One of my favorite things about performing in restaurants is audience participation. The personal exchange, the give and take is so rewarding! And when you give people a genuine experience, a memory, they become eager to give you something tangible in return. When they don’t have singles on them, they can get really creative!

2.00 Tip

At the end of a set, sometimes I feel more like I’m trick-or-treating when I find these things in my basket.

• $2.00 bills – Perhaps my favorite bill to receive (though who doesn’t love pulling out a 20?)
• $1.00 coins – I’ve received both gold and silver dollars
• Foreign money – I still have Saudi money taped to my vanity mirror. You won’t see me exchanging that!
• Origami Money – I have received roses, little shirts, all kinds of fun shapes!
• Winning lottery tickets – Not even kidding! Hey, a 2.00 lottery ticket is a 2.00 tip!
• Tumbled stones – a regular patron once put a tumbled amethyst in my basket.
• Candy – Yep! Especially around Halloween
• Handfuls of change – while not that unusual, it is amusing when a customer will turn a wallet or purse upside down to fish out all the change. An added bonus to using baskets!

What is the strangest or most fun tip you have received?