It’s likely that busking, or street performing, is one of the world’s oldest professions. Omnipresent since human crowds first began to gather, buskers come in all shapes and sizes with all sorts of talents ” the common denominator being a desire to entertain outside regular performing arenas. While the most common image of a busker is that of the traditional singer with a guitar case opened for spare change, the range of possibilities is only as limited as an imagination.
On Saturday, May 10 and Sunday May 11, Seaport Village will celebrate that variety of talent with it’s second annual Spring Busker Festival, bringing some of San Diego’s best performers together in competition. The top-voted acts win a summer-long performance contract with Seaport Village.
“Busker festivals are huge in Europe,” said Seaport Village general manager Terry Hall. “It’s a cool concept, bringing together a wide variety of unusual or offbeat performers for fun family entertainment.” The seaside shopping mall, with its shops on small cobblestone streets and waterfront view is the perfect setting for the festival.
“Seaport Village is an entertainment venue,” Hall said. “People come here to shop and enjoy themselves. It’s nice to be able to offer them something different to be entertained by and at the same time give local acts a chance to perform.”
According to Hall, the contest itself is quite a draw.
“People like the idea of a competition, like an American Idol thing,” she said.
Buskers will perform on two stages in the mall, as well as throughout the grounds. While the Spring Busker Festival is free, all buskers accept tips. This year’s contestants include jugglers, fire eaters, comedians, Polynesian dancers, clowns and a Michael Jackson impersonator.
“We try to stay away from just musical acts,” Hall said. “We’re looking for something that will inspire a little awe and amazement in the audience.”
San Diego native Scott Nelson, who goes by Murrugun the Mystic, would certainly fall into that category. Though currently known for swallowing swords, breathing fire and laying on a bed of nails, area residents may recognize him from his past as a guitarist with punk band Meatwagon. His act has been so successful that four years ago he gave up being a musician. Nelson made the shift for pragmatic reasons.
“I just got tired of hauling an amplifier around for 20 years,” he said.
It was the late guitarist Buddy Blue who inspired him to pursue his “fakir” act.
“Buddy saw me perform and offered to have me open for him, doing all my stuff with sword and fire. I soon realized that everyone wanted to see that instead of my bands,” he said.
Recent gigs included the 2007 Warped Tour and a party for Perez Hilton. He also performed at a recent celebration gathering for the reunited Stone Temple Pilots.
Nelson considers busking to be inherently more difficult than a regular show.
“In most performances, an audience is brought to me,” he said. “Just randomly on the street, it’s a challenge to make them want to stop and watch.”
A more recent convert to the busking way of life is La Jolla resident Shayna Wiseman, known on stage as Resonant Beauty. Wiseman began performing three months ago with a hang, a specialized steel drum that resembles a flying saucer.
“I saw buskers in London,” she said. “It looked interesting and inspired me to try and make a living doing that,” Wiseman said.
Her decision to busk is practical.
“I’m a gypsy at heart, this is a way to support myself and allow the sort of travel that I love,” Wiseman said.
Wiseman added that she’s thrilled by the opportunity to compete in festival and isn’t taking the chance to fill her summer schedule lightly. She said that in the busking world, a slow day might mean “not having enough money to eat.” Still, she prefers it to the regular 9-to-5 routine.
“I’m happy that it is possible to make a living doing something I enjoy so much and that makes other people happy. Busking is something that I’ve loved since the first time I experienced it. I want to see where it take me,” Wiseman said.
The Spring Busker Festival takes place at Seaport Village, 849 W. Harbor Dr., on May 10-11.The event is free and runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days For more information, visit www.seaport-village.com/busker.