Hi Gang,

First of all, hope all you guys that went to the Jam had a good time! Saw Tony Twist's photos and it looked great! Looking forward to the Care and Share even more now and it will be good to meet some of you guys in person.

What I was writting for, was your advise on handling teenagers, you know the type, the Mall Rats. I had my first paid gig in a shopping centre yesterday. I was paid a handsome fee to wander the centre giving away free balloons. Sounded easy, but I was just mobbed everytime I stopped. I can now manage the queue fine, by telling everyone to queue in a line and using my end of queue sign when I was ready to stop or move on.

But one thing that bugged me was the teenagers. Now they are no trouble, but seem to want a balloon and then the gang gets bigger and you spend more time with them and I feel sorry for the parents and little children who now have to wait longer. If I was busking, it won't matter, as it is all money, but as it is free and generaly for "shoppers" not for people just "hanging out", I felt it wasn't fair.

So what are your views on this??? Am I becoming a grumpy old git, should I have consulted the shopping centre and ask for their opinion, or is there a Jedi Mind trick I can play on teenagers to get them out of the queue???

Love to hear your replies...
Regards,
Popsie
 :geek:

That's top notch Tony !

 :geek:

Personally in our case, it was not other buskers and to be honest, there should be a code of practice amoungst buskers that say, first come first servered. Just as it is recommended on Balloon HQ. What we came up against was jealous street traders, a local council that has been caught off guard as they have no by-laws to back up their claims and a police force that also do not beleive that one can "busk" without a musical instrument!

What I did not like, is being treated as a "rouge trader" when all I wanted to do was have some fun and practice my skills with balloons and the public.

Like I said before, for me, it is not worth the hassle.

Just to update the situation, Tony and I returned last Saturday, only to get more grief from the traders. Even though we had permission, we were verbally threatened by other street traders. I myself won't be going back to Uxbridge for the simple fact that twisting for me, should be an enjoyable experience. I'm off to find myself a busker friendly town, where hopefully my balloons will be appreciated.

Again, a lot of lessons learnt, and time to move up and onwards!

Wise words Henry!

Will have to bit my lip and say sorry, instead of up yours, which I will be thinking!

Hi dizzi, I'm Popsie, aka Dave from Bucks. Welcome aboard and hope to hear some of your magic tales!

Sounds cool, where can you buy them?

This is a follow up of what happened to Tony Twist and myself, after busking in Uxbridge town centre.

After twisting for two hours we got asked to leave from another balloon trader. To keep the peace we did as he asked, yet he still threaterned to complain to the council, as he paid for a licence to trade, yet we as buskers had not.

Tony decided to phone Hillingdon council to fully understand "our" rights. He asked the lady involved and asked if we are allowed to busk in Uxbridge town centre. She said YES, we have no problem with buskers! Tony said he was pleased, as we were balloon busking on Saturday and was asked to leave. She then changed her tune. She explained that she had a complaint from the other balloon guy and what we were doing was NOT busking. Tony argued the fact that we were not selling balloons, but entertaining the crowd and we ask for tips, but she refused to accept this as busking, saying buskers are only musicians and that we are not allowed to balloon in her county!

Is this balloon discrimination or what?!?

Any thoughts or comments?

If she bans us, will it be an illegal offense if we go against her will (not suggesting I will, just interested as a fact)?

Kind regards,
Popsie the fugative clown illegal balloon blowing guy!

Happy Birthday - sorry I'm late!

 :mrgreen:

Went busking today with Tony Twist. I had a new setup, using an old tool box and a bit of MDF painted with blackboard paint, Tony had his mega bags of balloons and we hit Uxbridge town centre for 12pm. All went well for two hours. I was doing my simple designs and Tony was wowing the crowd with his awesome creations, including a wearable 5' duck!

Then I get a tap on my shoulder. The guy selling metallics at the other end of the high street asked if I had a licence. I told him that we were busking and I did not need one. So he said he was going to complain to the council. Tony and I looked at each other and decided that it was best to shut up shop, as we did not find out the local requirements and we did not want to upset anyone.

The result was £50 for two hours split 50/50...  :geek:

Had a mind block on what models I can do! I think it was because I was watching Tony in the corner of my eye. Appreciate all your help Tony!

Henry the Hat, I hear where your coming from!

I would consider myself as shy, although I've come along way from when I was a child. I tackled it as though it was a phobia and met it head on, I did everything I could to face my fears, including public speaking. I'm telling you, you only have to do it once! Once is enough to break that mental leash, because once you have done it and came out the otherside, you can go and do it again. And it is right, the more you do anything, the more it becomes second nature and you fear it less.

I have been in the IT industry for 15 years and although worked on and off as an artist, ballooning has really let out the performer in me, something I never knew I had. Now I am no way a "good" performer, I think some people are born with it, and people like me have to work hard, just to make eye contact and keep a conversation. But each time you interact, you learn more and get a bit more confident.

Just remember, when you meet a person or walk into a room of people, no one knows you are shy, until you act shy.

And do what Nike tells you... "Just do it"

Regards,
Popsie  :geek:

Nice one Fairby!

***MANY THANKS GUYS***

 

Hoping to double up with Tony Twist and hit London.

To my suprise, loads of kids asked for dogs, I guess you can't beat the classics! Wearables were popular with the girls, you know the bracelets and some asked for something to put on your shoes. I did hats, but didn't seem to be a hit. Parrots and butterflys were also a hit.

I agree with your comments, a board showing available designs would help a lot, thinking of making myself an A board. Have one side with a permanant advert and the otherside painted with blackboard paint. I could then chalk on specials for the day.

Popsie

Hi Guys,

I am a newbie and been training like hell, filled my house up with practice balloons and was dying to try my new hobby out on the public. So I decided to go to a park in Marlow, Bucks and set up by the Thames and catch the sunday strollers. As soon as I got up on Sunday, the nerves kicked in. Now in my past, I have been a kick boxer, given presentations to upper management for companies such as BT, I even had a market stall in Wembely where I painted t-shirts live for customers, none of these were as nerve racking as going out busking!

Well my first suprise was that Marlow was having their carnival, so that was a good thing. I walked around and decided to setup outside of the stalls and slowly moved into where the crowd was.

This is how I was prepared;

- 3 x 100 bag of 260Qs
- my sharpie
- my clowns wig & red nose (totally bottled it and they stayed in my bag)
- a hand written sign that said "Free balloons, I work for tips"
- a bottle of water
- 2 x £1 coins I put in my hat, by the sign, next to my feet

I made a few balloon hats, dogs and flowers and gave them out free, of which two people gave me a tip. Then the intrest grew, then the crowd and BANG it was non stop for 5 hours!

What I was not prepared for!;
- Up until now, I was making a few models at a time, I did not expect to suffer RSI from 5 hours of non stop twisting! This was HARD WORK!
- What I thought would be popular design, isn't what the kids find popular, and kids still do like the simplest of designs (suits me better)
- I had read about crowd control, putting it in practice is another thing.
- Patter, again need more practice, as twisting, remembering designs and keeping eye contact with the customer, was differcult.
- Doing a complicated design and getting 20p tip! (have to take the bad with the good)
- Balloons for free, is all the kids read and many didn't understand the tips bit, this was my fault and better signage and wordings I think would help this matter.

Summary
It was a long hard day, but loved it! For my first ever attempt I earned £47.00 for 5 hours and learnt lessons that was priceless. I now have the confidence to grow my act and also approach businesses, knowing that my skills can entertain. The feedback from mothers was great too, asking if I do parties.  If anyone is thinking of busking, I would say just do it!