I am a Detroit Area Belly dancer who performers with fire. I also do many sideshow acts and live animal acts.

Shetan Noir

(HOLLYWOOD) The film "The Giant Mechanical Man" tells of a human statue street-performer (Topher Grace) who falls in love with female zoo worker (Jenna Fischer). Each of them resists pressure from friends and family not to get together. A romantic comedy, it's yet again another love story featuring the performers. A tried and true story-line, it dates back to the silent cinema era with "The Blue Angel".


More

It's survival of the fittest as some resort to dirty tactics in face of stiffer competition.

Outwit, outplay, outlast.
That motto from TV reality series Survivor also holds true for the buskers in Orchard Road.

The current economic downturn is certainly not music to their ears as they have seen takings drop in recent months.

If that's not enough of a worry, they also have to fend off competition from both legitimate and illegal buskers.

But more of that later. For now, the downturn is a more worrisome test of survivor skills.

Take the case of Mr Donald Wee, 51, who strums the guitar near Shaw House.

'More people are donating coins instead of $5 or $10 notes,' he lamented.

He used to earn about $100 in two hours but can net only $40 now. The former security guard went into busking four years ago when he could not find another job after he was arrested for fighting....

[ Continued ]

(VANCOUVER) Once a bustling tourist mecca, Vancouver is rapidly gaining a reputation as the "No-Fun-Allowed" city.Granville Island has recently revamped their busking regulations with a dizzying array of almost impossible requirements.

Included is having to pass not one but two auditions by a non-qualified jury, a doubling of license fees, arbitrarily banning popular performers, and for good measure, an unbelievable 15 pages of rules.

And they're just getting warmed up. Forget fire and circle shows. Even with insurance, these are out. Want to change a line or joke? It's not allowed once the license agreement is signed. It's the most preposterous, cockeyed, idiotic conception Busker Central News has ever reported.

License fees were doubled because they "hadn't been raised in 5 years."...

[ Continued ]

(UK) If only all the nations of the world would observe a National Busking Day, it would make for a better planet. Towns and cities around the UK have created special National Busking Day pitches where you share your talents and perhaps make a few quid, too. Locations included Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Canterbury, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Exeter, Gateshead, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Margate, Newcastle and York.

Everyone from professionals to beginners took part in the first annual affair - whether they specialized in music, magic, comedy, physical theatre, living statues or dance.

To commemorate the celebration, the Express newspaper published the top 11 celebrities who have been filmed busking which include the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Olly Murs, Tom Jones, and (sorry)...

[ Continued ]