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Originally posted by Groover

Lee, I have just read through every page of this topic and I wanted to say I loved your stories, experiences and attitude to life! Also your marionettes are a great idea! I hope you continue to post here.

It does make me want to get out and give it a try with my banjo (only a total beginner with fiddle), but I need some courage first!

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Groover, thank you for your comment..I want to tell just one little thing.. Just ONE little, teeny, tiny thing.GET>>OUT >>>THERE.. The public will show appreciation for your EFFORT, not your talent..99% of people Won't stop and listen to you.  They'll just walk by...

AND.. never get discouraged if tips don't come.. Just yesterday I went busking and after One full hour, and over 200 passers by, I had only made......$2.....Yep.. less than 1%...However, that does not mean that the next time out I won't make  $100...Yep.. that is how it works.. Just remember two things.. 1. Nobody owes you anything, and  2.  It has to be more about the FUN than the money...  

I've recently changed my 'lineup'.. I've nixed the little puppy that the kids loved to pet and replaced it with a SKUNK named Bob..  My Backpack puppet, Happy Hiker is in Limbo because my truck is getting an new engine and I have no way to take him to town..I'll post a video of that event when it finally happens..

BTW, if you go to Youtube and type in Lee Mysliwiec, you'll see several videos of past events.. Nothing amazing, but just things that I've done with my puppets and other people...Check them out..

When I used to do a lot of busking, I really liked that sense of walking out the door having no idea of how much or how little money I would have in my pocket when I walked back in the door. Sensible people like to have a little more security, or at least predictability in their life .....

Believe me, I know what you mean.. Two days ago I busked for a full hour with heavy pedestrian traffic and reaped $2... Bummer.. Today, just two blocks away, I busked for 90 minutes and brought in $36. Not bad.. you are right..Ya never know.. THere is neither rhyme nor reason as to why busking tips are so erratic. I have a noble financial goal this year and am determined to meet it. For me busking is actually a part-time JOB... It is work and I approach it as such......Of course, I have to have fun doing it.....and Do...

OK.. Here is a short clip of what the busking world has been waiting for..
Happy Hiker
youtube.com/watch?v=du1oEO7jU30
youtube.com/watch?v=-gqxNaajgyA

That's great, Lee! You did an amazing job. Post more, I'd love to see it. What's it like wearing that getup?

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Originally posted by tpquinn

That's great, Lee! You did an amazing job. Post more, I'd love to see it. What's it like wearing that getup?

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Thanks for asking...It is fun to wear.. I'm sitting on a three legged stool..One leg is disguised as a towel,  another as a coil of rope and the third as a canteen..I have a seatbelt over my lap so that if I stand the entire backpack goes up with me when I walk around..I can see out of the sides through the center of the sleeping bag and out of the front...I was Very apprehensive when I got on the street but soon calmed down.  My daughter came and acted as a shill to help get passersby involved.. The first thing I did when I got home was to send one of the several videos to the guy in the UK who I thank for the idea.. 

I'm BAAAAACK! It has been a chilly February/March and FINALLY we had some fairly warm days.. Today thought, was just supposed to be a high of 43..I usually don't go busking unless the temp is 50 or higher..but I've got cabin fever..I bought a pair of tight fitting cotton gloves, cut the the finger tips off of them and headed for the street. Getting those gloves was one of my better ideas. Even though it was cold, my hands stayed warm...........Here is the best part.. I hadn't realized that today was St. Patrick's Day....The sidewalks were filled with people wearing silly green attire and many of them had already been celebrating in the local bars. Alcohol makes people tip more.. really.. I had a RECORD day as far as tips go, and here I hesitated to even go out today because it was cold, damp and generally unpleasant. Silly me. I'm putting St Pat's day on my calendar to remind me of what a great busking day it is.. Also, once a day for four busking days now, someone has stopped their car and either got out to give a tip or literally threw the money out of their car's window. Now, THAT is appreciation.

I might add that since I had a bit of a row with a couple of fiddle friends who resist playing C tunes.. that I've become a little passive aggressive in that I've pasted a list of 25 C tunes to the back of my busking fiddle and play them ad nauseum..you know, just to keep them fresh..

well, here in Calgary Alberta, the start of busking season has not been going well because of the long winter. Last February and March, I'd already made around $350 by going out 10 days. This year I've got $0 to date and it doesn't look like it's going to warm up anytime soon. it has to be at least 7 degrees Celsius to be comfortable enough to busk inside the light transit stations. Also, if it's much cooler than this, people don't feel like taking the time to reach into their pocket or purse.

and even if it does warm up very suddenly (which is very possible around here) I'm out of commission for another week or two with a sprained hand.

oh well, there's good years and not so good years.

The drama never ends.. I took both puppets out busking.. Happy Hiker was all ready to perform..until I realized that I had left his HEAD at home.. So much for that. Fortunately, I also had my busking rabbit along and we were still able to have a successful day of busking anyway. ... Until that is, it was time to go home.. It seems that I forgot to zip my fiddle case after placing my fiddle into it.. The drop to the sidewalk when I stood up was 5 feet... just enough to pop the neck loose from the body of the fiddle. We are very fortunate here in Bloomington to have a luthier, Stephen Schock, who spends most of his time working on priceless instruments owned by students attending the Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. He is a big supporter of the Old Time talent here in town and he is comfortable working with banjos and "priceless" pieces of crap fiddles like mine, and he doesn't look down on us or our instruments..I'll take my busking fiddle to him tomorrow and ask for a Senior Citizen discount? and have him reset the neck for me..Lesson learned.. Use that little velcro strip that is in the fiddle case.

This post is NOT meant to be political, really.. Today I was busking and a man and woman walked by.  The woman had an exposed pistol holster containg a  GLOCK pistol. Hmmmm,  I figured  she was just a first grade teacher or something.. Then, after they passed I noticed that the man had AFT printed on the back of his shirt... Must have been something going on...somewhere near..

AFT? Maybe ATF?

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Originally posted by amwildman

AFT? Maybe ATF?

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Let me think:  AFT  American Federation of Teachers (could be.. they want to arm teachers)

or................:  ATF  Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms............(could also be)

Now you have me wondering..

You know what they say about teaching. First, you have to get their attention. An armed teacher would have had mine. So could (and very often did) an unarmed one.

My teachers were armed with yardsticks, bullet-sized chunks of chalk, and blackboard brushes. The principal had a leather strap in his desk.

I remember in 1st grade hearing a spanking or two coming from the principal's office. By the time 2nd grade rolled around, spankings were no longer allowed. Maybe if we went back to spankings in the early years, guns wouldn't be needed in the later years ;-)

If kids were made to go out and BUSK, they'd develop talent, confidence, social awareness and a sense of working for a living as well be able to feel the joy that comes when people show approval for their efforts..and earning a little cash doesn't hurt either..

That's all you need - a cute little kid or two busking on your street: you could bask in that warm fuzzy feeling that comes with knowing the next generation is developing in a positive way - and go home empty-handed, to your bowl of thin gruel.

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Originally posted by Old Scratch

That's all you need - a cute little kid or two busking on your street: you could bask in that warm fuzzy feeling that comes with knowing the next generation is developing in a positive way - and go home empty-handed, to your bowl of thin gruel.

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" Ain't that the truth."... No one is more of a challenge to compete with than a cute kid...!!!

We're digressing from busking here, but I agree we need to find out where we started going off the path of sanity and get back on it. Teachers should only be armed with chalk and erasers and perhaps corporal punishment wouldn't be a bad thing. I dunno. The Parkland school is here where I live and the past month has been intense.

But, back on subject: I hit the grocery store on my way home from work late last week and there was a fellow busking with an accordion in the parking lot. I shop there often enough and have never seen him before, but I dropped some green in his bucket and felt pretty good about no longer being the ignorant passerby I was a year or so ago thanks to FHO.

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Originally posted by TuneWeaver

This post is NOT meant to be political, really.. Today I was busking and a man and woman walked by.  The woman had an exposed pistol holster containg a  GLOCK pistol. Hmmmm,  I figured  she was just a first grade teacher or something.. Then, after they passed I noticed that the man had AFT printed on the back of his shirt... Must have been something going on...somewhere near..

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Glock is a good pistol  I have a couple of them.  An "exposed pistol holder" is known as an OWB (outside the waistband).  I prefer to carry a Kahr with an IWB (inside the waistband) so it doesn't upset or intimidate folks who might be sensitive to the sight of a pistol in "public".  Where do you busk??  I grew up in Hoosier Acres - - 1/2 mile from where the Needmore Coffee shop is.  I'm guessing you busk in downtown B-town since the Needmore shop is kinda isolated for busking traffic.  

Hearing Lee talk about Hoosier busking reminds me - - Back in the early 1970's two friends of mine and myself went over to Brown County (Nashville Indiana) to busk for the tourists that inundated the area for the "Fall Foliage" season.  We had a fiddle/ guitar/ and banjo and did the simple bluegrass/ fiddle tunes we knew at the time.  We had an open guitar case there for donations/ tips/ etc.  I think we "primed the case" with a few dollars (so that the tourist folks got the idea) - - but overall we made out like bandits for playing for just a couple of hours.  

Pat, that is interesting that you live where the school shooting was.. That is living in the fast lane and I hope you are handling it emotionally .. and thanks for tipping that accordion player..
David, I know of Hoosier Acres.. I used to busk a lot downtown Bloomington, but now just busk there at the Farmers' Market...
These days I primarily busk in Nashville.. I make 3 times the tips there.. Tourists are not in a hurry usually and are more willing to leave a tip from what I've seen..If you ever get down this way maybe we can busk together!!!

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Originally posted by TuneWeaver

Pat, that is interesting that you live where the school shooting was.. That is living in the fast lane and I hope you are handling it emotionally .. and thanks for tipping that accordion player..
David, I know of Hoosier Acres.. I used to busk a lot downtown Bloomington, but now just busk there at the Farmers' Market...
These days I primarily busk in Nashville.. I make 3 times the tips there.. Tourists are not in a hurry usually and are more willing to leave a tip from what I've seen..If you ever get down this way maybe we can busk together!!!

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I'll be there soon.   Mom is turning 90, and we (her kids) are putting on a party for her (she doesn't know about it yet) at the Presbyterian Church she attends over there by the Public Library.  I'm no longer good at "busking" so I will pass on that , and I'm not real cognizant or fluent of "old time tunes", but I do know a few and it would be fun to get together and pick if you want to.  Every time I come back to Bloomington - - I have the mandolin/ fiddle/ guitar/  and banjo with me.

(edited to add - - ) Although I grew up there, my only local musical contact (these days) is Bruce Taggart over in Bean Blossom

any of you buskers, busk out of necessity? I do! In May 2012 I came down with a disease called polymyalgia rhuematica severe, almost crippling joint pain. it went away after about a year, but it left me with some kinda nerve/anxiety/sleep disorder which I'm on disability for. without my extra busking income, life would be very hard.

I think one looks at busking a bit differently from this perspective. not all fun and games.

...just saying...I hafta push myself to go out and play for 3 1/2 hrs. 25 days out of 30