I want thank all of you supporters for helping me accomplish my mission. I learned a lot from you guys. Some things I thought you were wrong about, I found out you were right about certain subjects. The number was the length of my act.

I had a contract with a event planner of Detroit's Jazz Festival. I was able to negotiate my performance of magic for accepting crowd tips and having a creditial pass. Last Sunday and Monday I did the street busking at the festival. (Couldn't do it Saturday because of the paid performances).

I tried different areas. I found out it was better to stay in one area with a lot of traffic passing buy.

"The Thing" was taken out of my act because it needs more practice. The sponge bunnies was first. I always started it with a child as a helper. The Linking Rings were next: http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/D......20Rings/

Here are a few photos from Miser's Dream: http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/D......20Dream/

The Chair Suspension: http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/D......pension/

Full Circle Crowd: http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/D......0Circle/

Passing the hat: http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/D......e%20hat/

I was wearing my Bling Bling to help attract a crowd: http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/D......20Bling/

On my second day I use my bunny to help attract a crowd. I also used him for a few gags as humor. I also brought a different table to hold a case: http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/Dynamikex/Rabbit/

Everything was good on Sunday. On Monday six young boys (ages 10-14) were giving me a terrible time by being hecklers. They were by themselves with no parents. One of the guards noticed it too. I was packing up to move to a different location, but the guard did me a favor and tracked down a police officer. The boys left after that.

By me wearing the creditial pass around my neck, I was never stopped by an officer.

Thanks again for the support guys.

Looked like you were able to draw respectable crowds by the pictures. Good job on taking the extra steps to get some credentials. How were the tips?

Contemplate the incident with the kids... We're you successful in handling it? If not what could you have done instead?

Nice, Dynamike! Keep up the great work!

Oh, you have The Thing as well? Great routine.
I wanted to use it publicly as well this summmer
but also need to do more work. Do you use any of
the supplied music?

Gaddy makes a very good point indeed.

If those kids were average, I would have seen no problem. But those kids seemed as though they wanted trouble to occur. I can tell by their faces. They would show no smile or laugther. They showed stoned facial expressions of anger and bad attitude. It seemed their parents gave little or no love/attention to them. That is why they would rather cause trouble, to get negative attention. They wanted to bring their personal problems to someone else so it would be fun to them. By looking at them I can tell they would end up in jail in the future. The clothes they wore were dirty as if their family was living in proverty. Probably they were part of a gang.

It was my first act on the second day. I was nervous. The heckling of the children was making me uncomfortable. I did not want to say anything to them during my performance because I did not want to show them any attention. It was time for my last effect, the Chair Suspension. I asked if they would go in front of the crowd. They refused to move as they were stooping down low near the secret area. I said to the crowd, "Everybody, I am going to have to have to cancel the part of making someone float because these guys will not get in the front". Some of the crowd told them to get in the front. The kids did go to the front. I did the Chair Suspension. I can still hear the boys saying things out loud of how they thought it worked. I felt very uncomfortable that set. I can tell the crowd did see me holding my breath at times. I bet it was not for that, I could of made more passing the hat.

When the crowd left I told the boys to go to a different area. They refused to. I told the security guard who saw me in the same spot the previous day. He told the boys to sit in a different area where the chairs were. The boys each brought a chair near me. I was doing nothing for the next 3-5 minutes hoping the boys would leave. They just stayed there watching me. I was packing up to move to different spot. The guard told me to hold on. He got a police officer to talk to the boys about leaving. The boys put the chairs back in the right location as the police officer told them to. When the boys came back near my area, the police officer warned them again about detaining them because they were at the festival with no legal guardian. The boys walked about 30 feet from the officer and stopped so they could see me. No one gave them any attention so they walked away. During my second set they did walk past me in front of the crowd. I did not pay them any attention by showing any anger because I know that is what they wanted.

Now, thinking back at the time I thought of some things of how I could of handled it differently.

1. Give each one a dollar or a hot dog. But because of their attitudes I bet they would have not kept their word and came right back to request more and more.

2. Sit down with them. Get to know them for a few hours. Be a counselor to them. Forget about the purpose I am there.

3. Move to a different spot.

4. I did feel comfortable I told the guard and he told the police officer.

4. Hire a different gang to come back and take them away.

Looks like you did a good job, Mike, judging from your pictures. Crowd was definitely interested in seeing what you were doing.

There's always the old Nietzche saying: "That which does not kill us makes us stronger..."

Mike,

You handled yourself and that counts in my book.

You do mention that they were near the "secret spot" so I'm interpreting that means they were in a location that might have exposed the method of the cahir susp.

Couple of thoughts...

1) Ditch the chair susp. and go for something that can be performed surrounded. Remember on the street you've got to be prepared to have inconvenient angles, people next to you, above you, behind you etc.


2) With time your crowd control skills will improve and that can help you with situations like that.

But like I said, either way, it seems like you handled yourself.

Robert

PS: On a side note, I know I've given you grief before but I'll give this to ya, you're out there doing it, which is more than a lot of people can say. Keep it up.

I would toss the chairs. There is a good chance that with a trick like that you may be asking to have a repeat of that day. I say thi sonly because of the limitaions of the trick.... not you. You seem to be doing your thing. Keep at it and keep getting us photos!

Anton

Thank you for the comments and suggestions.

Dynamike:

Looks like you did the chair suspension against my recommendations! Congratulations, I stand corrected. Great job and keep at it!

Jim

Any advice is better than no advice. Thanks.

If you are doing this in a busking style format or in such a way where you can be surrounded, then you do have to take all that in before deciding to do the chair suspension illusion. It is one of those effects where you must factor in things because safety of the child is the single most important aspect.

Now you can perform the chairs surrounded, as I have done this before. However, there are certain things you have to change about the handling and presentation so that you cover everything effectively. I can give you or anyone some pointers on that if you would want. Just PM me as I would not want to reveal any secrets in a public forum area.

I also make sure that if my own safety tips and checks are not met at any performance, then the chairs simply do not get performed. I can not let my love for the illusion overpower my own common sense as well.

Kyle

I just sent you a PM, buddy.

Great job. nice crowd. keep up the good work.

I should be thanking you just as much, Frank. I got much of my items from you at http://www.theambitiouscard.com for a discounted price.

http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/D......estival/

http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e150/D......val%202/

If anyone wants tips on the Chair Suspension, see this: http://www.magicenhancer.com/ChairSuspension.html Kyle says it all. Thanks Kyle.

Thank you so much for the kind words Mike. Much appreciated. I do hope my PM and my ideas I gave to you were of help to you with your presentation and handling of the illusion. If anyone has any questions that I might be able to help with,just let me know.

Kyle

You are most welcome, Kyle.

What is really wrong with the Chair Suspension? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X4xxir9whI