America needs more street performers- part 1- history and current relevence of street performing

I was a street performer for 4 or 5 years traveled all over the country and Europe several times. i learned a lot about people and I learned a lot about territorial dynamics among humans and hierarchical order in fringe groups. First, a few definitions: there are two kinds of street performers: buskers and bottlers or circle show performers. The terms developed in Britain which has the oldest tradition for street performing. Buskers are those who do something in a thorough fare and people pay as they walk by. Crowds don't usually stay for long in one spot for buskers be cause there is too much crowd flow traffic pushing them along. The y usually get steady flows of small donations. A bottler is someone who picks a "pitch" or performance spot set back from the thoroughfare enough for a crowd to form and sustain. They use various techniques to get the crowd but in general they use the phenomenon "a crowd attracts a crowd". Once they have a crowd they start a show - beginning, middle and end then "pass the hat" to collect money. Traditionally the street peformer hired a street kid to help pass the hat. Since the performer did not always trust the street kid he would often put a fly in a bottle and have the kid hold that in his other hand. the kid would have one hand holding the hat and the other holding the bottle with his thumb on top. if the kid ever took his thumb off the bottle to pilfer money from the hat , the fly would escape and the performer would know.

Buskers are usually musicians or statues. Since they rely on steady stream of donations instead of one big show with one big collection, they like sit sit at one pitch for a long time- at least 3 or 4 hours, sometimes the whole day. as a result, once they find a good pitch, they tend to not share. Bottlers or circle shows on the other hand do shows of shorter duration but higher intensity. They gladly take a break and thus gladly share there pitch- usually. So long as others follow some universal rules. 1.Be clean and safe. Taking risks is one thing but when it affects other its a different matter entirely. 1.No one wants to follow a fire show that slopped fuel all over the stage - especially if you're doing acrobatics! the same goes for Street painters and spray can painters 2. and people, if you walk on broken glass put down a tarp!- the next guy might be doing dive rolls through a flaming hoop. 3. Perhaps the biggest rule of all is don't "waste the pitch". Every pitch has prime times- times when there are lots of people and lots of money to be made. If you are just starting out, have some respect for the seasoned performers. don't bring a side shows to the prime pitch at prime time. If the performers are making $200 buck a show and deep down you know your show can't make that much even if you lit yourself on fire, find another pitch or sit out the primetime. If you choose to perform you will make $50 and someone else will have lost $200, they will be $200 farther from rent and you will only be $50 closer. For the good of everyone, sit it out observe and learn. maybe take some notes and some pics aand give the performer copies later on. That will be the most valuable thing in the end. Most most of all the people will appreciate it. They for the greater good- I promise, it will come back to you in the end. They will stay for show after show, the momentum never breaking, then they will return from vacation and tell there friends to check out that pitch next year. the pitch will get a better rep and everyone will be more prosperous.

Its like the presidential race and the pitch theif is Ralph Nader. He is like the street performer that never really got good enough, never expanded his show enough for the big pitch. But, since he is only thinking of himself he takes a break form writing memoirs and goes to the pitch. His desparate attempt squeezes out enough money for a couple pieces of pizza and when the last show is done, no one will have made rent. In fact, his show was so marginal and broke up the momentum so much, that word spread through the audience and potential audience and the majority of the people ended up going to the cineplex and gave their money to some corporate giants.

Write Nader, thank him for his advocacy over the years and ask him to bow out of the race. This is election is too important.

-Dizzy