"What does it mean to be a street performer?" by Theresa Nguyen

From June 16-19th, 2011, the Street Performance World Championship took place at Merrion Square Park, Dublin. This festival not only showcases some of the most talented performers worldwide, but also quite literally welcomes everyone. There are no entrance fees, no seats or stage, and no need to turn off one’s cell phones. You are free to eat during the show, encouraged to laugh with or at the performers, and permitted to leave without paying for an act you did not like. No one is even stopping you from insulting the performers. However, it would be unwise for you to do so because street performers don’t mind turning you into an entertaining spectacle. Ultimately, they thrive on crowd interaction and will relentlessly exploit the same amount of freedom that was granted to the audience. In other words, they are not afraid to amuse, mock, and seduce the unsuspecting spectator. All they ask in return is money and respect for their unique gifts. Street performance, by and large, consist of individual actors that base their livelihood on the idea of making playful spaces, thereby distinguishing its art from other performing genres such as theatre and the circus. 

Ross Vegas does acrobatics with foldable chairs.

            There are many prerequisites that are involved in being a street performer. First, the performer must possess a sense of humor and an unwillingness to fail. Street performer Lindsey Benner, for example, shrewdly comments on her “rebound ability” when she is continually rejected by men who are unwilling to be the subject of her act. After stumbling, the Space Cowboy too tells the audience, “You’re still here, you sick bastards!?” while he continues to juggle knives on a unicycle blindfolded. In fact, all the street performers at one point of their act fails at what they sought to accomplish. Yet in truth we, as the audience, are completely fascinated with their fallibility. We leave not because the street performer has failed to accomplish his seemingly impossible, superhuman task, but rather because he has stopped trying or no longer seems to be progressing towards his goal. Similarly, during the first day of Lura’s class, we learned to laugh at ourselves while we pursued our own “impossible task” within two minutes. Only one person (and purely by accident) accomplished her impossible task, cutting her performance time in half. Everyone else didn’t, and we soon realized afterwards that the performer’s tactics carried more weight than the objective, but only when the objective was specified. Thus, like street performance, aspects like physicality, appearance, sound effects, and witty lines stood out. As long as the audience can understand the intention, anticipate the degree of the performer’s success, and clearly see the authenticity of his attempts, the performer will continue drawing attention.

Lindsey Benner replicating her first date.

            Just as his failings make himself more relatable to the audience, so does his willingness for human interaction. Unlike performers of theatre and the circus, street performers do not have rules to adhere to and will continually break the fourth wall through dialogue and stunts. For instance, Ross Vegas took a 10-year old boy from the crowd and had him blow bubbles for five minutes just so he can draw a larger crowd. The Unknown Stuntmen also had three volunteers be the objects of what they will jump over as part of their final act. In some ways, breaking the fourth wall enables street performers to come at people’s faces, improvise, and build up anticipation for their finales. By talking to the audience, street performers have the opportunity to not only say what they feel at the moment or comment on the difficulty of their current task, but to also build up their credentials and convince the audience to give them their fair payment for performing. Whacky Chad, for example, would assure the audience of his expertise in pogo stick tricks by stating that he has done this for over 15 years. Many street performers in this festival would routinely give out 5-euro bills to people who have participated in their act, conveniently letting them disclose the importance of paying for performances that receive ovation. Like salesmen, street performers persuade the audience of the value of their finished products. Fortunately, unlike salesmen, they are generous and honest. Every street performer has told the audience that it is only by their generous support could they continue what they love doing. They also feel that the audience should have the choice to determine how much they deserve for their hard work, and that the purpose of their performance is to bring a smile to everyone. Therefore, the street performers will always thank the crowd and view their performances as “their gifts” to them, even to those that cannot pay them.

The Space Cowboy is juggling axes and completes the feat by blindfolding himself. 

            When asked the reason for pursuing this profession, street performers would stress on the liberating feeling of being able to perform wherever they felt like it. In the festival, at least, every street performer has done theatre and those that can carry out unbelievable feats have been part of the circus. Despite their varying backgrounds, there are distinct characteristics that these street performers have that most likely initiated their desire to leave in the first place. One is their love for traveling. Street performers are inherently world travelers and will use the money they earned from performing to support further traveling. Kenneth Lightfoot as a warm-up asked travelers the name of their origin and often times reveal that he has performed at some local pub or park there. According to him, he loves street performance because he can meet all sorts of people from every socioeconomic background imaginable. Another reason for choosing street performance is the emphasis it has on the performer’s unique strengths. To illustrate, the Space Cowboy has the ability to swallow swords and claims that there are less than 70 legitimate sword-swallowers in the world. He explains that he is able to do so because he has used hoses to literally change the anatomy of his body. The collaborative process of theatre and the circus would not have allowed him to exhibit and emphasis this unique talent to the public on his own terms. In fact, he found it more rewarding to be able to explain his art and still have the audience stare at him in disbelief as he shows off his abilities. Ultimately, street performance enables self-sufficiency and it is this independence that has led these street performers to divulge from the theatre world.  

            All in all, street performers stand on the line between the superhuman and the human world. They are superhuman because they possess a unique set of gifts, from juggling flamethrowers to stand-up comedy to jumping unbelievable heights. Their work not only requires great patience and precision, but also elements that make every performance entertaining such as surprise, grace, and preposterous jokes. Yet at the same time they are very human; they are personable, fallible, and self-righteous. They are not exhibits, but rather human beings who feel that they have the right to take up space and delight whoever they please. They hope to shock, inspire, and please the crowd. In a lot of ways, street performers are like earnest children unable to resist showing off their latest venture.