What to do when no one stops?

[Juggalicious]

When no one stops should you just give up for like a half an hour? or perform for the 1 person that you brought with you and hope that people come. And also when you ask a person to stay and watch the show - (crowd gathering) when they turn you down - would I be better off making fun of said persons or just saying whatever or being really nice to them - for example- the other day in northampton a woman wouldnt stop she said she was busy - and I replied with you must be going shopping because what you're wearing isnt getting you anywhere- now those werent the exact words- and what I said was much funnier- I just cant remember it- but anyways what do I do when no one comes- and what do I say to people that wont stay?

Juggalicious

[GlassHarper]

[quote]Originally posted by Juggalicious:
<strong>When no one stops should you just give up for like a half an hour?
And also when you ask a person to stay...(and they don't)...would I be better off making fun (them)...?
Juggalicious</strong><hr></blockquote>

Hey, Juggal...
If no one is stopping it may be one of several things, two of which might be:
1) The pitch you have chosen is not appropriate to your act/skills, in which case try another!
2) Your act/skills are not interesting enough to arrest people's attention, in which case KEEP TRYING!
The ONLY way to learn to do street performance is to do it! I'm not denigrating performance schools -- they can be great inspiration; provide immediate, professional feedback, and introduce you to other folks who toil in these fallow fields. Another suggestion is to buy a copy of Celini's WONDERFUL video on capturing, keeping and milking an audience.
When I first started playing my glass harmonica on the street I thought that playing my unique music would be sufficuent to get people to open their hearts/wallets to me. WRONG! As proof of that I sumbit the fact that I lived in a back-packer's tent for the first five years of my busking career. I'm a slow learner. Eventually I discovered that most people don't give a tinker's dam about the music (or juggling or mime or ...), they want to be entertained!
Sarcastic humor? It only works if there are people in the immediate vicinity who will get a laugh out of it -- THEY, perhaps, will stop. Getting that first person to stop is vital, that person acts as a seed to propagate your crop.
Stopping for a few minutes may help -- it will clear away the unresponsive passersby and let you start out with a fresh crop. For goodness sakes don't waste a half an hour -- there are people out there who really want to be entertained (even though they might not realize it yet). Although I sometimes lapse into unwarranted sarcasm (it may help relieve your own frustration) my best line to those who gawk and walk is "Bless you for your interest if not your support!"
GO GET 'EM! <img src="graemlins/jester.gif" border="0" alt="[jester]" />

[scot]

Northampton is a bad place to juggle. Firstly, they have regulations against jugglers since some juggler once killed someone or something there. Secondly, I find lesbians in general hard to entertain. Take the PeterPan to Boston. It leaves from right behind Ichiban restaurant.

I could probably get a crowd in NH but it is a reallly tough place for a beginner. If you get one person to stop, think about how they feel. Probably a little dumb for being the only ones for stopping. They also care that much that they would stop for you. Explain what's going on..."I'm just getting set up, the rest of the audience will be coming soon." If I don't get them, I don't care. I'll do the show just for you. Talk be friendly and entertaining to those people. Focus more on them than the other people around. Being really mean to people is no good unless there are more people there than you can make fun of.
I'm gonna watch a movie.
Scot