Every day on the Santa Monica Pier, the show starts at 11:30 a.m.

That's when street performers gather at the east side of the Hippodrome building to enter a lottery for one of 17 to 24 designated performance spots — white stars painted on the deck — where they'll spend the next several hours working entirely for tips.

With summer crowds now pushing through what Pier Corporation executive director James Harris calls "America's last great pleasure pier," the competition for those spots is as intense as ever. The pier draws an estimated 11 to 14 million visitors a year, and for performers, that foot traffic is the entire business model.

Magician Jesse Mock is one of the regulars. His act pulls children from the crowd and up onto a makeshift stage, where oranges and small melons appear beneath cups and high-fives follow the reveals. Fellow magicians Ronascherman and Frank Deville work similar stretches of the boardwalk, alongside singers with handheld microphones and guitar players positioned near the west end to catch the sunset crowd.

The system that governs all of it has been in place for more than 20 years. Performers buy a City of Santa Monica permit for $37, valid through the end of the calendar year. Twice daily — at 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. — they enter the lottery for time slots running from 8 a.m. to noon, noon to 5 p.m., or 5 to 10 p.m. No spot is guaranteed. No salary exists.

"You feel like you're in a different world, even though the city is just a block or two behind you," Harris told LAist. "And the further you get out west on that pier, the more freedom you feel, the more of an escape you feel."

For the performers who show up every day, that feeling is also their livelihood.