, traded my nice, green rectangular dollars for colorful and strangely cut Monopoly money, and set foot onto Middle Earth. I discovered that food here is called "kai," and the comment "sweet as" actually means "cool" or... "awesome" or.. something like that. It's not actually a comment on.. you know... er.. yeah.

The organizers of the IFSA-Butler program picked us up from the airport and helped us combat our jet lag by spraying water on us every time we drifted towards sleep. No... wait. Nature did that all by itself. We went for a wander around our orientation place, also known as Shakespear Lodge. I watched two giant, hairy pigs eat the previous day's leftovers, learned a bit about the sheep shearing process, and dodged sheep poo and puddles of water on a hike (here, a hike is known as a tramp) up a hill towards a lookout point. There, I saw the beautiful scenery, the faraway city of Auckland across the bay, and a small island where the nation's indigenous animals and plants are watched over and protected.

I stayed in that blue house there.

I'm disappointed that I didn't managed to dig my camera out of my luggage by then, but the staff and my fellow IFSA-Butler students took a lot of pictures. At one point I'll get those pictures from them, and I'll put the real ones up.

Once the wander around the place was over, we went back to the Lodge for some kai (food).

The beach where we kayaked.

Then, with my leg muscles sore from the short hike, I jumped on a kayak with another student and paddled a bit around the shore. There was a shipwreck by the beach (literally), a constant wind pushing us back, and a little shore with little crabs, snails, and sharp rocks. I hopped around a bit on bare feet before paddling back. On our way back, one of our kayaking guides decided that we should play a little game. We pulled two kayaks together. My fellow rower and I sat, straddling the two boats, and used everything we had in us to pull the two boats together... while the other two rowers stood up and rowed...

An authoritative voice ordered all four of us to stand.
All of a sudden, three of us were standing. I was still sitting, trying to stand... and - no - the boats were separating. I sat back down, trying to pull the two together. Without my partner, I failed.

And, needless to say, I happened to be one of the three people there that day who fell into the cold, winter salt water.

After some more kai and a quick warm rinse in the shower, we went to some hot springs where we could finally warm up and relax. There was more kai after that and, finally, at 8pm, I hit the sleeping bag.

5 July: The next day, we started off with a morning Pub-less Quiz that both tested and informed us about basic New Zealand stuff. The Quiz was formatted as a multiple choice competition between small groups. At one point or another, each group had to give a little presentation/skit/song/dance/anything about the previous day. I used this time to introduce a little magic to the trip... and did that one, you know, where "The card just went all the way to the other side."

Heh.. it wasn't too hard, but it was effective. And fun.

Then came the Rogaining. I think it stands for... "Recreational outdoor gaming activity involving navigation." It was basically a gigantic scavenger hunt across the entire establishment... up and down small mountains, across electric fences, through sheep paddocks and poop hills, across streams and small rivers, and... well... wow. My leg muscles swelled and ached, my hiking boots are covered in mud, and I was soaked in the cold rain. But wow. Despite all that, I have to admit... it was kinda fun.

And, if you were wondering, my group got 5th place out of 8th. Not great work, but not too shabby either.

After getting wet and eating some kai, we went out onto a grass field near the beach (I guess everything here is near the beach) and learned to play Rugby. It wasn't too hard. The back and forth movement is tiring on the legs, but they're getting used to the movement... and hey - I think my defense isn't too bad.

After rugby dried us up, it was time for the "activity of your choice" time. We could either do some rock climbing (up and down a wall), shoot some arrows in an archery session, go mountain biking, or try our hand at mountain boarding.

I decided to take the risk... and go down a giant hill on what was, essentially, a skateboard.

Yeah. Um. I screamed a bit. Fell a bit. Twisted my ankles and legs into weird positions. Fell face first into sheep poo... and turned my pants into a yucky brown color. That's all. Wasn't much to it.

Then I showered. Was briefed on the correct procedure to use in the Maori welcoming ceremony. And fell asleep soon afterwards (thus missing my first chance to watch an All Blacks rugby game).

6 July: The IFSA-Butler staff separated us into Auckland University students and Canterbury students. We were briefed on academic information and campus life... then we learned two Maori songs and an American one (Amazing Grace). We packed and loaded the trucks. While we waited to leave, the guys played cricket...

We went to the Auckland Museum and then we headed off to the Marae...

Since it seems I've gotten to the point where I'm skipping over some major details, I'll save the Marae visit for another day. I want to do this part some credit. I'll be back later to finish this up. Good bye for now.