A new coffee-table book for lovers of Venice Beach Street Performers has just been released.

In case you don't know, Venice Beach is the second most visited tourist area in Southern California with Disneyland being the first.

The writers of the book evidently found a guy who passed the 30 year mark. He was performing when most of today's self-proclaimed "king of the street performers" were still in diapers.

Also included is a humorous story from Mad Chad Taylor on how he first started juggling chainsaws thanks to some goofy commercial maker.

The book includes some killer photos...

Check it out

(DENVER) What was once America's largest busker festival has risen from the ashes to entertain and educate the masses. Recently renovated, Union Station is the historic main railway station and central transportation hub built in 1894. It boasts an eclectic array of the city's top restaurants, bars, and shops in addition to The Crawford Hotel.As tourists got off the trains, they were greeted with buskers and street performers mid-act. Energy flowed between the streets, sidewalks, stations and parks creating a place where people naturally gravitated, connected, and wanted to be.

Jugglers, stilt-walkers, hula-hoopers, pole-climbers, fire-twirlers, oriental drummers, guitarists and more were among the chosen to represent this version of Denver's famed buskerfest.

Coverage by Busker Central reporters...

[ Continued ]

(WWW) Contrary to popular belief, it's probably better to have no talent whatsoever when first starting off busking. This is great news for those just starting.If you want to get involved with busking but don't know where to start, this information will prove invaluable to you. However, if you're a musician of several years, you'll probably want to use your talent to produce music.

Musicians are the most popular, the most talented, and least paid. Unless you have professional tapes and cd's produced ready to sell, the muse faces the task of entertaining a walk-by audience for tips then selling cd's. The best pass the hat. Musicians take years to perfect their craft. Some stay with it and become excellent artists while many give up and pursue other venues. Musicians also usually sing so they must...

[ Continued ]

(WWW) An article at roland.com has what's regarded as the 12 Golden Rules of busking for the UK community."When it goes badly, busking in modern Britain is no picnic and can present some pretty serious challenges from sunburn and on-the-spot fines to abuse and even arrest."

Some of the "Golden Rules" are standard fare for busking yet are often forgotten. It never hurts to review the basics and even expand on the fundamentals of successful busking.

In a nutshell, the 12 are:

#1. Sort the paperwork
#2. Choose your pitch wisely
#3. Don't hog the best spots
#4. Avoid no busk zones
#5. Don't actively ask for money
#6. Spread yourself
#7. Don't get on people's nerves
#8. Trade your wares
#9. Pack a gigbag
#10. Loosen their wallets
#11. Grin and bear it
#12. Use it as an apprenticeship

For deeper insight...

[ Continued ]

(BOULDER, COLORADO) If your're a musical busker or even if you're not, take a listen to a variety of songs made especially for the busking and performing arts.The songs are created specifically by Busker Films and can be heard in video documentaries found over at the famed Busker Alley website. The productions are symbolic of the quality and style found in "The Alley".

The songs showcase different attitudes towards the street-performing arts. Hated by some and loved by others, the songs portrays the busker moving town to town doing their shows and entertaining the masses en route to...who knows where?

"Busker Alley: The Movie" features the song "Road 2 Freedom". Other original compositions including high-energy performance music and even a rap are featured on the website.

Check the links...

[ Continued ]