
How I made over $100 an hour as Spiderman at Times Square - michaelhealy
http://www.michaelhealy.me/how-i-made-over-100-an-hour-as-spiderman-at-times-square/
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schappim
Summary:

\- Op noticed another street actor dressed up as Mickey Mouse in Time Square
and marvelled at how he made $1 tip per photo with people.

\- Op counted how many people the actor took photos with in a 10 minute period

\- Op acquired a Spiderman costume ($180)

\- First attempt standing at Time Square he made $40 during the day over a
period of 2 hours

\- Second attempt he made $220 in slightly under 2 hours in the evening.

\- Op is mostly paid in coins and changed for amazon vouchers using the
coincase machines

\- Average tip is $3, biggest was $100.

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mallin
Google cache:
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:www.mic...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:www.michaelhealy.me/how-
i-made-over-100-an-hour-as-spiderman-at-times-square/)

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Peroni
Genuine questions:

* If it really is that lucrative (I do believe the figures he mentions) then why isn't everyone doing it?

* Who tips a guy in a costume $100 for a photo?

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Tichy
Isn't there some kind of regulation for that? Where I used to live there were
only a fixed amount of street performers allowed, and licenses were given out
on a daily basis very early in the morning (or so I have heard).

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Fat_Rat
Looks as if you're correct. [http://nypost.com/2009/07/10/biff-wham-
pow/](http://nypost.com/2009/07/10/biff-wham-pow/)

"Their comic-book adventure went awry when cops approached the dynamic duo on
43rd Street to see whether they had the required license to perform in costume
in public"

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pessimizer
_Confessions of a Superhero_ (2007)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1016164/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1016164/)

"Superhero Impersonators Throw Punches On Streets Of Hollywood"
[http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/05/30/superhero-
imperson...](http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/05/30/superhero-
impersonators-throw-punches-on-streets-of-hollywood/)

"Temporary Injunction Means Characters Are Safe On the Boulevard."
[http://la.curbed.com/archives/2010/11/temporary_injunction_p...](http://la.curbed.com/archives/2010/11/temporary_injunction_puts_characters_back_on_the_boulevard.php)

As far as I can remember from the movie they seemed to be making a fairly
reasonable living, maybe 30k a year. I'm pretty sure that you can be arrested
for it, and that you have to pay taxes on that cash.

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Apreche
I work in Times Square. If you don't have a job, it's a place full of stupid
tourists who are hemmoraging money and lacking brains. Doing the costume thing
isn't really all that different from running a 3 card monte table.

~~~
mathattack
Except the costume won't get you arrested. I've seen 3 card Monty hustler get
arrested and even beaten by cops.

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kmfrk
This is ridiculous.

It's spelt _Spider-Man_.

~~~
nicksergeant
And "spelt" is spelled "spelled".

~~~
kmfrk
[https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl=en&q=define%3Aspelt](https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl=en&q=define%3Aspelt)

Aren't we learning a lot of things today!

~~~
Sagat
Brit spelling is not the world's spelling. Do you think people learn English
because of England's influence? Guess again.

