buskers

over the easter weekend, freo had a "street arts festival". i call it a busker-fest, but perhaps buskers prefer to be called street artists and i am just painfully un-pc about it. in my opinion, if you are performing on the street and asking for money, i am allowed to call you a busker. as we didn't have plans to go away for easter, we decided to check out a few "shows".

we sat and had coffee-type beverages while we waited for the, get this, circus school of WA to set up their show. i had no idea that there were circus schools. i always assumed you just ran off and joined one if you thought you had any skill...no, i'm kidding of course! i've known about the circus school here for months because we saw another busker/street performer and she had a sign stating that she was a student there. anyhow, it took for freakin' ever for them to set up, so we decided to wander to other acts and head back after.

we managed to see a canadian busker who seemed to have the crowd enthralled. he was pretty funny and did a juggling/comedy/escape routine. it appeased my need to see comedy/juggling/escape artists for the rest of the weekend, perhaps longer. he was good and had the crowd, as well as john and i, laughing out loud. i think i miss canadian humour sometimes.

the circus school put on a lack-luster show in my opinion. something to do with pirates and juggling and dancers. they had their trapeze set up, but it was hot and we didn't want to sit through poor performers just to see a trapeze artist. 

we went back another day, this time seeking out a group that i had read about, popeyed. we headed over to the fremantle prison and sat amongst a small group of people to watch them perform. it was a "sponsor show", so it was a bit out of the way and a smaller venue, but it worked for us. these guys were great! they are acrobats/gymnasts/ridiculoulsy-fit-strong-men-who-can-do-ridiculous-things-with-their-bodies! they do the show in little red onsies (think wrestling) and then drop those to perform in not much more then speedos. they speak with a russian accent until the end of the show when they announce that the russian stuff is bull-shit, they are from sydney. we had a good laugh, though mostly, we were in awe. these guys could do the most incredible things with their bodies. john and i were nerdily enjoying the show (nyack nyack) and commenting on how they needed so much of this to do that, and so much of that to do this. they were great. i'll go see them again for sure!

one thing that i was, and continue to be amazed with, is how buskers end their show with a plea for money. that alone would put me off of it. not my lack of any type of performance skill, (though it would hinder a good show) but really, having to *essentially* beg for money after the performance, i just don't think i could do it. apparently they don't get paid, at all, to go to busker festivals. john and i have been trying to sort this out and figure they must at least get some accomodation and food provided. but then, when i saw how many people were watching some of the performers, and how much each person seems to give, assuming they do 2-3 shows per day for a 4 day festival, it could be pretty lucrative. and tax free, i assume.

overall, it was a great festival and it didn't cost us much to see a variety of interesting shows. we'll head back next year i'm sure.
xo