I have just returned from a street performance and busking festival at the Edinburgh Fringe, where I was working as one of the buskers.
I was approached by a journalist who said he was writing an article about how to find jobs for street performance and how to answer interview questions. Here is what I told him:
If you want to find jobs, you should go to the place where they are happening. The best way to do this is to ask people in the business. So go find some street performers who are already successful and ask them where they play.
You need to be in a place where people are willing to hire you, which means you need to get yourself close to the people who can hire you. Just going out on the streets will not work so well; if you just turn up there, people will not see that you have potential. You have to show them that it will be worth their while hiring you.
Try talking with other people in the business. You need some kind of experience before you start, so try doing some one-off gigs first. Then show them that you are good enough for them to hire you!
The following is a brief guide to finding jobs with buskers street performers. It’s written by someone who has worked in buskers street performers for 30 years and is also a current employee.
This post is intended to be helpful to people who are wondering how to find jobs with buskers street performers, or who just want general career advice on how to answer interview questions, etc.
First of all, let me say that buskers street performers are not the same as traditional circus performers. Buskers do not live in tents and do not travel from town to town performing in local venues. They don’t have a permanent home base from which to return after each show, and they don’t make their living solely from performing. They are typically paid for one show at a time, and then move on to the next town or city to perform again.
Second, there are lots of different types of busking: traditional circus acts like acrobats and clowns; novelty acts like fire-eaters and mimes; comedy acts like jugglers and magicians; animal acts like elephants and lions; religious acts like preachers and evangelists; and many others.
Most people think of buskers as being young men with long hair playing guitars on the sidewalk in front
An associate of mine, Craig Newmark, was doing an interview for a book about buskers street performers, and he asked me to answer some questions about getting jobs with buskers street performers. I figured others might find it useful as well.
Here are the questions:
Q. What do you think makes a good resume?
A. Well, from my own experience, the best resumes are ones that get you the job you want. In other words, the best resumes are ones that reflect your personality and character – not someone else’s. A good resume should also show how your skills and experience relate to the position you’re applying for. If you’re applying for a busking position at a club or restaurant, for example, your resume should reflect that fact by including information on where you performed in the past, what types of shows you’ve done, what type of instruments you play, etc. If you don’t have any experience with those kinds of gigs then don’t include them – it will only make it harder for potential employers to take your application seriously.
Q. What kind of materials should I send in with my application?
A. It depends on what kind of job you’re applying for as well as who will be reading your materials (i
How do I find a job with buskers street performers?
What should I say when they ask me: What’s your pay rate?
As a street performer, I learned how to get jobs in three very different cities. In each one, the process was a little different, but not very much so.
In Boston, it’s a little different from both New York and San Francisco. At Harvard Square you need permission from two buskers’ unions (called “guilds”): the Harvard Square Buskers’ Guild and the Boston Street Performers’ Guild. The Harvard Square Buskers’ Guild doesn’t have a website, but the Boston Street Performers’ Guild does.
Boston is a lot less competitive than New York or San Francisco. In my experience there are four or five spots that are good to busk in Boston: Harvard Square, Quincy Market (shopping plaza), Faneuil Hall (shopping plaza), Downtown Crossing (shopping plaza), and possibly Davis Square (near Tufts University). Out of these five locations only one (Harvard) requires you to audition in front of anyone at all. You can just go there and perform for money whenever you want.
I think this is because Boston has fewer people who want to make money busking than the other two cities do. It’s also because Boston has fewer locations where busking is allowed than the other two cities
Buskers Street Performers, a leading UK based Performing Arts agency for Buskers, Musicians and Street Theatre Artists.
Our artists are available for all styles of street performance, including fire-breathing and stilt walking. We also have jugglers, circus performers and clowns.
For bookings please complete the form below or contact us on 00800 0123 4567.
Opening hours are Monday to Friday 08:00 – 18:00. We are closed on UK bank holidays.
I’ve been working at YC for a while now. It’s been great, but the best part of it is when we have Office Hours. For those of you who don’t know, Office Hours is when Y Combinator invites all of our companies to come in and ask questions and get advice.
This week, I’m going to do an office hours post. I’ll try and answer as many questions as I can. If there’s a question you have that I didn’t answer, please email me at [email protected] and I’ll get back to you.
The first thing I’d like to say is that this isn’t just for founders of companies that are applying to Y Combinator. This is for people thinking about starting a company or just wanting to get some advice on how to do things better.
With that out of the way, let’s go!
