The tourist heaving environs of Trafalgar Square often provide rich pickings for buskers and street performers – but generally some kind effort is required to catch the eye of passers by.
Singularly failing to attract the loose change of passing traffic was this gentleman, whose ‘act’ involved him unenthusiastically making strange noises through a traffic cone. You can see his bowl is untroubled by any kind of financial reward for his efforts.
Close to him was an equally unimpressive man dressed in a rubbish gorilla costume who seemed to think that sitting on the floor and just waving a banana around be enough to attract the sound of clinkering change. It wasn’t, sadly.
Mind you, I think I preferred those two to the lines of ‘levitating’ people that now hover around Trafalgar Square.
I counted eight of them, and for most the entire ‘act’ involved sitting on a hidden steel frame which gives the impression that they are floating above the ground. And that’s it.
Once you’ve worked out how it’s done – and it is rather clever – there’s not much to be gleaned from seeing the same thing repeated every 20 yards or so.
Related posts:
A skeletal horse with a live stock market feed takes over Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth
A statue made of soap: Duke of Cumberland erodes away in Cavendish Square, London
Mini rave in Trafalgar Square!
St George’s Day festival, Trafalgar Square, London
The plinth, the artist and contortionist, Trafalgar Square, May 2011
Palmyra’s Arch of Triumph recreated in London’s Trafalgar Square
Holland House Dutch festival turns Trafalgar Square orange
A giant blue cock on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London
Whilst I was in Oxford the other weekend a lass doing some (admittedly rather good) gym routines to music in the town centre was absolutely coining it in. In fact she was coining *and* noting it in.
I guess the secret is to do something people would want to stand and watch for a while.
Some interesting pictures in this blog of street entertainers, some very creative ideas. A very good blog!
Visiting Trafalgar Square left us sad and angry! It wasn’t the long line of floating Yodas who dont work too hard to keep the ‘secret’, who are only interested when it looks like they can con an unsuspecting tourist, and who display not one iota of talent. No, the really disgusting, sordid and creepy part was seeing an old man dressed as Minnie Mouse !!, in a filthy costume, backed by filthy
aggressive looking minders. Councils should support genuine street talent ( there was an excellent 3 piece bad playing), but this gives everyone a bad name, come on Westminster pull your finger out and send these con men to a galaxy, far, far away !!!