How To Become A Street Performer

Hello, and welcome to the page that answers all your questions about how to become a street performer! I’m Chris Bliss, a professional comedian juggling entertainer who has entertained on the streets of America for over 20 years…

And more importantly, I’ve been an active member of the street performing community since the very first day I started and am currently the head of The Only National Street Performing Organization In America!

I know what it’s like to start out as an aspiring street performer. There are so many questions… Is it safe? What should I wear? Should I be a clown? What kind of props should I use? How much money can you make on the streets? How much do you pay in taxes? Where do you get insurance? Are there any street performing guilds, associations, or unions? Who is this Chris guy and why should I listen to him?

When I started out as a street performer in 1985 there was almost no one to turn to for help. Now there is me! If you’re just starting out on your adventure as a street performer or thinking about it and have questions then this page is for you. If you’ve been performing on the streets for years and want some

You want to be a street performer. You think you might be good at it, but you don’t know where to start. Maybe you are a musician or an artist or a juggler or a magician, or just someone who likes making people laugh. Maybe you are just looking for an excuse to get away from the cubicle and test yourself against the world.

Well, I’m here to tell you that becoming a street performer is probably not what you think it is. By the way, I’m writing this from the perspective of a busker in the United States. I don’t know what it’s like to do street theater in India, for example. But I hope that this guide will help get you started wherever you are, and give you some idea of what to expect when you start performing for money on the streets.

What’s It Like?

I’ve been performing as a street performer for around two years now. I started out as a living statue, and moved on to mime, juggling and balloon twisting. I hope that this article will help you become inspired to begin your own street performing career.

There are several things to know about street performing before you begin. First of all, it’s very important to be outgoing and friendly-looking. People will only pay you if they feel comfortable with you, and that is much easier if they like your personality. In order to maximize your profit, it is wise to make the show interactive by bringing people into the act or giving them things so they will not just walk away after the show.

You need to decide what kind of act you want to do. There are many different types of performance art, but the most common are mime, living statues, juggling, balloon animals or other sculpting, magic, unicycling or acrobatics. You do not necessarily need a full routine planned out before you start – I started out as a living statue with nothing more than some face paint and an interesting costume.

Street performers provide a valuable contribution to our culture and community. They add color and variety, they entertain large numbers of people, they function as a kind of “canary in the coal mine” for an area’s freedom of expression and artistic diversity. We believe that street performing is a unique form of expression with its own traditions, folkways and etiquette, and should be considered a branch of the larger artform of busking. Performing on the streets is not necessarily easy or safe, and we hope that this document will help educate both prospective performers, established performers, and the public about what street performing is all about.

The mission of StreetPerformer.org is to promote street performance as an artform. We believe this can best be done by providing information to those who wish to perform on the streets, by encouraging the development of skills and professionalism among street performers everywhere, by educating the public about what street performance is all about and by facilitating conversations between performers and policymakers.

When you are a street performer, your performance is on display for all to see. You are not hidden behind the safety net of a proscenium arch, or a dark corporate office. Your performance is your product.

The demands of your audience are simple: they want to be entertained. How you entertain them is up to you. Do standup comedy routines, juggling, magic tricks, sing, play an instrument, dance, do acrobatics – anything you want.

Don’t forget that you are also selling a product: yourself. It’s important that you sell yourself in the right way at all times. If people like you and believe in you, they will give you money!

Pier 39 street performers guidelines.

1. All performers must sign a liability waiver and return it to the Pier 39 Entertainment Office before being allowed to perform on the Pier.

2. To obtain a liability waiver, please visit the Entertainment Office located at Building C, Suite 6 or call 415-705-5500 ext. 33 for more information.

3. Performers will be assigned a designated performance area by the Entertainment Office. These areas are small in size but strategically located near one of our three large staircases and are visible from all levels of the Pier, as well as from our Balcony Level shops and restaurants.

4. Performers may only perform in their assigned area and may not block or impede other performers or Merchant’s storefronts from view of customers or passersby.

5. Performance times are limited to two hours per day and must be scheduled 24 hours in advance with the Entertainment Office at 415-705-5500 ext 33 between 9 am and 5pm Monday through Friday. Please note that performances are scheduled seasonally due to holidays, weather conditions and special events held on Pier 39 throughout the year.

6. Performers may not solicit contributions from our visitors for their performances nor

It was a Saturday night in San Francisco and I was walking on the pier with a friend. We were commenting on the cool, foggy air and the beautiful bay when we came across a crowd of people surrounding a man. I would have walked by but my friend stopped to watch. He told me that he had seen this man before and that his act was really good, so I stayed to watch. Before me stood a man dressed in a black suit, white shirt, and black bow tie. He had what looked like two empty canvas sacks hanging from his waist. The only thing he said before he started his act was, “Ladies and gentlemen, pick your favorite color.”

After he said that, he began pulling colored balls out of those canvas sacks. He started producing one ball at a time, then two at a time, then four at a time! He got faster and faster until he had five balls in each hand and three more in his mouth! And he wasn’t even finished yet! He took off his jacket to reveal another canvas sack strapped around his chest. From this sack he pulled out three more balls for each hand and one for his mouth! Altogether that’s eighteen balls going in eighteen different directions! How could you not be amazed?