Buskers and Street Performers! A Classic Advertising Technique To Attract The Crowds You Want

   Are you a busker or street magician who would prefer to stop specific types of people rather than others when starting your shows? There are tactics for starting shows that involve getting large groups of passersby to stop and watch all at once, and they are important techniques to learn. But every pitch is unique, and some require a different approach. For the pitches where the best procedure is stopping one person or group first, then building a larger crowd with them as the core, the first people who stop matter. If a street person smelling of piss, cigarattes, and alcohol stops to watch, you're not likely to get the show you want. It's often best to be friendly and show a quick trick or two then move them along. If a happy looking family is enjoying your magic, other families will be interested in joining the fun.
    To get the right people to stop, elements like costume, characterization, jokes/lines and strategies come into play. In this post, I am only addressing the words we use to engage passersby. Reciting patter, telling people to stop, having everybody watch a coin or stick, or addressing people directly ["Hey, you! Pick a card"] are reliable and common strategies. These are effective at festivals, fairs, casual hang-out pitches like beaches and parks, and established pitches where people expect performers.
    If you busk in the city, downtown, tourist traps, or indiscriminate shopping areas, you may want to pick out particular people in a large wave of passersby to stop. There's only a chance they'll stop anyway, but by intentionally selecting, you increase the odds that they stop, while decreasing the likelihood that someone you don't desire stops.
    For example, suppose that after a green light down the street, five groups of people walk past you within ear shot. A group of young teenagers, a family of five, two couples, and a group of barhopping women. Announcing a magic show, telling everyone to watch a coin, saying "Free beer"-- all strategies we've seen. You might stop everyone, just the drunks and teenagers, or just the family. It's left to chance. But if you had a choice, wouldn't you prefer to stop the family and the couples on dates?
    In advertising, there is a term called "flagging the audience." I've used it twice in this blog post to get your attention-- in the title and opening sentence. Presumably, if you've read this far, you're a busker or street magician. One who is curious about being more selective about your audience. Flagging is similar to what Jim Cellini called "qualifying" the audience, though his process came after the crowd had gathered, before starting the main show or finale. Qualifying a crowd you have ensures that those who remain understand that they are expected to tip. Flagging stops the people you want, rather than those you don't.
    To get back to our example of the five groups. The family and the couples all consist of a core of people on a date. So a specific joke or line related to dating, or relationships, will get their attention, but not the teenagers or drunks'.
    "Make your date night seven times more memorable by watching a great magic trick!" And if it gets any of the couples or parents to pause at all, a tag, "And you'll only remember the good parts of the night in ten years."
    Or to be edgier:
    "Couples who watch magic are 36% more likely to stay together."
    Pick your own ideal audiences and write your own lines, but I hope you get the idea. It's an opportunity to really build rapport and good humor right off the bat. I recently got a $20 tip from a couple who only had time to see a couple quick bits, because I had noticed the guy obviously went to the gym and worked out. He was wearing a tank top and had defined arms.
    "Watching magic boosts your gains 50% more than creatine. You look like you take creatine." The guy laughed and said he did. "I bet you do, you're looking swole." Not particularly funny to most of the people who were on the sidewalk at that moment, but it charmed him and started a show. His date had to go along for the ride.
    You can write lines that attract broad categories of ideal crowd cores-- couples, families, tourists-- but you can also connect with people who you recognize care about specific things you're familiar with. In my example, fitness and supplements was something I knew someone like the guy probably knew about. People often wear clothing or accessories that show an association with schools, trades, sports, favorite music or films etc. It's like a cross between crowd work and cold reading.
    Like I said at the top, this is not a holy grail strategy to use all the time at all pitches, but in certain situations, it can be useful. Let me know in the comments below if you have effective flags you use, or ideal people to stop for starting shows.