Busking with a twist (OT)

Whistle
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One of the delights of visiting Santa Cruz is the number of street performers on “The Mall” (our main downtown shopping street). Some are good, some are…well…interesting. On any given day, you may run across a harpist on one corner, a string quartet across the street, a blues guitarist down the block…then there’s the guy who will write you a “poem” for a buck, the fellow who dresses in a clown suit and makes balloon animals for tips, the fellow with the didgeridoo who hangs out near the Palomar, etc (whistlers occasionally, but surprisingly rarely). You never know quite what you’re going to see or hear…that’s Santa Cruz.

Last night, however, I think I saw the ultimate in laziness…the “boom box busker.” No, I don’t mean someone who was dancing or doing some other performance accompanied by a boom box, I mean a guy sitting on a bench with a boom box blaring and a hat out. I stood there for quite a while, expecting him to do SOMETHING, but he just sat there and grinned and occasionally fiddled with the tuner. Weird! I think this may fall into the “Only in Santa Cruz” department. I imagine the police eventually shut him down, as amplified music without a permit isn’t allowed on the Mall.

The really amazing thing is, there was quite a bit of money in the hat! I’m a pretty generous tipper where buskers are concerned, but even I won’t drop a dollar in a hat for the privilege of listening to a local radio station!

Just thought y’all might get a chuckle out of this, as there are some here who have done street performing.

Redwolf

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Yep, that’s Santa Cruz for you. :slight_smile:

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Hey, this summer on the boardwalk near the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City I spotted an interesting busker. He was a whistler, but of the puckered lips variety…he had a CD playing on his boombox and was whistling along to the tunes. Dressed in fancy clothes, a top hat, and a sequinned vest, it was quite the sight.

He was also selling CDs of his whistling!
I wouldn’t call the guy lazy at all, but it certainly caught my eye.

Jef

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I remember New York City in the eighties, when you couldn’t walk half a block without being accosted by panhandlers, beggars and buskers. You couldn’t give to everyone, even if you had wanted to (don’t say it Weekenders). So I would give to the buskers, who sang, danced, made music, on the ground that they at least showed some effort and did not just sit there in lethargy or even stupor.

But I always felt bad about it because wasn’t I treating these human beings a bit like trained dogs? Do a trick for me, and I’ll throw you a bone. And is it fair that those who can sing, dance, play should be preferred over those who are good at crossword puzzles or good at not much of anything?

Then along came Guiliani and I didn’t have to think about it anymore.

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I don’t think tipping a busker is treating them like a trained dog. They’re offering something for sale (i.e., a performance) and, if I choose to tip, it’s because I like what they’re offering. If I stop to have a listen, I offer a tip…if the music or other performance doesn’t lure me, I don’t. It’s really no different than the people who sell such things as handmade hemp bracelets on the Mall…if one catches my eye and I like it, I buy it…if I don’t care for their wares, I don’t buy.

Street performers are one of the things that makes the Mall such a fun place to hang out…I figure they’re performing a valuable service, and am more than happy to support their efforts when I can. 'Course, I used to do a little busking myself, in my younger days, so maybe I’m seeing it from a slightly different angle. I did it because it was something I COULD do that gave me and (hopefully) my listeners a little pleasure and brought in a bit of extra money.

Really, any kind of professional performer is something of a “trained seal,” whether the venue is the street or the cocktail lounge or the concert hall. Actually, that’s true of anyone who has something to sell. You take what you have out to the public, and if they like it, they buy it. If they don’t like it, you either adapt to their tastes or resign yourself to not making much (or any) money (or at least resign yourself to living close to the bone until their tastes catch up to you!). That’s the nature of the beast. Fortunately for people who choose to busk here in eclectic Santa Cruz, tastes in music and performance art vary widely…for every person who loves (and tips) the string quartet, there’s likely to be another person who loves (and tips) the guy with the didgeridoo. :slight_smile: Not bad, for a city with a downtown area that’s only about 5 blocks long!

I’ve seen lots of people perform with or to recorded music…often that’s necessary, unless you can find a band to drag along with you (and are willing to split the tips!), or play/perform something that can stand without backup. The thing with the guy I saw the other day was, he wasn’t performing anything…he was expecting to get tips just for playing his radio! (and drowning out not a few legitimate performers in the process). Frankly, I’d have been happier if he had just walked up to me and asked for money to buy a joint (yes, we have a lot of that in Santa Cruz too)…at least it would have been honest!

My guess is, he was either trying to get around or “protesting” the panhandling laws. Santa Cruz has had a lot of trouble this summer with so-called “house-free rights” activists…people who deliberately choose homelessness as a lifestyle (yes, really), and expect that others have an obligation to support them in that choice. They’re very aggressive (often downright nasty), and have caused a lot of problems on the Mall, not only for the buskers, or the residents and visitors to the Mall, but also for the people who are homeless through no choice or fault of their own. In response, the city has had to pass some fairly strong panhandling laws (a rather new thing for friendly, tolerant and usually generous Santa Cruz). The city is also in the process of fine-tuning those laws so they don’t negatively impact the buskers and craftspeople who rely on Mall traffic for their livelihood…my guess is this fellow was trying to make some kind of “statement” about that.

Redwolf

[ This Message was edited by: Redwolf on 2002-10-15 14:14 ]

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A bit off topic!

Redwolf, I tried to return your email but it keeps coming back, could you send it to me?

Thanks!

Sandy

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:laughing:

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Shucks, here I thought this was a post about a 50’s street hop…