The worlds most dangerous pitch?

[Danny Hustle]

I was having a talk with an old friend last night. We tended bar together in New Orleans during the early 80's. I told him that I was busking and his reaction was, "Are you f***ing nuts?"

I was a bit surprised by his response untill he reminded me of a customer (sadly an all to frequent customer) who busked untill the night he was almost killed working a pitch.

I had almost forgotten about this, but it got me thinking.

Are their (well known?) pitches or places you just won't work because it is too dangerous?

I know all to well that crime can happen anywhere but, I'm sure there must be places where even steely eyed buskers fear to tread.

Thanks,

Dan-

[Robnut]

Winnipeg in Fricken January. You'll pray to be mugged just to get the adrenaline going.

[Karen aka Canvas Clown]

I havent travelled the world, and I wouldn't have thunk it - but had I stayed on Ft. Lauderdale beach for even five minutes longer, I wouldn't be writing this now ...
Maybe it was just a particularly dastardly night.

[stickman]

Glasgow, Scotland.

Pedestrian mall at night 2 years ago. (Walk-by)

Right: someone beaten to death, with street signs.
Left: another fight, junkie related.
Front: Stabbing, bouncer related.

Sometimes the pitch isn't worth it.

2x circle shows while passing through this year though. Lots of junkie jokes. One in the rain, Buchanian Street.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Alice Springs, Australia. (walk-by/night)

Riot conditions, rugby hooligans style. In the center of insanity, directing traffic and flying street signs. Quelled and escaped quietly & quickly.

Day pitch during market sunday. Brillant circle show, as long as your not infront of the church. Seems their god doesn't like celebration, which led to an interesting theological discussion. Then moving up the mall, got in a great show.

Stickman
http://www.weeble.org

[stickman]

[quote]Originally posted by Robnut:
<strong>Winnipeg in Fricken January. You'll pray to be mugged just to get the adrenaline going.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Not to mention auditioning in april, to do it at the forks anyways. (Grin) Never stayed past december. -40c just isn't my scene. Worked a first night on Sparks St in Ottawa though. 4 pairs of long johns, and only fire props. Paid gig, so couldn't bail. Good publicity though, nightly news/newspapers/radio/etc..

Stickman
http://www.weeble.org

p.s. no relation to a certain dancing bear are you?

[Chance]

The most believeable physical threats of violence: New Orleans, Venice Beach, San Francisco. The rudest and most unprofessional behavior from so-called "legends": Amsterdam and Melbourne. (Haven't made it to the UK yet, but hope springs eternal.)

[Scot Free]

In hindsight I guess this could have been dangerous:
One night Rusty Balls and I did tag-team shows 'till 4:00 am at Kings Cross in Sydney.

I can't believe the stuff I could get away with doing on that pitch.

I had a routine I used whan the audience would turn on me(which was nearly all the time during late night shows) I would tape an extremely large dildo to my leg under my shorts. When the heckling and threats became too much I'd offer to cut my dick off to please them. of course they'd all start yelling "Cut your dick off, cut it off you fucker" and I'd proceed to do so and win them over every time.
I had cut the dildo open and inserted a can of hair mousse so the nozzel stuck out of the tip. I did a 2 balls and my dick juggling routine that climaxed with me spraying white mousse all over myself.
Try that one at a Childrens Festival.

[Danny Hustle]

[quote]Originally posted by Scot Free:
<strong>In hindsight I guess this could have been dangerous:
I did a 2 balls and my dick juggling routine that climaxed with me spraying white mousse all over myself.
Try that one at a Childrens Festival.</strong><hr></blockquote>

DOH!!! I just sprayed coffee all over my new monitor. ROFLMAO!

Now THAT is entertainment! I hope you pulled a fat hat.

Best,

Dan-

[Peter Voice]

Kurfurstendamm, Berlin, 1991.
The Wall had been down about a year and a bit, but Gorbachov had just, 4 days before, been incarcerated by the KGB. It was a nervous time.

On the day the KGB grabbed Gorby, Jenny McCracken, Roland Jossutis and myself were meeting in Bonn to travel to Geldern where they hold the world's biggest pavement art festival (300-500 artists, lot's of teams, it's very cool). Jenny adapted an old Norman Rockwell, "Saturday Evening Post" cover, substituting Gorbachov as the subject character ( see http://www.chalkcircle.com.au/pavement/pave8.htm for the pic as done in Berlin), teamed up with Roland and won the Grand Prize, regarded by many as the World Championship (I went solo and came fifth so we were all quite pleased).
After dropping Jenny off to catch a train back to Switzerland, Roland and I heard the most astounding story on the radio (really, Roland heard it and was madly trying to translate it to me).

When The Berlin Wall came down everything was rosy for awhile, then problems arose within the basic maintainence of the city and its now wildly disparate management systems. It was apparent that something had to be done but both govt's prevaricated and procrastinated over a solution. It finally came about in the form of an interim "Local Gov't" to cover both sides of the city and, since they had not had time for elections, it was filled with "figurehead" types (artists, academics, writers, community leaders,etc.) just so they could rubberstamp the neccessary documents to keep the city running.
This all took a while and the day Roland was driving me to meet my plane home in Munich, these guys had their first meeting.

The mistake that both govt's made was to install an "Interim" assembly as opposed to a "Caretaker" assembly. The difference being an "Interim" Govt can take whatever measures it deems neccessary to deal with immediate problems whilst a "Caretaker" Govt. can only deal with ongoing public services etc.
The incarceration of Gorbachov severly shook the German people and those that had been installed in the Interim Govt. were no fools. The minute the chair had the floor (it was the conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, whose name escapes me) a bill was proposed, that would entrench the principles of freedom of speech, travel and enterprise and encourage celebration of life. The assembly went into debate and the lawyers into apoplexy.
When they closed their first session they had passed a bill that the right to Streetperform/busk would be forever entrenched in Berlin's laws. Tomorrow they would be a "Caretaker" Govt.

Roland and I turned around, made lots of pleading phone calls (Bev was not impressed but Qantas were forgiving) and hired a campervan. Jenny got back to her base in Switz., heard what was happening and caught the train straight back. We made it to the office in East Berlin at 8am and got the #1 license. We couldn't find anywhere worth working on the east so we went back to the west side of town

The 5 days we worked in Kurfurstendamm were hell, the place was full of eastern bloc desperados (many, many soldiers or ex) running astounding scams. We were in their patch and if it wasn't for the fact that our work was good and we'd been in a fair bit of the media, I think they might have just disappeared us. In the first 2 days, the threat was palpable. I have no idea what would have happened on that street had Gorbachov not been released.

When I was first banned in Melb., I used to work Fitzroy St. in St Kilda on Thurs., Fri and Sat nights starting about 9 at night and go till 3-4 am. It was also full of crazies but the difference was that they weren't all bored, displaced, disaffected professionally trained soldiers (killers???).
I must say, though, that I really think you can conquer any pitch if your work is good enough. We spend more time on our pitches than most street acts and it's only what we create that allows us to claim our bit of space. Most of our stuff takes ten or more days to do. If we are good enough, the skate board kids, the bike riders, "suits" in a hurry, other acts and even the city cleaners will leave our stuff alone. In fact, we don't even get much shit from jugglers on unicycles.
The danger of a site is inversely proportional to the quality of your work.

[ 02-27-2002: Message edited by: Peter Voice ]</p>

[jonnyflash]

Yesterday some cretin tried to kick my walking globe out from under me as i juggled. Not that dangerous, eh?

[Lee Nelson]

johannesburg..
this year
three guys with guns
i was in the wrong place
or they were
they mugged me while I was doing a show
I hadnt even got my hat yet
I apologised profusely for not having any money whilst packing up
cracking lame jokes while my voice cracked
the entire audience walked away, it was just me and them.
they went thru my stuff but couldnt find anything else they wanted. One guy holding a gun to my stomach.
I left and never ever ever went back

fuck joburg

[GlassHarper]

Jackson Square, New Orleans.

Boy friend/girl friend argument out of control by the iron benches to my left. "Pop, pop, pop" of a 22 cal. pistol. Girl friend dead. Callous as it may sound thank goodness his aim was good.

Another night. Scaffolding covers face of St. Loiuis Cathedral while steeple is being repaired. Crazy ranter climbs fence, scrambles 90 feet up the face of the building and launches himself into space. Callous as it may sound thank goodness he didn't land on me. The squishy thud of his body hitting the pavement still figures in nightmares.

Another night. Seriously deranged teen-aged homeless kid yelling at me that I had molested him when he was a child. Audience fled, some apparently believing him. Packed up my fragile instrument as quickly as I could. Fleeing the scene myself the guy hit me from the rear with a flying tackle. Tipped cart over, dumping glass harmonica to ground. No glass broken. Callous as it may sound, had any goblets been shattered I would have cut him up badly.

Another night. Ragged elderly lady on bicycle rides circles around me scattering my audience, shouting scripture and accusing me of things Satanic. Callous as it may sound I got one of the Tarrot readers to cast a spell against her. Haven't seen her since.

Another night. Gutter punk scoops my hat as a performance ends. College football type take off after him. Five minutes later he's back dragging the kid having ended the chase at Bourbon Street. "Couldn't stand the thought of that punk getting the fin I left you," the footballer said.

In light of the lawlesness and disruption after Katrina/Rita I was nervous about returning to N.O. in October. Callous as it may sound it is a relief that the worst of the worst apparently were drowned, killed each other in the post-storm violence, or are in Houston jails making Jackson Square a much safer place!

[scot]

I've been threatened by the crips in Venice beach, Tic and Tac and the crew in Washington Sq. NYC, and Silver men in San Francisco

[caricatureguy]

I have been strolling around tightly packed bars doing caricatures since '93. Several times I have broken up fights that have happened right in front of me, right on me and even involving the people I was drawing at the time.

A couple of years ago, it was a slow wednesday night, not even 9pm yet. There were probably about 15 people in the bar (got busy around 10) and I was drawing and BS ing with some regulars. A gigantic fellow bumps the guy I was talking to and goes, "you got a problem?" Obviously looking for a fight, even though my friend kept trying to diffuse the situation, the guy would not let up. He proceeds to pull a policeman's badge out and slap my friend in the face with the wallet it was in.

Looking around, there were of course, no bouncers anywhere this early at night so, thinking I had the opportunity to reach around and grab this guy and put him into a headlock to pull him outside, I went to grab his arms and a guy punched me from over his shoulder! Needless to say, it was a knock down, drag out in seconds. I was on the ground with the guy who punched me with bouncers on top of all of us. The guy was taking head shots at me from between the bouncer's legs! The bouncer, recognizing me, pulled me up and asked if I was ok. Of course I ignored him and kicked the cop square in the face several times with my steel toed boots before they dragged me out the door too!

No charges were ever pressed and I continued to work in that place for as long as I lived in that area.

[elron]

id like to corgualy envite all acts to san francosco Ca.
the pitch is noisy not huge a little distracting. but the money is there and its workable all day if you think you can work with the breakdancers.
have fun

dont settle for showing up after six

whers the buskers with bite
peace

[zoobie]

French Quarter and Venice Beach...hands down

[Road Mage]

Dunno about on pitch. But Stickman famously got his van and all $20,000 stuff burned to the ground whilst off-pitch in Dublin

Owen

[Figo]

i remember a story my mate G-man told me about stickman nearly getting stabbed in the back in Glasgow. stickman had no idea that the guys were waiting there to jump him for his hat. i do know that glasgow is better now tho and there are at least 3 magicians and a few balloon artists there who work no problem. as long as u can put up with the crazy bob marley impersonator

[RobertBloor]

Had a run in with LadderMan once. He's a real prick.

But then, I'd be an ass too if my only talent was to stand still on a ladder all day long.

Was at the end of my last show that he took exception to my hats being considerably larger than his bucket. Probably not the first time another man had something bigger than his.

I was only concerned for my safety when I realized what a tub the guy was. Amazing his ladder held it all.

This was 3 years ago, long before Katrina.

[Road Mage]

Originally posted by Figo
i remember a story my mate G-man told me about stickman nearly getting stabbed in the back in Glasgow.

Aye, heard about that too. He has a habit of getting into scrapes ol' Sticky.

I'll be up in Glasgow for a few days myself soon. Going to stay with Todd Various fromt he 12th to the 17th

Owen

[Figo]

Originally posted by Road Mage
Aye, heard about that too. He has a habit of getting into scrapes ol' Sticky.

I'll be up in Glasgow for a few days myself soon. Going to stay with Todd Various fromt he 12th to the 17th

Owen

cool Todd is a good guy he's my magic teacher and is helping me put a show together. i'll no doubt see u in glasgow when u arrive.

[Butterfly Man]

Kings Cross, Sydney

very scary at night and I can be a mean motherfucker when I want to ...

[Scot Free]

Rusty is the only one left working up at Kings Cross, a little while back a bunch of us went to watch Rusty do a show up there on his birthday. The old bank on the corner has been turned into a backpackers hostel and halfway through Rusty's show it starts raining, only it's not rain.... some drunken guy was pissing out the second story window right onto Rusty's crowd!

[eurobuskers]

Orange, France
This is a well know "extreme droit" town.
the local municipal cops, all in black with big gestapo style boots asked me and my ex-wife to stop as we were playing a terrace, having seen that the punters on the terrace liked us and that the local cops were pushing her around, I got out the cellphone and called the real cops saying that there were some racist louts trashing a terrace! 5 mins later it was nearly a riot, a cop car and a van came roaring in to the square and there were loads of heated discussion. We got left alone eventually but closely watched. we got one one of our best ever hats, a couple of free beers, and some guy gave us a lift to our bus! phew!
safer in marseille!

[harmonicakev]

found on a "Mother Jones" blog:

Musician Michael Franti, frontman for folk funksters Spearhead, was so troubled by the Iraq war that he went to the Middle East to experience the conflict firsthand. Staying outside the American-controlled Green Zone, he "would just start playing music on a street corner, or walk down the street and play music for people. People would be drawn to it, and I was the first American they'd ever met that wasn't carrying an M-16." We talk to him about how he turned his experience into a new CD, entitlted "Yell Fire!," and a book and DVD called "I Know I'm Not Alone."

Yee-HAH!
Ciao - kevin M.

[jimmy talksalot]

i gotta agree with chance but in this order san francisco, venice, new orleans.

in frisco they ain't wearin flowers in their hair no more its the buskers especially the spray paint artists that are dangerous and untalented so they feel the need to fight for a good spot cuz they suck so bad they couldn't work a regular spot. you'll find nice and talented buskers there but probably not on a good spot. i've seen some horrible violence there eyes stabbed broken glass hangin out of peoples necks and that was just the hippies you should've seen the real thugs.[not a joke i saw worse]

venice was gangs and drugged out violent hippies....heh violent hippies how does that work?...california.

new orleans well i don't wanna say nothin bad about my town theres plenty of people out there doin that for me....i will say i was scared after the katrina thing wooo the wild west.

[jayrodin]

yeah, this spray paint guy pulled out nun chucks on us and i saw two people get the shit kicked out of them in the middle of the street in traffic by the breakers. venice is a walk in the park compared to SF.

[Daniel Zindler]

Granville Island. Just kidding! Although people drinking coffee in short jogging shorts in the middle of winter is kinda a weird sight.

[ALAKAZAM]

I reckon Butterfly man and scott free are absolutely right.
Kings cross is the roughest pitch i ever worked.It's only busy late at night [ after 12 ] and it's a mix of drunken football hooligans who are there for the strip clubs and hookers,street gangs,junked out street bums,pimps and hookers.There is the odd real punter,tourists visiting king cross just like tourists visit the red light district in amsterdam,to look at the hookers and maybe go to a strip club.
We also have ethnic gangs in australia,a slew of teen lebanese or vietnamese kids who's regular activities include,sending over the smallest,youngest punk to start shit with you until you bite,then the other 23 of them come out from around the corner and beat the shit out of you.
KINGS CROSS the only place iv'e had a gun pulled out after disposing of a heckler.
If you wanna work on your ability to deal with any situation,work kings cross.
Props to rusty balls,hes the only one still working there.
AL
Close second would be sanfran,my buddy jason was ther a while ago and saw a spray paint artist get stabbed in the eye by a silver guy crate slug.

[jimmy talksalot]

i was there in frisco when jason saw that.

two weeks before i got beat up and thrown through some tables cuz a spraypainter wanted my spot...if your in frisco and a spray painter moves in on your spot or a break dancer be prepared to run away or beat them. the spray painter was twice my size and was moving in to kill me when i took some swings at him and it scared him that some one would fight back i think it saved my life cuz he was tryin to kill me.

later some different spray painters moved on top of jord peck, so me jason jord and daniel devenport..stood up for ourselves and the painter pulled out numb chucks and did a drunken display with them....they finally backed off when the cops saw us yelling at him to stop bein an idiot.

the cops don't want buskers there and are hoping we'll just kill each other till the city bans us.

if your goin to san fransico be sure and don't wear a flower in your hair.

[jayrodin]

I can't get over it. Jason and his effin bull whip, hahahaha.

[jimmy talksalot]

yeh that was a wierd day!

[R. Wade Henry]

The most dangerous city streets in the world are the places where non one is doing a street show.

Street performers make the streets a safer place.

Injecting art into urban areas reduces street crime proportionately.

Cities should direct crime prevention dollars toward paying performers. That's better than hiring more cops.

[Evan Young]

Originally posted by R. Wade Henry

Street performers make the streets a safer place.


we clearly don't know the same performers.




*it's a joke

[R. Wade Henry]

Well, it's better than having them sell drugs to my kids. Or so they tell me.

[The Amazing Beaumanz]

how's it going wade??? Good summer???

[joel]

I got punched in the face yesterday in the middle of my show by a big Samoan Christian dude who took offense at my PG-rated innuendo.

And that was after he and his family smashed my gear on the ground.

Kinda puts a dampener on a show - and this is a relatively safe family pitch - Brisbane South Bank in Queensland, Australia!

[gav]

tell us what you said

[Butterfly Man]

What did godzilla say after he ate the Philippines?









Ans. "I want Samoa!"

[jeep caillouet]

Joel, read your profile again. You sound like a disgruntled juggler from Key West that couldn't make it there! Sorry I don't remember you! But then we have more jugglers per capita than any other pitch on the planet. Maybe you could get on that Jerry Springer TV show. That guy that Juggles on that show drops more clubs,especially when the camera is on him, than AT&T's got bars. You want some somoa! That's good Butterfly Man I really had a good laugh on that one. I just wish some day I could be as creative and talented as you. But being where you are, your fatties are bigger than mine. I think I'll go get another beer! Hey Dallas come on down, I miss you guys, and I want to see Nick's new show. toodleloo

[CutThroat]

I've not had many problems street performing. I think maybe because I generally bring a friend or two, and we'll tag team the spots all day/night.
We're probably the meanest looking of the area. I've worked Venice, New Orleans, and Phoenix with no problem.
I'm fairly certain that it just seems like a better idea to pick on the guy down the block than it is to pick on the three 200+ pound guys with knives, torture devices, flame throwers for faces, and facial tattoos and shit.

Cops and the Fire dept though...
Jeezuz.
Cops stop me EVERY night when I play in Phoenix. Permit this, and license that.



I did play in Boulder once, and after we were through, and getting ready to head out, a full riot started. Frat guys throwing over cars, the cheeze had their hats and bats, and this clank clank clank metal shit comes right at us, and starts throwing off tear gas. We couldn't even leave, 'cause no cabs would come to where we were. And my partner had misjudged her "vagina in glass" act, and was bleeding a lot more than we would have liked. We ended up walking through a riot with all our gear, coughing and bleeding for two miles through a riot to get back to our hotel. Ridiculous.

[Peter]

Cut Throat, I am going to be in Phoenix later this year. Where are the pitches there? How about Scottsdale, Sedona or Cave Creek, any good pitches there?

[CutThroat]

The only one that is any good is on third and Roosevelt on the First Friday of the month. There's a big art walk thing.

Scottsdale is no good.

Tempe on Mill ave at night is mediocre at best. And only if your act isn't dangerous. There's some drunk college types walking from bar to bar.

I'm the only real busker working. There's a few musicians here and there, but I'm the only one who bothers to work a crowd and what not. There's one other glass and fire guy, but he's been sticking to indoor gigs lately. Never been any beef over spots.

No need for a permit in Phoenix. The mayor actually encourages street performing. (and paid me for a couple years to do it where he was trying to make his city more like SF) In Tempe , I think you're supposed to pay for a ten dollar permit, but I haven't in years, and nobody has asked me to see it.

[Juggalicious]

ooo I might be making a trip out to phoenix soon-

[jeep caillouet]

Peter try Prescott Az. as well . Look for a guy in any of those cities named Dave Banjoseed. He plays banjo and or ties balloons there. He knows every where to busk in that part of the country. toodleloo

[kennethkahn]

SF can get pretty sticky in terms of the violence, or threats of violence. The wharf has got a cool vibe, but you have a lot of people just trying to get over, including some of the buskers.

[Mario Morris]

Day time pitch Cardiff, Wales
Over a peroid of seven years,

1, Slapt across the face while in S.J (got a laugh and did not lose my hat)

2, Two full can's of bear hurled at me by the local Natzi gang.

3,Kitchen nife pulled on me during a circle show, good news the police pounced on him.

4, Robbed during a circle show, one case my jacket and earnings for the day.

Considering I worked it for seven years, I surpose that is not to bad.
Mario

[kennethkahn]

SF is not just tough because of the violence, it's also the atmosphere. The street performers here, are 95 percent hustle (Some hustle is good, we do have to pay bills) and 5 percent art.

I'd like someone to clarify for me the difference (if there is any) between a street performer, and a busker.

[kennethkahn]

SF is not just tough because of the violence, it's also the atmosphere. The street performers here, are 95 percent hustle (Some hustle is good, we do have to pay bills) and 5 percent art.

I'd like someone to clarify for me the difference (if there is any) between a street performer, and a busker.

[Devinthejuggler]

johannesburg..
this year
three guys with guns
i was in the wrong place
or they were
they mugged me while I was doing a show
I hadnt even got my hat yet
I apologised profusely for not having any money whilst packing up
cracking lame jokes while my voice cracked
the entire audience walked away, it was just me and them.
they went thru my stuff but couldnt find anything else they wanted. One guy holding a gun to my stomach.
I left and never ever ever went back

fuck joburg

jesus christ! where the hell were you in joburg?

i share your sentiments on the place and i try not to go there if i can avoid it...but one i'd like to know where it is so i don't go there and 2 i havent heard of many workable pitches in joburg so im curious (not that this one sounds that appealing)

[Kate Awesome]

Ottawa. Hands down. That pitch is FUCKED!!



.....KIDDING!!

I was working the pitch at Yonge and Dundas on Boxing Day when a teenaged girl named Jane Creba was shot and killed up the street by gang members. I heard gunshots and saw people running, but I didn't know what was going on...!

Other than that, Lee Nelson told me I should try street while I'm in Sierra Leone over the next year or so, but after his Joburg story, I think I'll take a pass. Lee, I'm glad you weren't seriously injured!

[jeep caillouet]

I'd say the big pitch in NOLA would be my guess!
Dem breakdansers don't that no shit,you know what I mean? That was in the late '90's!
I worked in NOLA in the early '80's busking playing music in the bands on St. Peter and Royal streets by the A.P. when Mr. Bushie was the store manager. We all hung out at the Artist Cafe on Saint Ann back then.
where'd you tend Bar ,hang out etc.
What kind of street performing where you doing?