Non-monetary tips given to buskers

Subject: RE: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: ollaimh
Date: 18 Dec 10 - 10:16 PM

i have been given

two pairs of shoes and three shirts in a bag.
an uncooked chicken
many joints(i don\t smoke no more(really--no really) so i gave them to other buskers
a bag full of pills that i din\t investigate(handed on the the other buskers into such things)
a 1920 gibson a junior mandolin
a tiple by ss stewert
several cheap guitars
hundreds of foreign coins
enough uk coins to have change when i get off the plane for years
many kinds of food especially a lady in toronto used to bring me the best east indian left overs i have ever eaten and so much at the end of a night i would meet up with a few other buskers and we would feast

a recorrding of my old pal tex koenig(may he rest in peace) a great busker and a great guy(i'd have paid a lot for that rare album)
many other tapes and records and cds

invites to raves, to the ballet, to the symphony, and to led zepelin once
a stripp dance by a lovely young lady who had me fulmoxed as she got down to the bra and less--gulp)(she must have been stoned)its hard to concentrate on the notes when a young and beautifull woman is unveiling herself(this was late friday in dundas station in downtown toronto and not a soul paid any attention while she performed
i'll think of others for tomoprrow
i did this for the greater part of thirty years so i've seen some strange things.

Subject: RE: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: olddude
Date: 29 Aug 10 - 10:30 PM

The best one was a small Jack Russell terrier dog ..
he took a leak in my guitar case !!

Subject: RE: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 29 Aug 10 - 08:58 PM

"If I give you money, my good man, will you drink it?"

The appropriate response is "Only if you insist, sir!"

Subject: RE: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: GUEST,CLEW
Date: 29 Aug 10 - 07:59 PM

An unopened can of beer from a 24 pack...from a college student on a Friday night. Guitar picks, a casino chip,lyric sheets, prayer cards, a jigsaw puzzle piece, a fancy 7 fold necktie with tags($129.00) and security device still attached and a $25.00 VISA gift card with $11.50 left on the balance. I started busking in the Boston subway 4/09.

Subject: RE: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: gnu
Date: 03 Aug 10 - 03:41 PM

My buddy received a half eaten cookie from a toddler. The crowd loved it. Brought a tear to the eye.

Especially when he was packing up his guitar and realized it was a chocolate chip cookie... which had soaked up the hot sun for over an hour.

Subject: RE: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Susan A-R
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 03:23 PM

A bottle of wine and a couple of grapefruit (we were playing at the local food co op)

Subject: RE: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: The Sandman
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 10:44 AM

a book of sea songs and shanties

Subject: RE: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: GUEST,MrBlue
Date: 02 Aug 10 - 10:37 AM

cigarettes, joints, flowers, Notes that say bizarre and sometimes desperate things, and once on valentines day, a red rose and a scottish tartan waist coat and one mostly finished bag of goon.

I can't help noticing, that what is there, begets more of that ie; put a cigarette in there, and more will arrive. Put a soft toy there, and all manner of odd things will come. Put a $10 note in there, and other people who really want you to know they love what you do, will be inclined to also put in $10,- or even beat it!

Subject: RE: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: PoppaGator
Date: 23 Feb 10 - 05:49 PM

Not technically from busking ~ I haven't played out on the street for decades ~ but I play a "basket-house"-type venue on a regular basis. I recently found a Monopoly-money fiver in my tip basket!

Subject: RE: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: meself
Date: 23 Feb 10 - 10:18 AM

A woman once lifted her sweatshirt and showed me her rather appealing bare breasts. I mean, once when I was busking.

Subject: RE: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: GUEST,greg spence wolf
Date: 23 Feb 10 - 12:39 AM

Non Monetary tips I receive are:
hugs and kisses from women
stuffed animals, especially after I left one in my case
Food, pizza, sandwiches, apples, etc
CDs, casettes, books
costume jewelry, mardi gras beads

Subject: RE: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 22 Feb 10 - 06:27 PM

one of my friends is a retired schoolteacher, a thin, almost scruffy bloke who looks like he needs a meal. He busks several days a week in various locations & wears an old jacket & uses an even older cricket cap to collect contributions. He's a very well known songwriter & poet who also has a large repertoire of traditional songs which he uses when he busks. He's written a poem about his experiences busking.

One of his mates, a post-war British migrant with similar musical talents, once stopped & listened for a while, then asked seriously in a very well-bred English accent "If I give you money, my good man, will you drink it?"

In his best Australian accent his friend assured him he wouldn't & solemnly received the offered coin, while gratefully touching his cap.

They're both Irish Australians, fond of a beer or three, & very unsupportive of monarchies & other hereditary systems.

sandra

Subject: RE: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: GUEST,cassie
Date: 12 Apr 09 - 02:54 AM

Ihave received many different things busking.
someone put a chewed piece of chewing gum in my box, a cough lozenge,
a twinkie, a couple of rolled cigarettes, a unopened can of soft drink,a unused towel holden written on it given to me by a passerby said I might need it its my tip, a piece of chewing gum still in its paper,foreign currency from thailand,india, and the phillipines,free coffee and a biscuit,cheap meal voucher from the hare krishnas,a book from the seventh day adventists, had numerous offers of drugs marijuana namely I declined,a cd from a religous man,i scored two boyfriends,a brochure for cheap housing from a passerby,three candy canes,and I had a gig offer from a man who played the piano accordion.

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: alanabit
Date: 04 Oct 04 - 02:39 AM

I see the anonymous Guest was back at 1034. It's interesting to see how he has wit at the same level as his manners.
Marion, a buskers pub is a pub where you could expect to meet other buskers. In Köln it used the be "Der Lederer", where buskers would mingle with the usual crowd, railway workers and quite a lot of people who worked at the radio and television service in the building opposite. In Basel, it used to be "Chateau Lapin/Hasenburg". Many towns had one. Phil Free, the finest outdoor comedian I ever met, jokingly used to refer to the busking pub as, "The Office".

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: RWilhelm
Date: 04 Oct 04 - 12:03 AM

A set of 12-string guitar strings thrown from a bicycle and an antique cigarette that fell apart before anyone could smoke it.

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Oct 04 - 10:34 PM

A handful of Durex is always helpful when desperate days turn to needful nights.

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Gypsy
Date: 03 Oct 04 - 10:27 PM

Most recently, grapes, handmade soap, organic apples. Less recently, flaky, wonderful pastries brought by a gorgeous young creature enamored of the men in the group. Good thing i don't eat sweets as a rule! ;)

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Marion
Date: 03 Oct 04 - 02:52 PM

Last night while busking I met a stand-up comedian. I found him rather boasty - when I asked if he had some gigs lined up in Toronto he said several times that he only did "major dates" and that his last show was $120 a seat. Anyway, besides giving me a tip he gave me some promotional junk and said that I should write to his Canadian distributing house and tell them that I'd met him and they would send me a free T-shirt.

Odd, I thought.

Marion

Alanabit - what's a busker's pub?

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: alanabit
Date: 03 Oct 04 - 11:39 AM

I recall hearing a possibly apochryphal tale of a busker who was drinking in a busker's pub in Paris. He did not have enough money to pay his bill. Apparently, he told the staff, "I'll be back in half an hour." He went out, pitched and duly re-emerged half an hour later with more than enough money to pay his bill and continue drinking! I don't know if it actually did happen, but I have known plenty of places where it could have.

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Blissfully Ignorant
Date: 02 Oct 04 - 09:13 PM

I was in a pub one time(it's truly disturbing how many of my stories start out like that) with a friend and we had just run out of money. We were sitting there nursing what we thought were to be our last beers. All of a sudden i had an alchohol-induced urge to sing, so i did, with my friend banging on the table in rythym- when we finished, thre was an unexpected round of applause and a very welcome round of drinks! Obviously everyone else in the place was inebriated too :) Anyway, encouraged by this, we carried on for th rest of the night, being joined by someone on a guitar and ended up leaving with more money than we had come in with, several small objects of variable legality in our pockets, and a blood alchohol level that was far from sensible. It's funny how these things just happen...

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: InOBU
Date: 01 Sep 04 - 09:44 AM

Hiya folks (hullowww Allanabit!)
Let's see, cigarettes... (I don't smoke) lots of religious tracts - mostly born again types no salvationists... a three of hearts from a pack of cards... an offer to come up for breakfast... but the most touching, I was playing in Thomkins Square park, Bobby (see my song Bivouac of the Forgotten) Vinny (see the posts about the Native American harmonica player in the hospital) and about six other fellows who were down on their luck and living on the street and drinking their meals... were all sitting on a bench listening intently. As I was packing up, they had a wee huddle and between the six or seven of them, scraped together pennies, dimes and such to put something in the case... that was the most meaningful thing to wind up in the case.
Cheers
Larry

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 01 Sep 04 - 05:32 AM

... maybe with a silent prayer that after you had finished the bottle, you would be unable to continue making that horrible noise?

:-P

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: EBarnacle
Date: 31 Aug 04 - 05:56 PM

In Copenhagen, we raised enough in 15 minutes to provide Carlsberg for our group. My best, though was a bottle of Craggenmuir single malt Scotch, offered without comment.

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 31 Aug 04 - 01:44 PM

"Swifty Jim, in the third race, to win!"

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Gervase
Date: 26 Aug 04 - 04:34 AM

Weirdest was a 5lb bag of Brazil nuts (and that's a heck of a lot of nuts). Other oddities included a kiwi-fruit flan, condoms, a four-pack of Guinness and a rosary.
Unlike English Jon, I never got s*e*x, but I did get a rather cheesy porn mag dropped in my box once (which is probably a an abstruse way of saying that hurdy-gurdy-players might be sexy, but melodeon players are wankers!).

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: GUEST,petr
Date: 25 Aug 04 - 08:19 PM

dont fry bacon with no shirt on. good tip.

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 25 Aug 04 - 03:46 PM

Once upon a time ...
a friend of mine and me (old scoutmasters, with a guitar and a bamboo flute) were wandering through a South German wine area near the Rhine. And then we saw an inn, some tables with bottles and snacks at the front, and we were told that the Tour de France will be passing soon. A jeep stopped, out came a French Colonel (some decades ago the hereditary enemy for centuries). He ordered to feed and wine us.
After a while he came out and looked for us, and said: "I should like to invite you inside, but I see you are well fed and get a good wine; I'd rather rather like to be with you outside." And then he asked us for a German soldiers' song from WWI about the last surviving brother of three. !!!
So we sang this song, and he was so happy to hear it; I don't know the reason why. May be he was a boy scout, too; maybe he was tired of an enmity of old - but maybe he liked this song and had his experiences warring in far countries. So we got our payment before thinking of busking. God bless you, foreign colonel!

Peace! (as my friend mooman ends his contributions)
Wilfried

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Cluin
Date: 25 Aug 04 - 03:33 PM

Busking one time with Clinton Hammond, we got religious advice as a tip:

"You boys shouldn't be taking the Lord's name in vain like that! Maybe you could sing "Gosh darn them all!"?

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: PoppaGator
Date: 25 Aug 04 - 03:22 PM

As others have mentioned, places to stay and/or new girlfriends were among the best "perks" I aquired back in my old busking days.

Various intoxicants were fairly common "tips" in San Francisco in 1907/71/72. The very first day I took my guitar out on the street -- at the insistence of my housemates, who figured I ought to try earning some money if all I was going to do all day was sit around and pick -- I was scared to sing, and stood there quietly fingerpicking for an hour or two until a passing hippie gave me a pill, identifying it as a cap of mescaline and telling me "this is something you can really use."

I would be more reluctant today than I was then to assume it was OK. I figured "why not" and popped it into my mouth.

Not long afterwards, I started singing at the top of my lungs and was well on my way. I took in more money that first day (just less than $100, in 1970 dollars of course) than I would collect in any other single day for the next year or more; I had found my new career path.

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: English Jon
Date: 25 Aug 04 - 02:39 PM

Mushroom pasties, beer, foreign coins, telephone numbers, tickets for nightclubs, silver bracelet, soft fruit and >ahem< *s*e*x*.

seems everyone loves a hurdy gurdy man.

EJ

no one's ever given me a kitten though :(

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Ella who is Sooze
Date: 28 Jul 03 - 03:03 AM

In one hour, £20, a can of strongbow cider with 50% extra, a chip and that's about it....

I've not busked since, it's too cold and I prefer doing gigs to busking - a lot less hassle!

A friend of mine has been threatened with a gun whilst busking and calmly played on ignoring the person. (and it wasn't because he is a bad player).

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Ely
Date: 27 Jul 03 - 11:25 PM

I did not get to keep the grandfathers. Too bad, since I don't have any grandparents left of my own.

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Walking Eagle
Date: 27 Jul 03 - 08:45 PM

Les--it was/is an Appalachian Dulcimer. Folks were going nuts over it!

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Peter Kasin
Date: 27 Jul 03 - 04:55 AM

Frug, that's a great one.

I once got a banana peel, another time a business card of a shoeshine.

Chanteyranger

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Deckman
Date: 26 Jul 03 - 06:08 AM

This thread reminded me of a bad joke I recently heard. If you want some excitment next time you're listening to a busker ... take some money OUT of the guitar case and tell him that you DIDN'T like his music! CHEERS, Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Sorcha
Date: 26 Jul 03 - 02:02 AM

I got a Budweiser 'plastic Paddy' armband garter once.......

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Marion
Date: 26 Jul 03 - 01:30 AM

Thanks, Sorcha and Wilfried.

Les, my Ukranian fiddling friend tells me that when his Ukranian fiddling grandmother used to play at wedding receptions, the custom was for guests to push coins through the f-holes while she played. It can't have been too good for the sound - or too good for the fiddle to shake the tips out!

I was amused when a lady came out of the store, gave me ten bucks, showed me a lottery ticket, and told me: "I decided before going in that if I won anything I'd split it with you..."

Marion

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Sorcha
Date: 24 Jul 03 - 04:25 PM

Marion, indoors, use of case is common. Outdoors or in bars a can is usually used.

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: GUEST,Les B.
Date: 24 Jul 03 - 03:54 PM

Walking Eagle - great idea, giving the other buskers $20 - that's class! Was it an Appalachian or a hammered dulcimer you were playing ?

Our four piece was busking at a Farmer's market last saturday when a little boy ran up out of the listeners and started stuffing coins in the sound hole of our guitar player's new Martin - while it was being played! I think the kid's mother had suggested our open guitar case, but the kid got confused! For an instant we thought he was attacking the guitar. It was an uneasy moment... Our guitar player stands about 6 foot 5 inches and here's this little kid standing on tip toes pawing at the front of a fairly expensive instrument. Turns out it was about 75 cents in small change and no harm done.

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: alanabit
Date: 24 Jul 03 - 12:27 PM

Thanks for that one Wilfried. I was always baffled! It happened over twenty years ago and I always smile when I recall it. The institution which would purportedly have offered me this agreeable service was in Hamburg - and I was not inclined to travel all the way up there from Köln. There were both Deutsch Marks to be made and young ladies to be met in this town. All told, I think I probably had more fun here. I think if I went into one of those institutions now, the girls would take one look at my thinning, greying hair, offer a chair rather than a bed and ask me if I was feeling faint and needed a glass of water.

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: hesperis
Date: 24 Jul 03 - 07:17 AM

I got an offer of marriage the other day. lol!

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Jul 03 - 01:10 AM

The lepor left the prostitute with the tip of his.....

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Walking Eagle
Date: 17 Jul 03 - 04:51 PM

My former and I once took a trip to Key West Fl. We were near broke and I decided to try a little busking at Mallory Sq. at sunset. I tuned up the dulci and found a place to sit. Mostly, I got complaints from other buskers that I was killing them because people were crowding around me to see what strange instrument was making such sweet sounds. So, I moved to a remote spot to keep everyone happy. The crowd moved with me! All the tourists on the square wanted to see my strange little instrument. And play it. I raked in over $700 that evening. When I closed up shop, I went around to the other buskers and dropped $20 in their cases, just to be neighborly.

I don't run into much busking here in my little corner of S.E. PA. When I encounter a busker, I always leave a generous tip.

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 17 Jul 03 - 02:39 AM

a social security voucher for a visit to a Hamburg brothel
This is a widespread joke in Germany. The German Welfare System hands out money for the needy and bonuses for certain goods. The voucher in question is a fake resembling the original form with only one difference: The goods granted. Jokers all over Germany just change the name of the town, insert their own, and hand it out to their friends.
LOL!!!

Wilfried

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Marion
Date: 17 Jul 03 - 02:31 AM

A little boy (maybe 7 or 8) dropped a flower in my case. Awwww...

Alanabit, I think I'm going to need more explanation of this one: a social security voucher for a visit to a Hamburg brothel

Marion

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Marion
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 12:57 PM

Rick, I totally misunderstood you when you said a while ago that you paid for lots of trips by busking.

Dumb question for American buskers:

Since we have $1 and $2 coins in Canada, getting paper money as tips isn't that common a problem - same for those who play for euros. But in the US you must get dollar bills all the time - what do you do with them? It seems a little uncouth to stop the song to pick up or weigh down the paper - but the length of a song is plenty of time for bills to blow away in. Do you tend to collect tips in a deep container instead of your cases?

Marion

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 14 Jun 03 - 03:53 PM

I taught my late musical partner Mark B. how to juggle and he got a lot of mileage out of that. He would throw his Epiphone Texan high into the air and catch it again to the gasps in the crowd. On a good afternoon he made twice what I made in a top Hotel (The Royal York).

I never had the nerve to do that with one of my good axes, but as my students will attest I still spin THEIR guitars!!

Watch an early clip of Uncle Dave to see how he handles the banjo in a similar fashion.

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: hesperis
Date: 14 Jun 03 - 03:48 PM

Nope. *g*

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: Amergin
Date: 14 Jun 03 - 12:31 PM

wwhich probably isn't very likely right?

Subject: RE: BS: Non-monetary tips given to buskers
From: hesperis
Date: 14 Jun 03 - 01:59 AM

Yay, I got something interesting on my last busking attempt... at first I thought it was a quarter... probably the person who gave it to me among other loose change thought so too.

But... it was a token for the "Detroit & Canada Tunnel" for "One Fare". I guess it'll be useful if I ever want go to Detroit.