Learn To Be Loud Even In A Silent Act.

-building and holding a crowd with sound.

The biggest problem in Modern Street Theater, is that performers with the best skills are too quiet, and performers with the worst skills have the biggest mouths.

Ideally you should have the best skills with the biggest mouth.

If you can't be loud, learn to Project, buy an amp, or learn to Mime.

We’ll be talking about these three.

PROJECTING.

Projecting is a special method of speaking very loudly, but NOT YELLING. It is where one speaks from the diaphragm. ALL professionals in theater must learn this. It comes from the days before amplification. If you choose busking as a career, You MUST learn how to do this. Look it up and learn it.

Remember it's as loud as yelling, but it is not yelling. Yelling is bad, it will blow your voice out, Projecting won't.

In your show speak very loud ALMOST yelling, make your voice carry far. Don’t be shy, remember your doing a SHOW.

When you talk to the people, talk past the people standing right in front of you that you're working for. Ordinarily this would be rude, but the people understand what you're doing and even appreciate it.

Direct your conversation to the person across the street or a half way down the block, while pretending to perform for the people standing in front of you.

Remember you're trying to build a crowd. Don’t worry about the people in front of you, you already have them! You're trying to get more people.

Your goal is to always be building a crowd.

Don't worry about what you're saying so much, just say it out loud, Projecting.

It should be coming from your gut or you're going to go hoarse by the end of the day. You're not necessarily yelling, you're talking so the person far away can hear you clearly.

The Amateur Magician's Handbook by Henry Hay recommends taking voice lessons. One should take the time to learn the most important tool of theater.

AMPLIFICATION.

The presence of an amp creates a professional sound.

If you're allowed to use an amp, use one, it is a great crowd builder that tells the people that you are a professional and that something important is going on.

A lot of the sidewalk guys use one, so the passerby can hear them but can’t see them, because of the tight small crowd, this forces the walkers to come in to see what’s going on.

The Circle show guys use amps so that everyone can hear, even the people in the back of the massive crowd. Speaking through an

amp with background music adds a real sense of professionalism and credibility to your show.

The most important thing about an amp, is to only use it to amplify your voice, don't turn it up too loud to build a crowd, that's your job, not the amp. You should be talented enough to stop the crowd without having to blow out the entire neighborhood.

There's nothing worse than the performer with an amp that is too loud.

It just screams, NO TALENT!

It makes him look like he's hoping the noise from the amp will cover up the fact that he sucks, and couldn't work without it. These performers are hated by the neighborhood, other performers, and have a hard time getting hired for gigs.

LEARN TO MIME LOUD.

If you're painfully shy and don't like public speaking, the silent act can change your life, but you will still need to be loud.

Even Mimes are loud. They are loud in their actions. They Move Loud, in the sense that they use large descriptive movements, that catch the attention of people far away.

Making deliberate uncomfortable eye contact is one way of being Mime Loud.

Shadowing or following and mimicking the Passersby, is Mime loud.

Slapstick falls, yelping, groveling, whistling, and screaming the nonsensical, is Mime Loud.

Using an amp with good performance background music is Mime Loud.

Blocking the flow of traffic, Clowning, dancing, and using noise makers like bike horns, whistles, and rattlers, is all Mime loud.

If you're shy and you can't be loud, be Mime Loud.

The silent act is perfect for the shy performer, in fact it has changed the lives of many buskers. You can even simply do the work, ignore the crowd, let the music play, and just stay in your own little world, until it's time to Hat them.

I did this for years, especially in countries where I didn't speak the language. It was the most enjoyable form of busking I've ever done.

Well I hope this helps. I love y'all and hope the best for you.

If you liked what you read you can leave me a tip HERE. And help out the old guy who can't get out there as much as he used to.

Your Pal Jimmy