(BUSKING) It seems as little as ten years ago, the term "busker" or "street performer" was looked upon with disdain. Suddenly, now it's the "in" title to tell new-found friends and acquaintances. Strange as it may seem, public perception has shifted in favor of said buskers. The internet has seemed to have had a positive impact on the perception of street performers world-wide.

Wannabe buskers abound on the internet. Some sites have sections dedicated to busking. Unfortunately, once entered, one finds several performers that have only been thinking about busking but somehow never found the backbone to discard their day job to busk full-time. This may be a good thing, however, as some may not have what it takes to begin with. It would probably only add to the long lines at the unemployment office.

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(WWW) From his first card trick at age 6 through his tightrope walk between Manhatten's Twin Trade Towers, high-wire artist Philippe Petit takes you on an intimate journey as a death-defying magician.Petit has reportedly been arrested over 500 times. Surprisingly, a majority of those 500 arrests occurred while he was juggling on the street in Paris, according to the performer himself. Many of his larger stunts have been done within the confines of the law, however, including a tightrope walk over the Seine from the Palais de Chaillot to the Eiffel Tower.

His first documentary "Man on Wire" has recently been reprised with Hollywood's movie version "The Walk". In both, he is introduced to his love interest because of his dedication to wire walking. Petit still practices walking the wire for hours...

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(SEATTLE) It takes one glance any day of the week to see lots of buskers performing at Seattle, Washington's Pike Place Market. The popular and colorful water-front marketplace is alive and well.Busker Central reporters recently visited the scene and observed that street-performers were literally on every block. Pianos, guitars, saxophones, and clarinets were all making music leaving the possibility wide open for larger circle shows. Although the pitches are now permitted, some performers had been busking the market for over 10 years.

A huge tourist mecca, Pike Place Market is also home to the first Starbucks coffee shop. The line to enjoy a cup of java was well outside the door and down the block. Beside the line, a guitarist was busy performing classic rock songs and really seemed to be enjoying himself. Down...

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(TEXAS) Austin is using a bankroll of $150,000 in private funds from site developer Trammel Crow to create a Busking Pilot Program in the new Green Water development in the Seaholm District downtown.“Busking is a hugely overlooked art form. From it, you can gain exposure, a surprisingly diverse fan base, other paid performance opportunities, paid practice time in front of a live audience, and perhaps make enough to live on. Many benefits can be gained from an underrated thing such as street performance if you really work at it. It is definitely something that every artist should take advantage of especially where it is open for anyone and everyone.”

The music office plans to pay musicians to perform at the development each weekend for a full year. They are currently accepting applications from street mus...

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BRISTOL, Tenn. – The city has launched a program to encourage performers to display their talents at designated downtown spots billed as “busk stops.”

Known as “Busk Stop Central,” the program will allow performers – including jug musicians, avant-garde mimes, tap-dancers, orange jugglers, rubber-band pluckers, bongo players, Flamenco guitarists, spoken-verse poets, Austin Powers imitators, Renaissance Fair re-enactors and other artists – to legally do their thing at specified downtown locations and receive donations from passers-by.

“Busk” refers to an old English term for street performers, known as “buskers.”

A performer must apply for a free city permit to perform at one of three designated areas, all on State Street. The busk stops are marked with medallions in the sidewalk.

For details, contact the Bristol D...

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