STORIES FROM THE PITCH Busker Hall of Fame

Back in March of this year, Magic Brian spoke with Amelia Cadwallader, aka Maple Staplegun as well as one half of Las Cossas Nostra. Amelia’s journey as a performer started out at thetender age of 5 as a dancer. She studied photography in University then headed off to Edinburgh which is where she discovered street theater. She talks about spending time in Tasmania and the big influence it had on her as a performer, being surrounded by opportunities to learn and watch circus and street. She talks about going to Spain to study clown where she met her future partner, Kiki (whose story you can listen to on Episode 108 of this podcast), and how they cut their teeth doing street shows in beach towns. We talk about her involvement in the Edinburgh Fringe and where she, along with Hazel Anderson, Matthew Keys and a handful of others have been advocating for the rights of the performers in the midst of the pandemic and for the future of street theater at the Fringe. If you’re not familiar with what’s going on check out the Facebook page dedicated to it called Edinburgh Fringe Street Performers and Buskers - Artist Led Feedback Group.

In this very special episode, The Human Knot, Al Millar talks to the 2021 inductee into the Busker Hall of Fame, the one and only Sharon Mahoney. Sharon is hilarious, direct, and has a big personality.

Sharon shares her journey as a performer starting out with an interest in improv in high school, pursuing a degree in theater arts, and getting to do workshops with the clown duo of Mump and Smoot. It was there she found her love of character and it's where the very beginnings of her character, Talulah, were developed.

She talks about working Australia and getting addicted to street performing, using her tenacity as a street performer to improve her stand-up comedy act, and being influenced by Abi Collins (who was featured on Episode 122 of this podcast) and how it changed her thinking about female street performers.

Sharon has a great perspective on the world of street theater as well as the role of females in it. This conversation is peppered with some great stories and insight into our industry from one of the strongest acts out there and now the newest inductee into the Busker Hall of Fame!

In this episode, Clarke McFarlane, aka Mario Queen of the Circus takes his first stab at interviewing and I think he did a fantastic job aided by the fact the couple he interviewed he’s known for quite some time and they have a great rapport and history together. That couple is Uri and Noah of Cirque No Problem. They are one of the many fantastic acts that have come out of Israel. Noah and Uri talk about their long history together and how they built their first show in India in 2002, put it out on the streets of Europe, got booked and then married. They talk about creating their signature trapeze act and not being aerialists. Uri talks about how he took a leap of faith and started doing shows in Tel Aviv at the age of 13, and of the dramatic shift of going to Lecoq, which he thought was a juggling school, when he got out of the army where he taught the deadly martial art of Krav Maga. They tell Clarke about the joy of traveling in a van throughout Europe, which Uri calls the nuclear submarine, and their shift to becoming a non-traveling act and now performing their current stage show. There’s a ton of content in the interview as well as great stories and plenty of laughs.

In this, our 125th episode, The Human Knot, Alakazam connected with one of his mentors AJ James. AJ takes us through the day in the life of a street performer in London, he talks about getting his start doing gymnastics where he discovered his talent for entertaining a crowd and his journey from acrobat to street performer. He talks about what he’s been doing throughout the pandemic and how he got stuck in Panama when everything shut down. He shares stories about meeting his heroes, Skate Naked, working Sydney where he and Al met and being a part of a double act. In an added bonus we get a glimpse into Al’s process when it comes to script writing for his show. This is a great conversation, peppered with some fantastic stories, with two veterans of street theater who have a ton of respect for one another.

In this episode, Magic Brian spoke with Pete Anderson, aka Pete Dobbing about his journey through the wonderful world of street theater. He talks about how his desire to hang upside down in a straitjacket and forming a juggling society in university set him on the path to becoming a street performer. He talks about the evolution of his show, his hesitation to work Covent Garden, and his first time in Glastonbury playing invisible drums for Herbie Treehead. He shares stories about his 9 month tour of the world, past versions of his shows, working cruise ships with George Orange, and in his early days balancing a teaching job with street performing.

Isaac Girardin spoke with the Mallory Square legend, tightrope walking juggler, Will Soto. Will has been street performing for 43 years and has the stories to show for it. Will talks about what it was like during the laid back, free living early days at Mallory Square and how in the 80’s they fought to keep the nightly Sunset Celebration alive by creating a non-profit corporation. He shares stories about performing over an alligator pit, his willingness to always take chances, and saving a man’s life during one of his shows. From starting out as a sculptor selling his art at renaissance festivals to being the face of Key West’s Mallory Square, Will Soto has definitely left his mark and his legacy on the world of street theater.