(TORONTO) An article at Action Coach Warren has a story on busking that may surprise most.In it, Warren declares his love for buskers. Citing the Toronto Buskerfest as North America's largest, he notes the requirements as being "courage, confidence, good humour and, possibly, a little insanity."

While we usually hear reports from buskers themselves, it's a rare positive review that comes from the edge. Also mentioned is the fact that busking is mostly an urban event and that the love of the city is a necessary.

As Coach Warren observes, "Busking is one of the purest expressions of the entrepreneurial spirit. Buskers work incredibly hard at their craft in an attempt to provide maximum entertainment value. In doing so, they hope to receive maximum value from their audience."

You can...

[ Continued ]

(AUSTRALIA) Two inexperienced street performers attempt a world tour with no shows, no money, and no contacts. Along the winding way, they are compiling helpful information for fellow buskers who want to travel predominately through music. This includes permit information, busker-friendly hostels, and cheap eats.The Buskers Guide to the Galaxy also includes a link to their facebook page featuring busker jobs - a space where people can advertise and apply for all kinds of buskers and musicians.

Interested in a busker's guide to Malaysia, Brisbane, Adelaide, or Wales? How about some video on the Rundle Mall or sleeping in a car? Busker interviews include Olayo Reynaud, Chris Gun, and Kung Fu Jesus among...

[ Continued ]

(VENICE BEACH) It seems Venice Beach is the starting point for some busker's fame. Such is the case of the Naked Cowboy's forthcoming revelations.Ironically, he joins another famous busker who first started juggling real chainsaws on the famous California boardwalk.

In his new book, author Bob Burck a.k.a. The Naked Cowboy, exposes his rise to busker fame and unveils a life goal in his autobiography "Determination: The Legend of the Naked Cowboy".

"I want to be the most famous man on the face of the earth," Burck tells a reporter from the The Daily Free Press. Because he was a model and a bodybuilder, a photographer suggested Burck play guitar in his underwear to gain the attention he was sorely missing while busking on Venice Beach. The rest is history.

Well on his way, Burck is also...

[ Continued ]

(NEW ZEALAND) Often it's happenstance. Every now and then, though, you've become part of something more organised. Invercargill this weekend has a welcome taste of that, with the inaugural Southland Buskers Festival, a satellite event from the recently concluded World Buskers Festival in Christchurch.

In Queens Park, Wachner Place, and a raft of other venues, world-class performers, are disporting themselves in a host of implausible entertainments.

We have a contortionists and escapologists, acrobats, a strong-woman, a slackrope master, a guy who torments his face with rubber bands, a living angel statue, and we shudder to think what else.

Check it out

(SWITZERLAND) An interesting page at Swiss Info has many busking attractions, pictures, and related stories starting in the nation's capital with the Berne Buskers Festival.Celebrating its 12th year this summer, the three-day event featured 42 acts with 145 performers from 18 countries. Half of the acts were musical with the rest involving clowns, dancers, human statues, and other artists.

Related busking stories and pictures take us around Switzerland to Basel, Biel, and Montreux as well as podcast on what it's like to be a busker in Berne.

A reporter for Busker Central entered a Buskerfest contest in Luzern back in 1992. Unfortunately, the city was given a bad reputation when the contest was found to be "won" by a professional opera singer who had stumbled outside. Her father also happened...

[ Continued ]