I first started street performing in the mid 1990s. Of course I wasn't doing it very seriously. I have always been a fan of vaudeville and its antics. I was particularly inspired by WC Fields when I was younger.
So my friend Yasha and I go out to University Way which is one of the biggest streets in the Univeristy of Washington commercial district and we started our show. We spent very little time preparing and cooked up our comedy right there on the spot.
I was throwing the boards singing "Find the lady, find the lady! It's easy to find the lady!" and playing numerous rounds of
Three Card Monte with passers by. (Not for any money of course, we were only asking for donations).
I also started making up bets as we went along and one I still use to this very day. I may have placed it here somewhere but in case I havent:
Vaudevillian: "I'll bet you a dime I knock this telephone pole down right here in front of you!"
Passerby: "I doubt it! I'll take that bet!"
Vaudevillian: (Knocks downwards with his knuckles on the telephone pole!) I knocked DOWN the telephone pole!"
It got some great laughs. I later found several books that have tons more sucker bets like that in them. Maybe one day I will submit that one!
But we continued on until about 10:00 at night and had an amazing time. I think we made about $4 for a nights worth of work but man was it fun.