A word of Warning:

What follows is my own, personal approach of the problem. It works for me, it fits both my presentational style and my personality. I’m only giving you a few pointers to help you come up with your own ideas, I am not inviting you to reproduce them…You may feel some approaches are too direct, bold or cheeky. In this case do not try them, and be aware that people from different countries tend to react very differently, and what may seem very bold in a country or a certain place is perfectly OK in another. You must also know that tips are much more common in the USA than they are in Europe, which can explain why you may find some of the following approaches too direct.

Giving some “signs” to get tips is a technique, and a technique is like a shirt: there is little chance my shirts fit you perfectly 

This being said…

1) General remarks

Let me get this straight- I always consider that the show I did at a table was a gift- I performed with all my heart and my professionalism. Because of this, people often notice that I'm doing my best for them, sparing no energy. I love magic and want to share a unique moment with them. I really conceive my table-hopping performance as a full magic show. And people pay to watch such a show. However it never works with me if I'm approaching a table with a "I gotta get big tips" mentality.

So I try to forget about directly asking for tips. As I mentioned before I use patters and texts that I know by heart. All my scripts have built-in allusions to money, so I don't really have to concentrate on money and tips and I prefer to focus on presentation. So I don't think about money, but I mention money anyway! I can therefore concentrate on two other objectives:

- To get accepted at their table

- To perform so that everyone can watch the show

And as I have to consider that my spectators are likely to tip me at the end of my performance, I use some techniques and methods to "establish" the idea of tipping:

The FIRST rule is that everyone must see what you're doing, especially the ones who are paying. It may sound obvious but it's true. If you want people to tip you, they must have something to tip for, i.e. you must do everything you can to make your magic as visible as possible for everyone. You never exactly know who is going to tip, so make sure everyone is likely to.