As a travelling salesman, losing your driving licence would be a disaster. A teacher without their blackboard might panic. An accountant without their calculator would worry. But these losses would never be the end of the world – there are many ways to travel, inventive methods to teach, and the Greeks were calculating long before the calculator! But what if a singer loses her voice? Or a unicyclist breaks a leg? Or a magician chops off his hand?
What would it mean for their art? What would it mean for their money?
Cecilia Bellorin, Barcelona
At the beginning of The Busking Project, in Barcelona, we asked Venezuelan Guitar/Vocalist Cecilia Bellorin what would she do if she couldn’t carry on being a performer, if she lost her voice, or her ability to play.
“I will always be an artist,” she said.
Cecilia spoke with wild gesticulations, cooked with a flourish of utensils and food, walked like a overcharged battery. We were convinced that Cecilia could entertain on crutches, in a hospital bed, or as a mute.
But how would she pay the bills? I’d thought.
Scott and Stamatia
In Athens, we asked Stamatia, the wife of fire juggling street performer, Scott Fair, about the vulnerability of being a street performer.
“Doesn’t it scare you?” we’d asked.
She said she thought her husband’s job was the most secure (more secure than conventional jobs).
“If there is no work in one town we can go to the next,” she said. “We are free.”
“I want to play until I’m eighty,” said Scott.
But he was free only as long as he could perform. What if he broke a leg? A definite possibility for somebody who juggles stuffed sharks on a long board balanced on a cylindrical tube.
Charlie Caper, Stockholm: broken hand hiding!
In Stockholm we met Charlie Caper. Charlie is a talented magician who has travelled the world performing on the streets. In 2007 he won Sweden’s Got Talent and came second in the World Magician Championships.
When we met him his right hand was tightly bandaged and his fingers were stitched together. whilst practising a new trick with a knife, Charlie had nearly sliced his fingers off.
From a documentarian viewpoint, the news excited us. Woe, misery, and disaster – i.e. great footage. Unfortunately he was upbeat about the whole episode and was still practising left handed tricks for an upcoming tour. Charlie has a reputation, he’s an established performer both on and off the streets, and his hand will heal.
So what about the performer who lives each day by coins that land in his hat? My gut reaction is that they are like every other self-employed/freelancer out there. They should register their business, pay taxes, and take out job-security insurance. If they are lucky they may live in a country with good social welfare (like Sweden). We shouldn’t feel extra sorry for them because they’ve chosen a risky career. No one has forced them to do it (most of the time).
Armless Rose Sculptor in Hong Kong
As for being an artist? There are examples that suggest Cecilia is right. Terry Pratchett, the author, has lost the ability to type through Alzheimer’s, but now dictates stories to a hired typist. Beethoven was all but deaf when he wrote the Ninth Symphony, and in Hong Kong we watched an armless rose sculptor make beautiful roses from plasticine (play-dough). Maybe true artists will always find a way to express themselves, hands or no hands. And the good ones will still make money.
Chris