Busking ?

Post Reply New Topic

Has anyone here ever busked ? Performed on the street for money , singing most notably , but other performing too .
I've done it occasionally done it ~ & made money at it ! !! ~ and I've gotten some new (percussion and " toy " ~ kazoos , maracas , like that) instruments , intend to try it again ~ It may seem funny for an Aspie to do it but , ummm , maybe it's " putting on a personality/image " , doing so to be a performer .

Yes, but only for maybe a few months. I busked in the London subway system when I was a young woman, many many years ago before it became an organized thing like it is now.

It was pretty miserable. Not even so much for the people but because of the other buskers. A new busker on the scene runs the gauntlet of mean bullies already established. There were arguments about "spots" (popular places to busk. One guy tried to get tough with me, claiming that he has more right to be busking than I did, and that I'm "taking his living" away from him. Bull s**t. The London system has more than 200 stations and many more miles of corridors you could busk in those days -- anyway long story short, he tried to intimidate me out of continuing to busk -- he was a large guy and I was this very small, naive and sheltered girl in my early 20s who still lived at home with my parents. I was trying to make it my living too so that I COULD move out. The bullies like him made me feel like it didn't matter what I tried to do in life, someone older was always telling me to shut up and stop or that I had no right somehow. That was the bad side of it, for me, but everyone is different and will get a different experience of something.

It took me a lot of guts to work up the courage to go busking, it was no small thing and it made me massively anxious and filled with stage fright, but I damn well did it anyway. It became even harder when guys like the one I've described tried to get rid of me.

Anyway, it was a good experience as a performer/musician, to force myself to be exposed to literally hundreds of strangers streaming past. None of the public gave me a hard time. I got some money each day but it only covered my fares into the heart of the city and back.

I didn't "put on a personality" or image, I just stood there and played my guitar and sang my songs. I was just a straight singer songwriter. Covers are popular though, because people enjoy hearing something they recognize.

I eventually quit when I joined someone's band and made better money from actual gigs. But I understand that some buskers who put in a lot of hours can and do make serious money.

...I did it briefly now , but (as I have mentioned elsewhere) the case I had the instruments in were stolen , and I haven't the money to replace it now so now I can't .