Street Performers I Need Your Help!

[collinbullard]

This may sound a little wierd, but I'm studying different "communities" for a research project I'm doing, and I happened to choose the "community" of the street performer as my main topic. I was wondering if you could help me a little and tell me what makes the "community" of street performers distinct and unique (for example, what characteristics, such as speech, communication, ideas, and attitudes, set street performers apart and make them a community)? And what would be something interesting to study and learn about street performers and their lifestyle?
If you can help me, thank you so much. If not, I guess I can find something else to study. Thanks again.

[Scot Free]

Are you looking for us to provide thesis for you? I might suggest you read all the posts in this forum and you may come up with something. It would seem to me it'll be your job to argue what makes us unique and worthy of study.

[scot]

Please contact our spokesperson; Robert Nelson.

[Mr.Taxi Trix]

The things that seperate us from other communities are even more numerous than the faults of our current president. We are as different from varied other social microcosms as the falling snow on a Maine morning is from the pleasant yet infinite desert sand on an Arizona afternoon. Our tendance toward twelvish mindset and demeanor is balanced only by the long-lingering laughter and love which is the water we swim in. You are headed toward an interesting alleyway of study, grashopper, go see some shows firsthand, and watch the community live. It rocks.

[Butterfly Man]

Perhaps a few suggestions ...

Radical Street Performance: An International Anthology (Routledge: 1998).

The Buskers "History of Street Entertainment" bu David Cohen & Ben Greenwood (1981)

The Twentieth Century Performance Reader, edited by Michael Huxley and Noel Witts, Routledge: 1996.

While I am personally not qualified to grant a doctorate in street performing, if you sleep on Nick's couch for more than one night you will begin to understand what a Ph.D. can get you in the end.

[Mr.Taxi Trix]

Oh,


and try this, from Martin, for an idea of how we love each other in bars (the gem is the third "moment", toward the end.

http://www.performers.net/library/me-windsor-01.html

Try this, from me, for one premise of what seperates this community,

http://www.performers.net/library/tt-soccer.html

And this, from Robert, http://butterflyman.com/waldo.html for a glance into how we work together to overcome misperceptions concerning our viability.

As far as something interesting to study about performers and their lifestyle, you might peruse "out yourself here" thread, back in blah blah blah history. "Interesting" is in the eye of the reader, Collin.

[jugglermatt1]

The street community in my opinio is less of a community and more of a mafia . People pulling trolleys loaded with crates and other strange pariphanalia at festivals are usually performers . In Spain there is a set of artists which travel the fiestas , have mutual respect for one another and swap info . But artists are individuals and when the partys over the community dissapears .

[martin ewen]

Jugglermatt
Your right, we are indeed a mafia and unfortunately for you, you have broken our code of silence.
You can expect either a trolley, a crate, or some strange paraphernalia left mysteriously under your bedcovers sometime soon.
There is really no denying that we are indeed a community, whether we are anything other than a hodge-podge of overcompensating blowhards hiding behind an ideal of bringing temporary happiness to others as we lick wounds inflicted by not being given the right sort of attention as children is still open to question.
There is also a sort of lazy cunning employed in creating original or secondhand material that lasts about 30 minutes and fueling a couple of decades income from it.
It probably would not surprise you to learn that some of us actually believe all our publicity material due to our constant exposure to it coupled with our puny resistance to flattery and our excessively self absorbed natures and your suggestion that some of us are less than perfect and that we as a community are anything other than noble ,selfless conduits of love and laughter would create in us a rage similar to that of a small child finding the picture on the cornflake packet and the small malformed plastic globule at the bottom of the box were not in fact similar.
The unvarnished fact is that yes, some of us are arseholes.
(all of my friends- to name butt 2)
But if you don't get to know us we are at least on the surface, 'Interesting'
Butchers and cabinet-makers don't seem to automatically form friendships based on their occupations.
"Oh your a cabinet-maker too...lets bond"
Why should our expectations be any different.
The self serving reality is that our jobs require travel and working alongside new disfunctional personalities on a regular basis and given this allies and friends are useful and sanity preserving.
They're really not much good for much else.
Oh by the way, welcome to our wonderful world.

[jugglermatt1]

Fantastic , you are absolutely right .
Let me tell you a story , today we had good weather and a lack of funds so we ( me y my girl ) left the house , found a park with children and did a show .Everybody happy no ? There was spirit danger , chaos , music stupid jokes , and the people were happy happy that we were there .
In September we arrived with the same feelings to Tarrega , big festival ofArte bla bla . And you had to stand in line ( up to 3 hours ) in order to have your say .The shows hype style were streched overlong and all kinds of nonsence were on display .
What Im saying is that as a community we artiste dont function so well , it works if there are enough pitches and we all make money . The community Id prefer to be in is the community of the people , the audiences community . Ho hum .