Saturday, June 13, 2015

Only the Brave, Talented, and Foolish

Boulder Mall is a beautiful place to wander shops, taste delicious food, and be entertained by buskers. Busking is entertaining solely for tips given by spectators.

Seriously, if you want an excellent experience- stop and engage a street entertainer. Tip them well, they make their living taking you out of your world and into a place to set aside cares for a few minutes or perhaps as long as you choose to watch. You wouldn't appreciate someone taking advantage of your work and walking away with a few words and no pay, so do not do that to them! They can't pay bills with "thank yous" or with the old taking the wallet out and walking away so it looks like you tipped. Trust me, we aren't impressed by that and we've all had it happen enough to be disappointed now and then.

Notice they and we. I storytell in a canvas dress while people paint the dress and sometimes me. I'm a street entertainer. I'm not walking a rope. I'm not juggling. I'm not playing music or doing sleight of hand. When we walked up and down the Boulder Mall we watched and listened. Danny was excited to start busking. I was torn. He does comedy and magic. Of course he fits the busking world.

It's been a year of trials and tribulations for me. I watched a new friend do his street show. He did an excellent show. Daredevil Dan played with puns, unicycled, juggled and the laughs were surrounding him. Seriously, take a minute to look him up and catch his show in the street. Give him a tip and let him know what you liked! Walking away I thought about my character and style. Good, bad, what?

I ran into Eboshi from St. Kate's. Eboshi greeted me with a smile and a compliment. We sat and watched people walk by in their bubble worlds, faces serious. He asked what I was thinking about, as I looked serious myself. I told him, he was a great listener. He smiled a beautiful smile that made the bright sun jealous.

He said "I am unique. What I do, I work to do. I love it and I have fun. The people love it because it is unexpected and unique. You are also unique. We do not fit with the others and that is good. There are many of them. They are good too, but they aren't unique. Bring your dress and your paints, have fun."

I watched Eboshi performing, he is a contortionist. He draws crowds with his skill and sweet personality. He's been doing shows on the Boulder Mall for fourteen years, he used to travel and do shows for UNICEF representing Jamaica for crowds of up to eighty thousand people. Eboshi is unique. He is astounding. Watch him, tip him and tell your friends they should too!

I'm getting my dress and canvases ready, filling the paint bottles. We will go back. We will both busk. We'll see how I do. I'm going to bear in mind Eboshi's wisdom. I'm going to focus on having fun and see how it plays out. Perhaps it's foolish, succeed or be an odd footnote- at least I'm going to give it a chance.

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