I've already said quite a lot about "bottling" a crowd in other threads. A bottler has to be as pushy as possible without overstepping the mark. I would never dream of suggesting any specific minimum amount of money, but I do think that as much performance as possible should be put into the process of extracting money from the punters.

Recently I was bottling a crowd and another collector asked me which part had I covered so that she could avoid it. My answer was - just keep bottling - it doesn't matter. I often tell audiences "When you put money in a Parking Meter or Juke Box, it doesn't last forever" - but I DO IT WITH A BIG GRIN ON MY FACE. Make plenty of jokes such as "All this money is going to the Crown .........and the King's Head and the Royal Oak....". If you, yourself entertain the punters as well, they will cough up happily enough.

I had a great time bottling for a wonderful group of (middle-aged) belly-dancers recently. When the ladies were performing a dance where they were laying on their backs, I suggested that they were "laying back and thinking of Egypt". When a gentleman asked me if he could visit the ladies, I told him that he'd need a little bit of surgery before he'd be allowed in the Hareem. I know that at least one tenner went in the tin - yes it was mainly due to the ladies efforts that people were so generous, but I'm sure I played my part. Anyway I got well kissed by the troupe afterwards - so I'm not complaining !

As I've said before - a good bottler has to be a good performer. If you upset a punter the first time you try to collect you won't get anything the next time you come round - that's even assuming that they're still there.