It’s a nice night. It’s sunset and more groups of people gather more outside with their coffee and tea than inside the small bistro. A group of homeless gather around the night’s hearth; one with a guitar, all tossing in their ante in-time with the running poker game.
The sound of the guitar carries, as does the sounds of laughter and conversation. Above this is the waxing and waning whine of a nearby theremin.
The theremin is an odd apparatus of an instrument. It stands nearly as tall as its operator. A construct of framed metal that serves an a support for the instrument itself which is played by moving the hands over the instrument’s surface at varying speeds and distance, producing a tone and volume that varies as the hands move in relation to the instrument itself. All the while, the hand never actually touches the instrument.
It isn’t every day that you can come across a street musician playing a theremin for tips. The guitar player is a familiar sight from along the city’s main drags, often with a guitar case or hat containing a modest handful of cash.
Even the sporadic horn soloist or small group can be come across on the street, but rarely, if ever, is there a theremin player.
Many cities require artists to acquire a permit to perform on the street. Whole litanies of arguments have surfaced to combat this ranging from freedom of artistic expression to the feasibility of enforcement. How many permits will a municipality issue? How many can they issue? At what point is the often-modest fine for infraction no longer enough to enforce?
While many cities have a permit involved with street performing, most performers don’t often find themselves in line for one. The most cities can do is be out fining performers. Cities can’t just throw performers in jail, nor can they be out constantly enforcing any permit law in place.
Also, artists can’t all expect to be able to set up anywhere they want and perform, while also expecting to make a bit extra in tips. What comes to mind is a scene along the main drags of Anytown, USA where artists with all kinds of instruments imaginable line the streets performing. The noise is deafening.
So far, this scene has yet to manifest. Street performers will always exist. Very often, the street performer is someone who is picked out as a nuisance for the “street” they have brought to the term “performer”. These folks don’t bring in a whole lot of money, nor are they necessarily trying to become famous. Usually, it’s some combination of both that they are after.
Currently, the mode of operation for business owners who have businesses whose stoops are often used as a stage is to shuffle performers on their way. The performer usually just finds another spot and continues their performance.
Nobody is hurt. Nobody’s business is permanently disrupted. A spot in jail is reserved for worthy recipients; life goes on.
It is often on the street that the best performances unfold. Oddly mixed jazz quartets, guitar players, singers, theremin players, and painters painting scenes of the street mime who is acting out the flow of traffic; the beat goes on.
