No busking stories today; I'm on a roll with writing, and a little sleepy from a long outdoor concert in Prospect Park last night. Tomorrow, though, look forward to stories of what happens when I post a sign that reads "Song Written About YOU: $5."

Something new I did yesterday was to start treating the passersby in the 2-3 corridor of Boro Hall as if they were my actual audience. "I've got a little bit of a faster number for you now, I hope you like it," and "this will be my last tune today. Thank you, you've been a wonderful audience."

I love banter. Back when I played on stage in San Francisco, I gave great banter. People would come out to shows just to hear what would come out of my mouth. I was certainly one of them! Here are a few of my banter secrets:

Tuning

If you're a folk musician and you're tuning while onstage (and you will be) try:

“Apologies for tuning during the show ... of course, this is a folk show, which means that over 50% of it will be tuning and talking.”

This will get no laughter. So then say,

“No one ever laughs at that joke. But I think if this show were happening 30 years ago and we were all immersed in the folk milieu a little more, that joke would kill.”

People will usually laugh at the word "milieu." The French are funny. Comedy secrets!

Acknowledge your audience

You can do this by making a few mentions of local news or places of interest. I often played at bars, so would let the audience there know that they were in good hands.

“Some of you are here to get folked up tonight. Some of you are here to just quietly drink some beers and enjoy the game. Some of you are here looking to go home with someone special tonight. And I have taken all of your needs into account in crafting my set tonight. So there is plenty of music to folk you, plenty of music to watch sports to, and plenty of music to romance someone who you can tell right now, just by looking at those tight jeans, is a very good person.”

If all else fails

Say very loudly and clearly,

“It's ok to laugh! I'm really funny.”

Ok, and now I'm listening to "Freebird" on YouTube, and it's glorious.  Here you go, you can listen, too! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np0solnL1XY