Danny Tangelo

-aka Danny Mooncalf.

Take a long look, this is the face of the hardest working sidewalk performer in the U.S.

You'll never guess his favorite color.

Orange!

That's a line right out of his show, just before he makes a real orange appear impossibly.

When me and my friends are on the road, we will always run up on him, banging out show after show on a sidewalk, grinding away, making money where others fear to tread.

Danny is one of those pros that can get a show started anywhere, and turn around and make a strong living wage for the day, while others are trying to figure out how to get out of town, he's just settling in and getting started for the week.

This is made even more impressive by the fact that he is also a famous festival performer, he likes Ren-Fairs.

Festival performers ordinarily are not street performers.

It is very very simple to get a crowd in a festival full of people who are there to be entertained, but to get a crowd on a slow street corner in a small town, that is a whole nother ball game.

He is the envy of even the most well known masters, not only because he can make a living anywhere no matter how difficult or impossible, but because of his skills and his character.

His props are superior to anything made on the market, because he hand makes or hand picks everything to do the job and endure the beating of the street and over usage.

His skills as a magician are that of a master, and are tailored for indoors or outdoors.

When I say outdoors, you can't understand what I am talking about unless you have worked in extreme weather conditions.

Cards turn to wet garbage in seconds or blow away along with any other prop.

Not to mention gripping wet, oily, or gritty props, and props falling on the pavement and people grabbing at you.

This is only a few of thousands of problems happening all at once to you on the street.

In the video below please watch his handling with the cards and notice his use of very heavy nylon mariner's rope.

He does not use magic shop rope for a reason.

His handling of the rope, besides being some of the most deceptive I've seen, are doing a second and third job of maintaining control of the props and the spectators which are normally unneeded in indoor events.

This video really does him no justice to the uninitiated viewer, because he was just doing some quick close up and not his proper show.

But from the eyes of a season pro we can see the genius.

In his proper show, not seen in the video, he settles in and relaxes and his true character begins to sneak in on you.

And it is this character that sets him head and shoulders above his peers on the sidewalk.

It's what holds his crowd.

His character is that of a man in all orange industrial attire who sounds like a professor or learned man who appears to be giving an academic lesson.

The tone sounds very inoffensive, as if delivering a public service announcement.

But as the person is watching and being overwhelmed by multiple miracles being machine gunned at them, they are struck by the fact that what he is saying is anything but academic.

Unless that academy is a school for scoundrels.

So not only are they watching very closely now, but now they are listening very closely, waiting for the next shocking one liner to drop.

His show is really an inside joke that only him and his audience understand.

His audience loves watching the shocked and confused faces of people walking by, wondering what the heck is going on.

You can see how this builds interest.

This show is a crowd building machine.

His Show Design, is a masterpiece, he has a Bally that will stop anyone on a dime, and a Show-Intro that get them committed quickly, and a sidewalk cup and ball show that holds them more effectively than any other show I've seen because they all feel like they are in on it with him.

So one may ask, how does one finale a show that good?

With the largest cups and balls finale load you've ever seen.

It's so big you wouldn't believe it if I told you.

For years me and the other guys have tried to figure out where he got such an ingenious and original character.

It is authentic and natural and these two qualities are the strongest qualities for building a rapport on the street, so we were naturally curious and drawn to it.

On my visit to Kansas recently, I got a chance to ask him, and he told me that he grew up with it. That it was the sarcastic trait that ran in the family and they would deliver one liners, observations, and banter off each other all day long as a pass time.

Off stage he is a quiet guy, so it was a big deal for me to hear that story, and after hearing it, it all made sense.

It's perfect to bring a crowd together as a family.

It should also be understood, that Danny is a learned man who in fact has a history in the medical field and other intellectual fields.

In his show he preys upon the fact that people would not assume this of a street performer, which enables him to sneak up on them quite a bit at will.

Like I was saying, Danny's character off stage is even more unassuming, and there is a saying in magic, that all the greatest masters were humble, well that applies here.

Danny is loyal to all of his friends and bends over backwards to help them. I will not embarrass him by listing all the names of the people he has helped in our industry in our times of need and desperation.

But I will mention mine.

When my life fell apart because I lost my work van in a hit and run and my health went bad all at the same time, Danny was one of those who helped with money to payoff my totaled van I still owed money on.

Then when I was having trouble working to get another one because of my health issues, he showed up and gave me a van.

Ask yourself something, do you know anyone who would just give someone a van?

Well Danny gave me a van.

America is a big country without affordable housing, with pitches 500 miles apart on a good day.

In the U.S. busking is frowned upon and a busker may be prohibited from working on a moments notice.

As an American busker, life without a van is a nightmare.

A busker's van is his home on the road, and transportation to work sites, and without it one is in serious trouble.

When you're old and have health issues, the problems are just compounded.

Danny didn't really just give me a van, he gave me my life back.

When you fall down, you really find out who your friends are, when I fell down, Danny was there to pick me up.

What do I think of Danny?

I think you already know.

Words cannot express, all I can say is,

Danny is my brother.

I want to thank Danny and also those who helped me when I was down and out, and that goes to all my paid subscribers here and even free subscribers who help get the word out about our little community here at the newsletter.

Your Pal Jimmy.

If you liked this and you believe in what we're doing here and you'd like to throw your contribution in, you can leave a tip here.