Busking for odd prizes

Performing on the street affords buskers front-row seats to the city’s colourful personalities who often pause to donate more than a few coins.

Jazz musician and music agent, Gus Stephenson, said one passer-by in Newtown stopped to give him a peculiar set of items which included a meat cleaver.

“He started off with a watch that still had a price tag on it,” he said.

“The watch was joined by a chain, and I think one of those troll pencil toppers.

“The pièce de résistance of his appreciation was a meat cleaver, which was probably about 30 cm long, that has been pegged at my sax case and taken a chunk out of it.”

Not all buskers play to passers-by. Others look to attract crowds. Sam Prest, a street performer who describes his spectacle as a “robot circus stunt show”, is one such entertainer.

He said maintaining a crowd’s interest is technically demanding. “One wrong move and you can lose your audience or part of it.”

“Just when you think everything is going according to plan, you then have to deal with hecklers, drunks, screaming teenagers, marriage proposals, stalkers, you name it.”

Mr Prest said he appreciates the honesty of busking. “Street performing is real. It’s not controlled by a production team, media, the government or edited in any way. What you see is what you get. Person to person.”

Like any trade, busking has its occupational hazards.

Sam Moss, an Englishman who busks to pay for his travels around the country, has encountered thieves.

“When I first came here, people used to try to take my money. Now they know who I am so they don’t bother, but they used to walk past and dip into the case and run off.”

It does not end there. “I’ve had altercations, drunks passing out next to you, wanting to play the guitar, not leaving you alone. Been spat at,” Mr Moss said.

Feng Xu, a music teacher, has had problems with other footpath performers. He said one time a nearby guitarist got angry and told him to leave.

“He thinks I stole his business from him,” Mr Xu said.