Street Peformers: Buskers and Busking

By Geof Bard

The comprehensive new guide to street performers of all kinds: musicians, artists, jugglers, fire dancers, puppeteers, acrobats and any theater or circus act in the public sphere.Your ticket to the enthralling world of street performance, also known as busking. Packed with insights and inspiration for buskers, their fans, and people wh

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bastille Press
• Release date: Aug 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088259580

Book preview

Praise for

Street Performers: Buskers and Busking

"...an entertaining and informative introduction to the world of busking, which is also a how-to manual for seasoned or aspiring buskers...The US Supreme Court has ruled that performing music in public counts as protected speech under the First Amendment….Some states and localities provide buskers with more protection than the First Amendment... Check local law...Geof Bard’s fascinating look at busking shows that there is far more to busking than most of us ever imagined."

Charles Pierson, Attorney

A great read for anyone, performers and non-performers alike. filled with info and interesting stories. Grab it!

William J. Dorsett

Artist & buskers' rights activist; admin

San Diego Buskers & Artists

"I was totally pulled into the story…it sizzles…had me mesmerized.

Superbly written!"

Paulio Les Paul Odias

Lyricist and multi-instrumentalist

Switzerland

Fantastic! Lots of detail. I really enjoyed reading it.

Robert Maxwell

Music instructor

Santa Barbara, California

The art of street performance is laid out to the reader in engaging form, stretching from the nuts and bolts to the theoretical and historical. This global overview provides critical context for struggles for public access urban spaces around the planet. Excellent.

Bill Weinberg

Podcaster

New York, NY

"In Street Performers: Buskers and Busking, Geof Bard offers readers a real-life look at street musicians, jugglers, mimes, and more. An engaging blend of history, humor, compassion, and common sense, Bard’s writings reveal the joys and pains these often-unappreciated artists experience. After reading this book, you won’t pass by street performers without giving them a round of applause and a tip."

Dee Lorraine

Video producer

"...a brisk and interesting handbook of the rich history and and the practicing wisdom and extraordinary skills of street artists ..."

Don Nason

Retired physicist

Street Performers: Buskers and Busking

Street Performers: Buskers and Busking

Geof Bard

Bastille Press

This book  ©  2023Geof Bard and Bastille Press. All Rights Reserved.

http://linktr.ee/bastillepress

Cover art: Ben Freiden. Interior plate; Leroy Skalstad.

Author website https://geofbard.neocities.org

https://github.com/BastillePress

Busking can be dangerous!

Accidents occur from stunts and falls, fire performances, crowds, traffic or other hazards. Do not rely upon this book to learn dangerous performance arts. Take lessons from a qualified instructor, carry insurance and play by the book.

Neither Bastille Press nor the author advance legal advice. Author and publisher do not assume any liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions.

Dedicated to Bluesman Tom Murray

Rock in Power

Table of Contents

Praise for Street Performers: Buskers and Busking             1

Dedication              6

Introductio    8

Prelude             9

Part I: Re-creating the Public Sphere             13

1 Tyrants Fear Troubadours             13

2 Authoritarian Creep             16

3 Art and the Political Dimension             20

Part II: A Mosaic of Styles             23

4 Legends of Busking             23

5 Myths, Corrected             33

6 A Tapestry of Styles             35

PART III  Street Circus             39

7 The History             39

8 The Art of Juggling             42

9 Light the Fire             47

10 Tightrope and Acrobatics             50

11 Send in the clowns             53

12 Street Theater and Mime             55

13 Street theater: Puppets             57

14 Cosplay: The Art of Masquerade             58

Part IV The Practice of Busking             60

15 Why Busking, Anyway?             60

16 The Nuts and Bolts             63

17 Play at the Top of your Game             67

18 Gear for busking musicians             70

19 Repertoire for musical busking             78

20 Copyright & Buskers             81

21 Public space as a garden of soul             86

22 Busking Meccas             91

Part V MONETIZING YOUR ART             106

23 How Buskers Work a Pitch             106

24 Booking gigs             110

25 Merchandise: Vending or Free Speech?             112

26 Online busking with digital tip jars             116

27 Website/Tip-jar Hybrids             119

28 Crowdfunding, Bitcoin, NFTs             121

Part VI: TAKING CARE of BUSINESS             125

29 Dealing with the law             125

Legalities, injury management, violence prevention and conclusions             125

30 When the Music Stops: Injuries             133

31 Violence on the Street             135

32 The Dark Side of Performance Art             137

33 On the Road Again             140

Acknowledgments             141

Bibliography             143

Appendices             147

Table of Authorities Legal cases             147

APPENDIX A: GOLDSTEIN vs NANTUCKET             149

APPENDIX B: DAVENPORT V CITY OF ALEXANDRIA             152

APPENDIX C: FRIEDRICK V. CITY OF CHICAGO             155

APPENDIX D: White vs. Sparks             166

APPENDIX E: PRUNEYARD vs. ROBBINS 447 U.S. 74 (1980) (California)             168

APPENDIX F: RALPHS vs UFCW (California)             173

Introduction

Busking is spontaneous performance in the public sphere. It has occurred throughout history wherever there is freedom. Totalitarian societies attempt to shut it down, eliminating public performance altogether, or they sponsor state controlled Peoples’ Theater.

The humble street performer is often relegated to a footnote in ethno-musicology and urban studies. Most of the books on the topic are outdated academic studies or personal memoirs, superficial handbooks, or vanity projects with little substance. Hence, this book fills an urgent need.

I seek to synthesize an inside look at the down-and-dirty survival tactics of street performance with a serious study of the social factors which often put the busker in the role of outlaw, educator and freedom fighter. Street performers transcend the political dichotomy of left versus right because they at once convey cultural tradition and yet refuse regimentation in service to any power structure.

I begin with the simple thesis that tyrants hate troubadours because artists reject authoritarianism. Performers were burnt at the stake during the Dark Ages and are jailed, censored and silenced around the world to this day. There is an eternal dance between crackdown and tolerance as the whims of authority change from one day to the next.

Through it all, buskers assert creativity, human solidarity and fun in the spirit of art for art's sake.

Prelude

Dear Reader,

The most remarkable event led me to take up the pen and write this book for you. I am not a superstitious man, no; I subscribe to an unwavering faith in the hard facts of science and solid tradition in all matters. I ask that you put aside disbelief, if ever so briefly, and consider the strange phenomena which occasioned me to become the author of this book you hold in your hands.

One dreary morning on Puget Sound, the sun finally came out, so I packed up my fiddle and headed to my favorite busking spot to play some tunes.  I placed my violin case on the sidewalk, took out my cherished violin and rosined up the bow. There was barely any horsehair left on it, but it was made from the finest Brazilian pernambuco wood and could dance on those fiddle strings like a thing possessed.

It had been raining all week, but now the sun was shining brightly through the mist as a rainbow arced in the distant sky. It seemed like a good time to play Somewhere Over the Rainbow and just for kicks I played it in the key of E minor. That put a hint of melancholy into the tune, which made perfect sense, considering it has been raining for weeks.

I waltzed about the sidewalk, throwing in some fancy flourishes with the bow, spinning around, dramatizing a song I've played a thousand times before. I tapped a percussion line with a little tambourine on each foot, and people walking by smiled and tossed coins into my case.  I poured it on thick, bouncing the bow in a fancy spizzacato technique which had taken me years to master.

My heart throbbed as I peaked and ended my solo with a pizzacato run and a final decisive pluck! of my E string.  The string broke, but a hefty mom with a bunch of kids in tow led a round of applause. I bowed deeply as though they were visiting royalty.

The mom gave each kid a dollar bill and one by one they ran up and tossed the money into my velvet-lined case. They shouted goodbye as if going on an ocean cruise to distant lands, waving with furious intensity.

Ah, kids are great. If only adults could appreciate the simple things.

Wiping the sweat off my brow, I looked into my case to see if I’d made lunch money. I was surprised to see a peculiar brass object inside.

What a cool tip, I thought. Nice people.

Upon closer inspection, I realized what it was: a little brass lantern.

It seemed a bit dingy, so I wiped it off with the silk cloth I use for my fiddle. There was a smudge in one spot, so I rubbed it extra hard, trying to polish the blemish off. It wasn’t going away, but the lantern started glowing with an ethereal light.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light and a sound like thunder.

Poof!

Next thing I knew, I was flat on my back.  Before me was a cloud of smoke. It kept getting bigger and bigger and then, to my amazement, a swarthy figure in a turban materialized within the mist. My jaw dropped as I realized that before my very eyes was nothing less than a full-fledged magic genie!

He emerged from the lantern with a flourish, long hair and flowing robes trailing. His eyes sparkled mischievously, a sly grin playing at the corners of his mouth.

Ah, Bard, he said in a voice dripping with amusement. "Good fortune has come your way, for you possess the original lanterna magika. You have set me free from the confines of this lantern, and so I shall grant your wish."

The genie stretched out his arms, reveling in the freedom of his temporary escape from the lamp. His body shimmered with a kaleidoscope of hues as the smoke swirled around him.

Whatever your desire, I can make it come true, he continued,.But take heed - I am a genie of the highers order. If you do not uphold your end of the bargain, woe shall befall you.

With a snap of his fingers, the genie summoned a shower of glittering gold coins to rain down around him. He chuckled as they bounced and clinked against the ground.

But enough about me, he said, gesturing to the lantern. What can I do for you? Fame? Fortune? Adventure? Name any wish, and it shall be yours.

The genie’s eyes glinted with excitement,  eager for the challenge of fulfilling the wish of his new master. He beckoned for me to step closer, smiling widely, gold tooth glistening in the sunlight.

Come, he urged. Let us make magic together. There is no finer way to spend the day.

Full of wonder, I asked, Who are you? Where did you learn how to do magic tricks like that? Where did you come from?

I come from the hidden realm of jugglers and clowns, harpists and trumpeters, tight-rope walkers and sword-swallowers, guitarists and violinists. It is a secret place where magic rules and anyone who possesses the lantern may have anything they desire.

I was thrilled, thinking that a genuine Stradivarius would be nice. I pulled myself up and rubbed my eyes. Something didn't seem right. I gathered my courage and cleared my throat.

"Wait a minute. If you're a real genie, aren't I supposed to get three wishes. What's up with -- why only one?"

The genie let out a hearty laugh, looking at me like I had said something insufferably obtuse.

Silly violin player. Don't believe everything you read. You're too old to believe in fairy tales. In the real world, one wish is all you get.

I thought about it and realized getting one wish was still a pretty good deal.

OK, I don't want to appear to be ungrateful. If it's just one wish, I will take it.

The genie laughed again, shaking his head. It was a bit embarrassing to show my ignorance of the reality of genie etiquette, but I had never before encountered one. After his laughter subsided, his dark eyebrows wrinkled together and descended into a half frown. 

There is one catch, Bard.

Sir?

You must first write a book telling the world about the craft of busking, the art of street performance.

With that, the genie started to spin, faster and faster, emanating a thick cloud of smoke with flashes of light until suddenly the smoke vanished and the genie was gone.

Dear reader, I hope that you will read this book and share the word with everyone you know: aspiring musicians, magicians, jugglers, clowns, mimes and slack line walkers, everyone who has ever been entertained by the lively performance arts.

I would really like that genie to come back and grant my wish. To all of my wonderful readers, I will provide a password and a link to the secret of the genie. Follow that to a unique place where I will disclose what happens after I publish the book and seek out the genie!

Part I: Re-creating the Public Sphere

1  Tyrants Fear Troubadours

"Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable." 

Attributed to  Cesar Cruz and Banksy

"Reality doesn't impress me. I only believe in intoxication, in ecstasy, and when ordinary life shackles me, I escape, one way or another." - Anais Nin

Sword jugglers, fire-breathers, an eight-foot woman in a bridal gown. An urban hillbilly strums a banjo, a gold robot gyrates in a tapestry of fantasy, romance and history. Sonic waves soothe the soul as graceful harp tones fill the skies. All the while, music from a one-woman-band perforates the air with cymbal hits, drum kicks and a rat-a-tat snare.

You could be in the late 1800’s, or perhaps the late 21st century. It could be a movie or just be a dream. Welcome to the world of busking, where imagination has no limits.

Buskers are performance artists working in public space. They work on the mean streets of the big city. Rural farmers’ markets. Anywhere there are people and an opportunity to entertain.

Street performers are perennially under pressure from powerful vested interests which fear its power to disrupt the status quo. Performers are threatened with fines, confiscation of instruments, exclusion from established locations and even jail for sharing their creativity. A busker was shot by police in Chile, igniting nation-wide riots; a tuba player was robbed and beaten in Seattle, resulting in his death.

Art is a double-edged sword: it can upset the prevailing order, but it can also be an irenic force creating community, calm and stability. It can unite a diverse populace and introduce marginal communities to the mainstream. Art defines we the people, which may contribute to healing of internal conflicts.

By defining a cultural tradition, public art can be exclusionary and set a community against outsiders or Philistines. This can be elitism and snobbery, or it can manifest as ethnic chauvinism.

The stabilizing force of culture can become a literal war cry. Along the trenches during World War I, Wehrmacht conscripts carried Nietzsche in their backpacks and the Kaiser promoted Lissauer’s "Hymn of Hate. Allied imagination was fired by the song Over There" and English composer Gustav Holst composed The Planets with its stormy references to Mars, Bringer of War.

Performance as mere entertainment does not diminish art. Lightness and frivolous aspects of performance can defuse the potential for alienation and allow one to address heavy topics without bumming everybody out. The performer can express controversial viewpoints without triggering arguments. A guitarist can sing of Mother Mary in Paul McCartney’s Let It Be and in the next set Tom Waits’ tongue in cheek Chocolate Jesus. One can still play a crowd deep in the Bible Belt and cover Son House’s Preachin’ Blues without inciting a riot. (That’s his humorous song about wanting to be a Baptist minister ‘because preaching sure beats work‘.)

For centuries, ruling powers have used the diversionary effect of popular entertainment to tamp down mass discontent. Bread and circuses maintain stability, but sometimes the bread runs out. Typically, this results from the ineptitude or corruption of the rulers.

During these times, the power elites become wary of troubadours.

2   Authoritarian Creep

"The first and most important thing an individual can do is to become an individual again, decontrol himself, train himself as to what is going on and win back as much independent ground for himself as possible."

William S. Burroughs

History is replete with instances in which social elites or occupiers have banned native songs, instruments, and musical styles. In 1367, the Statute of Kilkenny was signed into law, banning Irish music in Ireland. Violation of the stricture against Irish culture was deemed treason against the English Crown, punishable by death.

In 1883, the US Congress banned native American dances, ritual song and masked performance. This ban was part of a broader effort to forcibly assimilate Native Americans into Euro-American culture, culminating in the tragedy of Wounded Knee.

Repression of music and culture generally is not reserved for distraught minorities. The Beach Boys were banned by many radio stations when they came out with a song that referenced God; this was deemed blasphemous. Many Loretta Lynn songs have been banned, notably The Pill written in 1975, on a topic which has recently surged into the headlines.

The Archbishop in Boston had a wrath for the Everyly Brothers and Madonna drew the ire of Tipper Gore. The BBC has banned The Kinks, The Beatles and the Rolling Stones, not to mention the Sex Pistols.

During the Cultural Revolution in China in the 1960s and 1970s, certain forms of traditional music were banned by the government as they were considered counter-revolutionary or bourgeois. Similarly, during the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in the 1990s, music was banned as it was seen as against the strict interpretation of Islamic law enforced by the regime

Despite these topical bans, busking in the Western democracies remains a civil right, and the authorities tolerate it in most places. However, few countries have a solid legal foundation to support the rights of street performers. A rising tide of authoritarianism and saber rattling sweep the planet, threatening the freedoms we take for granted. This is not merely the case in places with no history of healthy democracy.

Authoritarianism and its impositions on artistic expression are increasing around the world, including the English-speaking nations.. As freedom erodes around the world, its enemies will become emboldened everywhere. When they were part of the European Union, English performers enjoyed certain protections which were lost with Brexit. As things stand today, there is a maze of regulation and permit requirements in the UK which present obstacles to local and particularly to traveling performers.

In a climate of social polarization, the UK has experienced a tightening noose restricting freedom of expression. Westminster now imposes a 42-page buskers’ policy which includes a requirement for a busking license, and a separate license for selling CDs. The system pressures buskers to voluntarily sign-up to the street performers’ association and an insurance policy in the amount of 2 million pounds is mandatory. Wind instruments are banned except ‌at a few designated spots. This exclusion includes Irish penny-whistles and Native American flutes — both of which express remembrance of past and current sins against the Irish and First Nations, respectively.

Throughout England, Public Spaces Protection Orders have been used to suppress buskers, houseless and anyone the police don’t like; in Birmingham, the PSPO bans any busking in both of the prime historic busking locations.

There is resistance in the