To expect street 'performers' to have some actual skills?

[NotQuiteCockney]

We wandered by the South Bank today, and I was at the number and quality of the performers. Surely if you are trying to earn money by standing still, you should actually succeed at standing still?

I don't even know what to say about the blokes who appeared to be charging money to let people pet their lizards and snakes.

I have no real opinion on street performers but am pmsl

Yes

If you can't be shit on the street, where can you be?

I hate the idea of the council auditioning. You need a free for all so that you can be pleasantly surprised when someone's good.

And also, if some of those losers on the X factor went and performed on the streets first, maybe they'd realise from the feedback that they were rubbish much sooner.

Although that would make the X factor less entertaining of course...

awwwwwww all part of life rich street theatre in London - if i don't like i don't give any cash - end of

i actually admire anyone who busks - takes guts imo

califrau - tell us more????
X

There's a bloke in our city centre who just plays CDs and shakes teddy bears to the music. He has a hat out for money and appears to earn not very much at all.

I would pay good money to see that themoon66

Was it Cambridge where there was the man who appears to be playing the keyboards but when you actually look you realise he's miming?

Hmmm, Montreal has a rich tradition of street performers (and metro performers), who are often crap, but in strange ways. I remember a woman who played the harmonica, and despite playing for years and years, never seemed to get any better. At all.

Oh, and a bloke who sang operatic anti-government songs. They were about as good as that sounds.

But these guys were mostly crap in the same way - put on fancy outfit, stand (mostly) still, hope for the best.

There was a guy who looked like he was invisible - that was cute. Chair, suit, then glasses and hat but no head.

I didn't like the lizard/snake people because it doesn't seem very conducive to good treatment of animals ...

Maybe we were there at a bad time? All we saw were standy-still. Oh, one of them was dressed as a green lizard and had a bicycle to match, which he would pedal (on a stand) when someone gave him money. That was cute. But still, not actually that interesting.

A couple of years ago there was an excellent standing-still act on the Sth Bank: a doll on a musical box. When you put the money in a big flower bud thing opened up and started to rotate with a woman in a short crinoline-style dress in the middle, accompanied by plinky musical box music and some puppet-like jerky moves from the woman. No more talented than any of the other standing-still acts, but extremely well thougt out. Ds1 was transfixed and we had to go back several times that summer to watch her.

I always have a bit of an internal dialogue about buskers - do I give more the really good ones, or should I give more to the rubbish ones because a - they need the encouragement and b -other people are likely not to give them anything because they are so rubbish.

Hmmm, I can understand sympathy for the rubbish buskers, but do they really need encouragement? I think they often need to Go Away.

There was one yesterday who had dressed up (a bit) Japanesey and stood on a box.

Yes, I can value good prep, though - the invisible man one didn't have skill, but he was doing something interesting, and it took real work to set up, so, fine.

DS1 is mad for buskers and wants to give them all money, all the time. I've caught him trying to busk, too - holding his hand out, and 'blinking in an interesting way', in his words.

Have to admit I only give to the ones that are actually doing something - can't stand the living statues!

Although like NUT, I would pay good money to see TheMoon's bloke shaking his teddies (actually, on reflection no, I wouldn't, it's the sort of thing dd does in the back of the car and then insists with increasing volume that I turn and look at 'piglet dancing, mummy!' thereby nearly causing a head-on collision....)

Ooh, NQC, I didn't realise we could send our children out to busk - with your ds's 'interesting blinking' and my dd's teddy-shaking, we could have a right money-spinner on our hands!

But obviously people are paying.

Obviously, if we're not going to have exams etc for the performers, we need to have exams before people are allowed to pay buskers, to ensure they do it competantly.

Seriously, I don't want them to have to audition to be buskers. I'd just like them to not suck. Or at least, to suck interestingly.

oh we were at the South Bank last Sunday (after that statue Dr Who episode) and my kids were FIXATED with the statue like performers (and kept watching the Anthony Gormley ones to see if they moved!)

they also love the bloke who is the dog in the cage

think the weirdy lizard man who sounds like something from the Clangers is v odd

You do have to have a licence to busk in London - my cousin's dd has one. Maybe the ones who are crap are doing it illegally without a licence!

NQC I lived in Montreal years ago and I remember "harmonica lady" too! She used to wander around Prince Arthur street, right? The one with all the bring your own wine restaurants? Ah, nostalgia!

I always give 10p to the painted standy-still people, simply because it must cost a fortune in paint!

There was a bloke in Prague miming to a tape of sax music.