For the last 28 years, Ottawa’s Busker Festival has gathered street performers from around the world, who entertain audiences in hopes of promoting themselves and giving families a fun day out.
Starting at the beginning of the street, passersby were welcomed by Silver Elvis, who was exactly what he sounds like: a man dressed like Elvis, covered in silver paint, dancing in a robotic style, to the legend’s classic hits.
Further down the street were two performers who travelled quite a distance to be a part of the festival.
First was Vinyl Burns, a musician from New Zealand. Burns played his comedic bits off the audience, telling jokes about his newly-discovered love of Timbits and his toupée.
From the distracting silver suit—complete with sequins going down the hem of his pants, to the quips and mannerisms—Burns actually reminded me a lot of Austin Powers.
Next up was Bendy Em, a contortionist from Australia. BendyEm’s final act consisted of her fitting herself inside of a 16-inch, 40-centimetre-by-40-centimetre box.
If that wasn’t impressive enough, the fact that she was able to do that after having a baby nine months prior definitely topped it off.
It’s wild enough seeing what the human body is capable of, but the idea of fitting oneself inside of a tiny box, with a soccer ball, after putting your body through something like that is just unthinkable. But that’s what they specialize in: the unthinkable.
If that wasn’t heart-stopping enough, further down the street were two more thrilling acts: Magic Brian and Rockabilly Joe.
Hailing from New York, Magic Brian showed off his sleight of hand to audiences, through several small but charming magic tricks.
Then came his grand finale: attempting to beat Houdini’s record of breaking out of a straight jacket. Just for the audience’s amusement, he would first free himself of being wrapped in 15 feet of chain.
Now, getting out of the chains was exhausting enough—as the audience was helpless but to watch him squirm his way out—but then came the straightjacket.
The record set by Houdini was one minute and 50 seconds in the 1920’s. Magic Brian managed to beat the record with just one second to spare. He confirmed with the participant. He was indeed successful in beating the record.
Everyone was ecstatic, cheering as they watched. After watching that I thought to myself, “there is nothing that will top that,” until Rockabilly Joe came on.
Last year’s winner of the People’s Choice Award, Rockabilly Joe came on with new tricks prepared to wow and dazzle.
Beginning with some juggling and other fun antics, the real wonder came in the final moments of his performance. Sitting on a unicycle, he juggled batons that were on fire.
Granted, there are other acts that do a very similar thing, but he performed the trick after sundown, when it would be easy to lose sight and miss a beat.
He went on to really put himself on the line, performing a handstand on a post, resting on a cylinder on top of his trunk. Just looking at the structure alone, I couldn’t help but think “There’s absolutely no way.”
But he did it. He stood in that handstand in very tricky circumstances, all to amaze the audience.
Though I cannot compare it to other years, the acts I saw were absolutely entertaining. The performers truly gave it their all, putting their bodies on the line in order to pursue what they love doing.
Though this may have been through different means, with some performers relying more on their physical abilities than props, all of them were committed to their art and showcased what made them unique as an act.
Entertainers have so many avenues to get an audience’s attention, but what is so unique and different to many of the buskers that performed was it’s not conventional to what street performance or street theatre is. They do something that is akin to their talents and they present that to audiences and hope for the best reception.
Street performers are bold and imaginative for what they do, and there’s no guarantee of their success. But, events like Busker Fest that give them the chance to show what they do best, does wonders.
