His name is Wayne. He calls himself ‘ little fatty ‘ because of his chubby face and pudgy body. Wayne is a singing busker whose ‘pitch’ is usually on Swanston around QV or in Chinatown. Actually in Melbourne’s Chinese circle, Wayne has already gained some fame due to his hard work and good performance. He has a over 180,000 followers in Chinese Twitter (Weibo) and has his personal website as well. This year, Wayne even released his own album which can be bought from http://waynemusicproduction.com/.
However, although Wayne is really a good singer, busking is not that easy. Last Friday night, I saw Wayne was performing facing QV so I stopped there and have watched him singing for nearly one hour. During his performance, I did see many people held their step in front of Wayne but few of them have given money to him. To take a stock of the amount, I think it was around $30. Wayne was also ignored by hundreds of people who passed him by.
So why Wayne can achieve so many fans on the Internet and take part in so many shows but on the street, it seems that he is not that popular and successful. Certainly it is not because of his singing. I think what make a difference is the environment. People are accustomed to watching street performance for free. Many people think buskers are there just because they want to show the public there talent but not for the money. They are more willing to pay when they see the busker is wearing shabby clothes or in shaggy hair or taking along a scraggy dog. If we have to pay for an ordinary people’s performance, I am sure most people will gripe mightily. It is nature to watch these ‘free’ shows although we know free doesn’t mean without worth. So…”Free is a habit and it takes some serious thought to overcome that habit and toss a coin in the hat.” That is why I say, no matter how good you are, busking is difficult as it is also about money.
SPOTLIGHT ON THE STREET 