Street Shows; Their own kind of magic

 

 

 

 

Street shows possess their own kind of magic. With exuberant enthusiasm, they have the power to stop people in their tracks, divert them from their planned tasks and captivate them.
                                 
Street shows can be broadly defined as any type in artistic performance. The performance covers a wide spectrum from buskers, juggling and flame throwers to breathtaking stunts involving stilts, unicycles and audience members.

Street shows are a very special type of entertainment that draw on a menu of skills and performance types.  A street entertainer who commands a large audience or crowd is generally very loud and energetic with a cheeky personality and the gift of the gab.  It is hard work to get people to stop in their tracks so the performer is well versed in luring passers by. In most instances this is with jovial shouting and singling out of a particular person, though some performers to get quite aggressive, attempting to use fear to make a person stay and watch the show.  Though this tactic very rarely successful.

Generally speaking the audience has made no commitment to street shows. For example they haven’t paid for a ticket so these shows tend to be rolling shows with no clear beginning or end. This allows the audience to come and go as they please.  Successful street shows acquire new audience members at the same rate that others leave.  Street performers have the challenging task of striking he balance between focussing on the existing audience and obtaining new audience members.

Street shows have strong element of audience involvement, usually putting the audience participant in a compromising position often to the delight of the family participants.  Often street shows will start subtly. The performer may do something out of the ordinary to attach attention.  This commonly includes posing as a living statute or performing a series of mimes.

A new breed of corporate sponsored street shows involve aerial theatre, where trained dancers are dressed in billowing silky outfits and are attached to tall bendy stilts and they gracefully sway in the sky.  This is then supported by marketing assistants who hand out samples of the products or brands being promoted.

Almost all street shows ask for a monetary contribution from the audience.  Many audience members donate generously and for those that don’t, the street performer generally plays on guilt and will commence jesting and jeering as people leave the show.

Location is critical to the success of street shows and the livelihood of the street performer.  Generally open air malls and other large spaces with high foot traffic are ideal for street shows. Tourist areas are also popular as well as weekends when people are more relaxed and tend to have more time to be distracted and diverted from their planned course.

Next time you are out, take some time to stop at a street show and enjoy the spectacle, tricks and marvel at the art of the street performer the stars of street shows.

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