In yesterday's report on the busking rules in London, I mentioned Magician's Corner in Covent Garden. In review, CG is tightly regulated with an audition system, but Magician's Corner is an open pitch for magicians, no audition necessary.

Today I arrived to find that pitch empty. The signup sheet only listed Steve, the guy who recommended the pitch to me. Huh. So I helped myself. I had a VERY hard time getting a crowd and holding them for a show. After several attempts, I had only about 12 pounds to show for it and never once did a full show.

Other magicians showed up, including Steve, and we started taking turns. They were having a hard time too. Not as bad as me, but still had it tough. And from a technical magic standpoint, my magic was superior to what I was seeing in these shows.

Discussions ensued. The bottom line, the reason that pitch is open is because it's a hard pitch. Good when it's good, but brutally hard when it's not, and no one was making much today. One guy, who the others recognized as a very high end performer, sized up the crowd and scratched his name off the list, saying "i'm quitting with my dignity intact".

I got a lot of good advice on how to convert my obvious stage expertise into workmanlike street ability. I'm going back tomorrow to try to put some of it in practice. Dignity intact guy, Sergio, has offered to take me on a tour and show me several other favored pitches in walking distance which don't pay as well but are more easy going and will let me log plenty of flight time. Weekend, there will be like 10 guys working Magician's Corner, and I may as well put my name in, then go elsewhere and work until it's my turn. Sergio's offer is super generous and unheard of in my experience.

I don't usually participate in magic clubs. They are supportive people but aren't generally focused on what I want to accomplish. These guys at Magician's Corner are supportive but tightly focused. They want to gather an audience, hold them, entertain them, and motivate them to pay well at the end. Anything that doesn't support that needs to change. I like that. I've found my academy and I need to spend some time with these guys before moving on from London. They have things to teach me and they are happy to do it. I did not expect to find such support and I'm going to take advantage.

My two supergoals for this trip were

1) Have a big Adventure

2) Get above my plateau as a performer by working the hardest venue in the world: the street

I'm on the right track.

By the way, I made enough by the end of the day to buy myself dinner in chinatown, duck in orange sauce.