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

(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...

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(INDIA) An article from the Media India Group has some insight that reveals a history of busking.This year buskers are expected to turn the celebratory tune up a notch in Kolkata.

"India also has a rich tradition of street performers. Many renowned artists were known to be inspired by the creation of humble street musicians.

A man with a pointed mustache and colourful elaborate turban playing Ravanhatta (ancient instrument) on the streets of Jaisalmer is a common sight.

Similarly, mystic minstrels of Bengal or locally known as Bauls stroking their Dotara (musical instrument) in the shadowed streets of Shantiniketan (small town in West Bengal) are part and parcel of the cultural scene."

Indians have been busking before it became cool!

Check out the full article at the...

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(NYC) You won't believe this but the following is just one single week recapping some of the strangest subway behavior in NYC. It is also the first in a new NBC 4 weekly series documenting happenings in the New York City subway. It promises to be quite an interesting serial publication."We start the first week noting that 5.6 million people ride the subway each day which makes it not only a hot spot for talent scouting and people watching, but also a snow-globe of sorts for some of the strangest behavior in the city".

Busker #1 is a cigarette smoking man underneath a train (don't ask). Then he jumps up and performs balancing and dare-devil stunts in-between cars. With cigarette in hand, he finishes by tap-dancing across the platform and away from the encroaching NYPD. The busker...

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(SYDNEY) From hulahoops to didgeridoos, over 260 buskers turned out to break the Guinness World's Record of 230 set in the UK for the world's largest busk. Although not all were authentic buskers with the youngest being 4 years old, they were officially registered as performers who came out to busk for a worthy cause and break the record at the same time.

Performers played for two hours in 100 places as part of the Bondi Winter Magic Festival donating their day's earnings to SoundSchool which teaches music to disadvantaged children.

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