Using the Art of Persuasion in a Street Performance
Outside the Met two Fridays ago, two black guys were at the bottom of the steps giving a street performance. They got three willing volunteers to go up and stand in a straight line and one of the performers was going to jump over them. After a minute of mental preparation, they asked for a little kid volunteer. After one guy did a flip in the air over the little kid and then somersaulted once on the ground while landing, the two guys asked for donations in such a humorous, skillful way that I found that it was almost artistic. They said in perfect unison lines they had obviously performed over and over again:
“If you liked the show and would like to see us do the big jump, please make a donation. We are not asking for much, we just want all the money in your wallet.” Whenever a kid donated money, the performers said, “Thank you. Now, go ask your parents for more.”
I was surprised to see that they got almost everyone to donate. Some people donated $20!! Their performance of the art of persuasion was something I will never forget even though I did not stay to see if the big jump was even worth all the money they received.
September 23rd, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Interesting, I always seem to stop when ever there are street performers. And you are right, they have mastered the art of persuasion. To get random people to give you money is really a hard task.
September 24th, 2007 at 8:25 am
Writing short statements about interesting things is exactly the challenge you need to rise to meet here. Shorten it into one terrific, evocative, regular-length paragraph – and you will have a future in journalistic writing!
September 24th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
that’s hilarious. I’ve never actually stopped to watch a street performance before BECAUSE of being afraid of being charmed out of my money haha but it seems this time it was worth it? lol~
BTW: awesome for shortening the blurb