A Weekend Of Street Performing

Had some good shows, had some not so good shows. Guess that's the way the cookie crumbles. A couple of the musicians that play regularly at the market came up to me and said they really like the way I "work" the crowd. I told them that I had a very good teacher. I went on to describe to them some of the ins and out's of crowd building. Some of the things I think about. Like what's going on in my mind when a large chunk of my audience leaves after the cups and balls. I need to fill in that empty slot, which means I need to throw in another routine or two and hope that I can keep their attention as the show and the crowd builds. You then bring in the outer parameter. The reason for this is two-fold. On the one hand you don't want the audience to interfere with the natural flow of traffic. So you invite them in, "Folks, the police have asked me not to block the cars so, If you would all take about 5 steps towards the curb, they sure would appreciate it. Not that I have a problem with handcuffs. . . I just think there's a time and place for everything." What this does, by tightening up the crowd you make it difficult to for those in the front few rows to leave. The science of crowd building and manipulating an audience, has always been a work in progress for me. It's all good. No Worries. Right On. Guess I'll keep on truck'en.