An Amazing Street Drummer

I love watching street musicians, acrobats, and other such performers. And if I can see, at a glance, that they are doing something special or that they have attracted a responsive audience, I cannot resist working my way to a good vantage point.

K doesn’t feel that way. If ever we approach a street performer, she hurries by. If the crowd is large and noisy, I am moving into it while she is moving as far away as she can. Although we’ve talked about this several times, I’ve never understood exactly why. I think she sees street performance as a kind of cheap tourist attraction and she doesn’t want to think of herself as a tourist. Or maybe she sees the performance as something like an auto accident with the audience as rubberneckers.

To me, street performance is, in some ways, the epitome of performance art. I see it as genuine and organic. As a street performer, you are entirely free to invent your own art. And if you want to profit from it, you have a non-stop passing audience to figure out how to do so. The show is free. Pay if it was worth your time.

Anyhooo… here’s a good example –an amazing drummer that adds a bit of juggling and humor and pots and pans to create a performance that is much more than just drumming.