a person sitting on a bench next to a plant

Xxx-five years ago, Robert Nelson stepped onto a pocket-size platform in the unlit courtyard of a San Francisco pier, raised his artillery to the fog, and began to juggle. It was muggy and dark, and few were there to witness the show. In its infant stages, Pier 39 and had still to develop into a tourist metropolis. But Nelson, The Butterfly Man, seemed content merely pursuing his artistic visions every bit a street performer.

Street performing was in vogue long before The Butterfly Man. Ina 1718 memoir, Ben Franklin recalls reciting "chow-street ballad[s]" in the cobbled pathways of Boston for modify. Years later, in 1860,Nathaniel Hawthorne commented on the unsung value of of a local street performer:

"It seems strange…that she should throw away her tune in the streets for the mere chance of a penny, when sounds not a hundredth part so sweet are worth from other lips purses of gold."

But it wasn't until the late 1960's that performers began to brand names for themselves on the streets of San Francisco.  Shields and Yarnell, the dynamic mime duo, got their start in Union Square in 1970 before performing on Belatedly Nighttime With Johnny Carson and condign world-famous. Ray Jason, widely regarded as thefirst street juggler in San Francisco, recalls his meager lifestyle in early on years:

"Getting started, I lived in a lot of places in the city, in my truck for quite a while and in poorer sections of North Embankment and the Tenderloin. When you're a juggler, you lot take what you can become."

Around this time, Norbert "Dynamite" Yancey began singing rhyming ballads to passersby in front of Ghirardelli Foursquare. Today, a board of newspaper clippings by his side exhibits snapshots of his life: meeting Gorbachev in Poland, playing with the likes of Santana and Pavarotti. He sings songs in over 20 languages and has traveled the world, but still returns to his "pitch," or operation spot, to serenade tourists on the street.

Norbert Yancey (twentyfouratheart)

And so, of course, there is the World Famous Bushman. A 30-year fixture well-nigh Joe'southward Crab Shack on Jefferson Street, he earns his living jumping out from behind a bush-league and "OOGA-BOOGA"-ing tourists and unsuspecting passersby. On whatever given weekday, he tin can be found perched behind his hand-crafted foliage, waiting to scare unsuspecting victims.

These characters paved the style for street performance in San Francisco. Today, they are regarded as celebrated cultural icons, synonymous with the metropolis itself.

These select few take achieved formidable success: the iconic Bushman claims to rake in$60,000 per year and lives comfortably in a one-sleeping room flat downtown. Only how sustainable is the life of an average street performer? Are tips and trade sales plenty to scoot by in 1 of the most expensive cities in the earth?

Performer Rights in San Francisco: A Brief History

The first issue that bedevils street performs is legislative: whether their presence is fifty-fifty legal.

From 1970 to 2010, there accept been15 major court cases disputed over public operation rights and regulations. Almost all have concluded favorably for performers, with creative rights upheld nether the First Amendment. But as Bob Davis of theSan Francisco Amusement Committee clarifies, "There is a First Amendment right to gratis oral communication but it comes with caveats and they are primarily focused around public safety and sound."

These "caveats" mainly come in the form of threecitations for San Francisco performers: blocking the sidewalk (MPC 63a), amplification without a permit (MPC 43a), and vending without a permit (MPC 869, the same commendation given to ticket scalpers at the ballpark). Each carries a$l-$250 fine, per city code.

1 local performer recalls a run-in with police, "I explained to him that nosotros have merely as much right to occupy space and sell our fine art as any street artist does, but he did non want to hear it." He so explains the magnitude of citations doled out along Fisherman's Wharf:

"These latest harassment tickets boost the grand total to over 100 bogus tickets issued in the past 3 years, almost all by one officer. This represents over 1000 hours of castigating fourth dimension spent by recipients in the process of clearing up these "infractions". This does not fifty-fifty take into business relationship the fourth dimension wasted by the various legal departments tracking and recording these tickets."

In 2004, Bushman was cleared offour misdemeanor charges, all of which stemmed from the 240 citations he accrued during his 35 years on the street. While most have been completely dismissed, the citations, which each require multiple court appearances, accept pulled him from his usual haunt in front of Joe's Crab Shack.

Fisherman's Wharf and the Let Paradox

two men sitting on the ground

So, why don't performers acquire the appropriate permits to defend themselves from this onslaught of citations?

While New York and other major cities accept clear permit systems in place for buskers, there is something of a catch-22 for performers in San Francisco: they are often cited for lacking permits that don't exist.

Under San Francisco'due south legal code, artists and performers are divers differently. An artist is a person who sells the piece of work of a learned craft (i.e. "bead making, candles, glass art, woodwork, printmaking"). Aperformer is "an individual or group who provides public amusement and self-expression," including "musicians, mimes, magicians, jugglers, human statues, dancers…and any other activity protected by the First Amendment."

Until recently, only "artists" had the legal protection of metropolis-issued permits. In 1972, the San Francisco Committee for the Arts created theStreet Artists Plan to encourage and protect the urban center's renegade artisans. At present, for a yearly permit fee of $679 (2013), artists can legally set upwardly sidewalk shops in designated 4×4 allotments scattered through the city. Currently, more than than 400 artists enjoy this privilege.

Even so, the Commission for the Arts offers no culling for performers. In fact, theprogram'southward handbook dedicates an unabridged provision to state that performers are not, and volition never exist, eligible for these permits. Following this provision is the Horatio Alger-esque tale of a female street artist who used the programme's ample resources to "operate a $6 million clothing company by 1994."

In 2007, performers along the wharf revelled in a small miracle. Stephen Dreyfuss, a Berklee School of Music graduate and San Francisco street performer since 1987, trudged his style through aboutfive years of legislative sludge to create theFisherman's Wharf Street Performer Plan — the starting time performer permit programme in city history. With its creation, wharf performers can obtain permits ($500/year, or $l/month) to perform in 12 sanctioned spots along Jefferson Street, spanning from Powell to Hyde Street. Performers are randomly assigned a rotation of 3-hour performance slots.

To be eligible for a allow, a performer must have "entertainer insurance," which protects him/her from whatever public injury liability and insures equipment and instruments. This runsbetween $200-$300 per year.

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Delegated wharf functioning zones (via SFPort)

According to Darryl Johnson, who oversees the port permit organization, 44 performers currently take either monthly or yearly permits and insurance coverage, though only 24 are agile participants. This number peaks at around 36 active participants on any given day in summertime, the busiest time of twelvemonth on the wharf.

While the Fisherman's Wharf Street Performers' Program accrues roughly $twenty,000 in permit sales each yr, information technology offers footling in return for the performers who pay their dues and follow the rules. Dreyfuss claims that the organisation is routinely abused, with little official enforcement, rendering it ineffective.

The most prolific abusers of the permit system, according to Dreyfuss, are the "spray painters" who put on cursory alive art performances, and so sell dozens of pre-made posters. Though these painters take port permits, Dreyfuss claims the auction of prepared art constitutes the majority of their sales and violates the terms of the programme. "Teams of spray painters all selling the same Bob Marley, Scarface, SF Giants, Tinker-belle, Marilyn Monroe, and Hello Kitty posters — all mass produced and near all trademark infringements," he says.

Dreyfuss equates these "artists" to illegal vendors and says they rake in "two-3 million dollars or more a yr in untaxed, unlicensed merchandise sales per twelvemonth." He fears that continued abuse of the permit arrangement may ultimately lead to its demise (a similar allow system used in Venice Beach for yearswas recently close down by a commune judge). He explains his rationale, via email:

"Figuring very conservatively, each of the four currently permitted spray paint outlets accept in at least $2000 on boilerplate. (There is a fifth spray painter in our plan who works lone and refuses to exist role of this abuse). In fact the boilerplate have per day is probable to be considerably higher on weekends and holidays. In any instance, $2,000 X 4 storefronts = $8,000 X 300 days/year =$2,400,000 scammed through the Port Program alone."

Omar and Diego, two spray paint artists situated at the corner of Mason and Jefferson, declined to comment on their earnings, though their 10-infinitesimal evidence drew a crowd that spilled well into the street and they auctioned off 12 pre-made paintings for $10 apiece in the aftermath. This cycle repeats 8-x times on a busy day. Further down the wharf, a similar outfit produces similar results.

Only how does this compare to other performers within the Fisherman'due south Wharf permit organization?

Emerson Ortis regularly plays keyboard and organ in spot 12, an abandoned parking lot on the isolated edge of Hyde and Jefferson. He's been playing on the wharf for 30 years and says Hyde was once "bubbling with life," just has since get more than modernized and quiet. Ten years ago, he joined forces with Sahar Miller, a talented young Saxophonist, and on weekends, Emerson's seven yr onetime son joins the duo on drums. The grouping, GroWiser, is from Oakland, but commutes daily to perform along the wharf.

Emerson and the GroWiser Ring (Zack Crockett)

On a typical day, Emerson says the band collectively makes $100-$150; of this, $35 covers the expenses of tolls, gas, nutrient, and parking. On their best day always — July 4, 2005 — they raked in $800, but those days are rare. Emerson claims that on weekdays, the all-time coin is earned between 11 am and three pm when locals peruse the streets during lunchtime and tourists converge at the piers. "The ability hours," he calls them, with a hearty chuckle. In one case a mechanic by trade, Emerson now makes this his total fourth dimension job; his married woman, a former street artist herself, is his booking amanuensis, videographer, and biggest supporter.

The Oakland Breakerz, a troupe of eclectic intermission dancers, likewise makes a living along the wharf. The crew'south ringleaders, Nai Chao (Raw Sauce) and Thai Nguyen (Tye Billow), explicate that they "make San Francisco look good, pretty much." After spreading out a piece of cardboard big enough to house ane of the wharf's sea lions, the group starts its x-minute show, the start of 12 for the day.

"We make practiced coin," says Adam White, a crewmember who besides operates a male enhancement website on the side. He and the other four members of the Oakland Breakerz take spent years developing relationships with local businesses and artists, and defending their turf. "Fights have gone downwardly out hither," he adds, "a lot of memories, a lot of fights. Anybody knows the states." Despite occasionally attracting the attention of the SFPD, the Breakerz' territorial gusto has crowned them the sole dance crew along the wharf.

When police don't shut them downwardly early for blocking sidewalk traffic, the Breakerz fare quite well. In the summertime, they "consistently pull in $100-$150 a day" per person — or $500-$750 collectively over the form of 5 or 6 hours. On bad days, they run into $xxx-$fifty a slice. At their best, they earn $370 per person. Terminal twelvemonth, Raw Sauce bought a pre-owned 745 BMW with his dancing profits and claims his crewmembers also enjoy material success. "Information technology'due south inconsistent though," says Tye Breaker. "The good days are real good, and the bad days aren't fifty-fifty worth the gas to get here."

In whatever case, they nevertheless don't do every bit well equally the spray artists, who the Breakerz claim can bring in "cool money — $5,000 a day sometimes."

a person doing a handstand in front of a crowd

Oakland Breakerz. Image via Myspace

Overall, we interviewed x artists in the Fisherman's Wharf permit program. Averages of daily earnings estimates are included beneath.

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Fafa the Clown, who walks across cleaved glass with audience members on his back, does 4 to 5 ten-minute shows a day, and claims to draw in an boilerplate of $15 per hat (performance). He lives in a van with his circus acrobat girlfriend, and says the life of a vagabond entertainer is excruciatingly tough but worth the payoff, which comes in the course of freedom. He adds,

"It's our ramble right to perform. The port permit system is a monopoly — I'm not going to pay $500 for a right that's free. I might get cited, but that'due south function of life out here, whether y'all accept a allow or not."

Akron, a clown school graduate, chooses to make his living juggling bowling pins atop a 12-foot unicycle. Today, he has drawn a crowd of 50-60 people, above which he wavers precariously in the stiff Bay cakewalk. From Victoria, Canada, Akron invested a great amount of time and coin to build up his act. He estimates that the clown school he attended in Paris prepare him back $5,000 for development courses and another $3,000-$5,000 for accommodations. His unicycle, custom built in Indiana by a man with 45 years of feel, ready him dorsum another $four,000.

a man jumping in the air with a crowd watching

Akron wobbles above the crowd (Zack Crockett)

He travels extensively around the country, and most of his earnings fund his afoot lifestyle. He stays at hostels or couch-surfs with other performers to get by when he's in expensive cities like San Francisco.

Musicians on Market Street

No allow organization for street performers exists outside of the allocated wharf zone. While permit-less performers like Fafa and Akron can ordinarily get by on the piers without being cited, musicians on and around Market Street aren't and then lucky. The crowded metropolis center attracts musicians only is also rife with noise-sensitive business owners.

Musicians are often cited for not having these non-existent permits; we asked several urban center officials who oversee arts legislation to explain. Howard Lazar of the SF Arts Committee only reinforced that "performers are not included nether the Street Artists Program." Cammy Blackstone of the SF Entertainment Commission stated that whatsoever amplified acts crave a loudspeaker allow. Outside of that, she says performers are "unable to protect themselves legally," as there is no selection for obtaining general, functioning-related permits outside of the wharf.

The loudspeaker let, offered through the Entertainment Quango, runs$498 per year (2014), and is substantially the but legal option granted to musicians downtown (this is ane of many benefits included in the $500 cost of the wharf permit system).Just fifty-fifty if a performer manages to learn a loudspeaker permit, he can be cited for dissonance violations when he exceeds the "local ambient noise level" (about 80-xc dB) past more than x decibels. He tin can as well still be fined for blocking pedestrian traffic and for selling CD'due south without a allow (which, of class, does not exist).

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Permit sign in Union Square

Jordan B. Wilson, a "one man ring extravaganza" who has been performing in front of the cable cars on Market place Street for 5 years, is hesitant to become into his daily earnings, only adds that at his best, he was able to afford a studio apartment in the metropolis with the tips made from his three-song circumvolve shows. Recently, his spot was taken by a hot-canis familiaris vendor, who, different Jordan, had the power to learn a legal permit for that spot. Since beingness displaced, Hashemite kingdom of jordan hasn't fared equally well and relies on friends for accommodation.

What's worse is that Hashemite kingdom of jordan, who makes every try to play legally, has attempted to secure a loudspeaker permit without success. He has scheduled appointments and spoken with the Arts Commission, Entertainment Commission, and SFPD — all of whom accept told him no such let exists. He says they'll go on about i day event permits, or the fact that bullhorns under 10 watts are legal, but ultimately tell him a general loudspeaker allow isn't available. The Entertainment Committee'south website tells a different story.

"Nearly daily," the law shut Hashemite kingdom of jordan down because of local business complaints from "the guys in the ruby-red hats." These "red hats" stand for theUnion Square Business Improvement District (BID), an arrangement whose goal is to "enhance and promote the Union Square neighborhood for locals, visitors and tourists through beautification." Businesses complain about street performers for a multitude of reasons, and when they do, they contact the BID, who in plough contact the SFPD.

An unnamed performer in the expanse accuses the BID of making concerted efforts to "gentrify Marriage Square," and "wipe away" any scintilla of cultural free energy that doesn't mesh with posh retailers. Claude Imbualt, with the BID, counters that complaints are filed every 24-hour interval, and that the "nature, duration, and location of a performance" determines the citation. Still, he also concedes, "Stores similar Prada, a high-end retailer, expect a high-end ambiance. Someone banging on plastic bins outside takes away from that."

The human being Mr. Imbualt is referring to is most probably Larry Hunt, San Francisco'south ownBucketman. He taught himself drums at three, and spent the fourth dimension between helping out with his male parent'southward shoe polish business listening to Buddy Guy records.


Larry Hunt, the "Bucketman" (Photo:Kevin Hazelton)

In his 22 years as a street performer, Larry has defined himself as a city fixture; you lot may recall seeing him featured in Will Smith's "Pursuit of Happyness," or a multifariousness of other SF-based films and Tv shows. With a smattering assortment of over twenty plastic bins, buckets, quondam pots and pans, he creates textural soundscapes and beats with objects most people merely store tennis assurance in.

These days, Larry is getting a little harder to find. While tourists and romantics dear him, local businesses complain constantly of his extended shows, and the BID and SFPD routinely close him down before his act even starts. A2008 online campaign fought to exonerate Larry from four $250 citations nether the noise ordinance. Just a few weeks ago, he wasslapped with a $460 fine for the same violation, and faces jail fourth dimension if he fails to pay.

On a good day, Larry tin earn $80 after nine hours of playing, which, in addition to his Social Security bank check, affords him an SRO room in the Tenderloin. He also teaches drum lessons for $vi an hr.

Despite legal threats, Larry still performs in his usual spot in front of the Old Navy on Market Street. "It's all nearly rhythm," he says. "If you've got rhythm, you can make anyone move." Unfortunately for him, the SFPD can also make anyone movement.

Furthermore, San Francisco's Lath of Supervisors isconsidering legislation that would let the Department of Public Health to issue racket violations in addition to the resource-stretched SFPD. Supervisor Scott Weiner, who many musicians already regard as the antichrist of performance rights, says the proposal would empower the DPH "to cite violators, such as people playing drums in Union Square and in public spaces using amplified sound."

Kevin Carroll, president of the San Francisco's Hotel Council, has repeatedly doled out refunds to aroused hotel customers who complained of excessive street noise, and is eager to eradicate performers from the surface area.

BART Performers

a man holding a guitar

Source: Shawn Parker (Flickr)

At that place is one safe haven for downtown performers and it happens to be in the bowels of the city. BART, or Bay Area Rapid Transit, is San Francisco'due south underground train system. With subway stations at at Union Foursquare, Civic Heart, and other downtown hotspots, BART attracts a multifariousness of performers looking to entertain passing commuters. The transit organisation gives out what is called aPermit to Engage in Expressive Activity, and information technology'due south complimentary. The BART police also maintain a lax policy regarding performers and volume levels.

Of form, with the liberty to perform comes a caveat: less money.

Kendra sings "spirit-themed" songs like "This Lilliputian Light of Mine" in the Powell Street station. Her voice is robust and echoes down the corridor, but she also uses a small karaoke amp to projection — something she would demand a loudspeaker permit for on the street. On a good mean solar day, she pulls in "close to minimum wage" — near $10.74 per hr. On a bad day, she walks out of the station with less than $15 for three hours of singing.

Some other performer, keyboard player "Aja," who plays in the Mission-24th Station, claims only "one out of a hundred people" requite him spare alter during rush hours. He averages well-nigh $9 an hr performing everything from Stevie Wonder'south greatest hits, to Lady GaGa. When we came back later in the twenty-four hours to check on his daily earnings, he had made well-nigh $50 in tips over the class of six hours.

Singer-songwriter John Vicinosays he used to play for 8 hours in the Powell station and walk out with $20. After ascending onto Market Street, he made $l-75 in the same amount of time. So why doesn't everyone play upstairs? Vicino explains,

"It'southward weird, there'southward like, a dominion of the streets. At that place's the whole, y'all got the people downstairs that worked their manner upwards to the top, y'all know, and that'south the way it works. I started trying to play up superlative when I first started and they were like, 'No, you lot gotta earn your rank, you gotta earn your stripes' y'all know, that kind of affair."

For Yeiner Perez, the man now infamous forperforming naked acrobatic feats whilst sexually harassing commuters in the 16th Street BART station, this process was reversed. After gaining some popularity stilt-walking through the Mission, Yeiner began doing handstands and other stunts in the BART stations. He has said that a lack of appreciation and recognition for his performancesdrove him to madness.

In short, while BART stations offer free permits and a hospitable performance environment, they don't seem like a nifty place to eek out a living in San Francisco.

Factors That Determine Success

a man holding an umbrella

Source: Victoria (Flickr)

The Sharp Brothers, an acrobatics and juggling street duo specializing indiabolo, cite three major factors that impact how much performers earn on the street.

i. Skill

Nearly street performers agree there is a correlation between what you put into your craft and what you get out of it. Generally, more skilled, rehearsed, cohesive acts pull in more money.

In 2007, The Washington Post was curious as to whether or not this was true andconducted an experiment: they stuck Joshua Bell, i of the world's finest violinists, in the Washington Metro to see how he would fare. Armed with his $three.5 million Stradivarius, a bearded Bell played an incredibly demanding 43-infinitesimal set, earning $32.17. Out of the 1,097 people who passed by, just twenty-vii threw in money; a mere 7 actually stopped to heed to the Grammy-winning virtuoso. Despite this, he fared better than most performers we interviewed.

Were Bong to hypothetically make this his full-time job, working eight-hour days, five days per week, his earnings could be expanded every bit follows:

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To consistently maintain this level of performance for 8 hours, however, would be an inhuman feat. Most performers take fairly enervating routines and only perform 3-4 hours per mean solar day.

Still, at $44.49 an hr, Bell secured more most street performers we interviewed in San Francisco. Nonetheless, Nate Sharpe (of Sharpe Bros) explains that skill isn't just mind-blowing talent; more important to monetization is one's power to "convince people en masse to stop, watch, and so pay you lot for the pleasure." If Bong had fabricated an endeavour to do this, he likely would've made much more, even if his playing weren't as technically perfect.

Over three summers of performing, the Sharpe Brothers' average revenue for a 45-minute show dramatically increased. They claim "the tricks stayed, by and large, exactly the same," and that the major difference was that they "got better at talking to people, building a dedicated, engaged crowd, and delivering jokes in just the right style." Afterwards honing these skills, the brothers were able to pull in well over $100 per 45-minute show; only three years ago, with an identical human activity only no crowd engagement, they earned as little equally $ten an hr. Some level of PT Barnum salesmanship is just every bit of import as functioning ability.

2. Location

The commencement affair a performer looks for in a potential spot is foot traffic. However, a hoard of people doesn't always equate to more money as the type of people in a given location is more than of import. For example, performers in leisure locations with high volumes of tourists (ie. Fisherman's Wharf, Union Foursquare) make drastically more than on average than performers in high-volume driver areas.

With 400,000 riders per solar day coming through SF-based stations, BART is a perfect example of how location is about more than just foot traffic. Performers in BART stations fabricated, on average, 40% less per hour on a expert day than those who performed along the wharf.

Weather, which can have a devastating bear on on earnings, as well impacts location selection. Emerson Ortis, a keyboard player along the pier, cites rain as his worst nemesis. "Performing outside is a poker game," he says, "and rain is the worst hand yous can get." Even then, the atmospheric condition in San Francisco is fairly mild, with only70 rainy days per twelvemonth on boilerplate. Most of the time, a lilliputian water doesn't completely ruin a solar day for Emerson. "I'd say about 20-25 of those days, information technology's bad enough to cease the states." For a performer along the wharf, this tin can equate to around $ii,000 lost on spotty weather over the course of a year.

In New York, it's a different story.Music Nether New York (MUNY), not to be confused with San Fran's MUNI, is a committee that governs some of the NY subway system'due south near popular functioning spots. During wintertime, hundreds of street artists, unable to brave the conditions, flock to bring together MUNY and it becomes exponentially more than competitive to secure one of the 70 available spots. Unless you're theNaked Cowboy, performing in Times Foursquare during a snowstorm probably isn't platonic.

3. Number of Shows Per Mean solar day

The number of shows a performer tin put on is completely contingent on his or her act. For instance, jugglers, clowns, and comedians prefer "circle shows," in which there is an allotted routine (usually 10-15 minutes) that doesn't begin until a oversupply is secured (this is where skill comes into play). This type of testify usually averages $fifteen-$40 per chapeau, and most performers, depending on routine, will exercise three-4 per twenty-four hour period.

Other shows, like the Sharpe Brothers' acrobatics and juggling routine, are so demanding and long (45 minutes) that they but perform one time per day, usually for a large crowd at a much higher average hat. They write:

"Doing street shows is draining, both mentally and physically. Very few people can simply pump out bear witness after show…Your energy levels will drop, along with the revenue of the show. "

Musicians, robot men, and other static performers usually exercise a continuous 3-iv hour (or more than) bear witness, accruing minor amounts of money over a longer time period. These types of performances are also generally less physically demanding and allow performers to go on if they are unsatisfied with what they've made.

Determination

In a urban center known for its entrepreneurial spirit, street performers are unheralded gurus. Each is his or her own CEO and must possess the drive, talent, charisma, and sense of humour necessary to thrive. They must craft marketable routines and convince complete strangers to give them money, all the while navigating through permits, metropolis legislation, and competition. As FaFa the Clown tells u.s., "The best thing about street performing is the freedom, and the worst affair about street performing is the liberty." Ultimately, a performer can't exist successful without self-motivation.

And even for the most self-motivated, long-term success can't exist achieved without consistency, which is a rare thing on the streets. A $200 day could just as easily be a $2 day, and no affair how impressive a routine is, chance and luck are always in play. While some full-fourth dimension performers are able to earn a comfortable living, the inherent liberty of their career path rarely affords stability or security. Earnings are ultimately contingent on donations and good will.

So, the side by side time you see someone pouring out his soul on the street for chump modify, keep this all in mind. If y'all're still not convinced enough to throw in a buck, Nate Sharpe has something to tell you: "At the end of the day, you pay $5 for a burger, and most street performers are at least as entertaining every bit a burger."

This post was written by Zachary Crockett. Follow him on Twitterhere, or Google Plus here.