Sidewalk stories

Mime Edward Grigorian performs on the Third
Street Promenade in Santa Monica. He is one of the many street
performers who can be seen on any given day.

By Sophia Whang
Daily Bruin Contributor

While popular scenes like Universal City Walk and the Third
Street Promenade in Santa Monica attract many tourists and
shoppers, the performers who strum their guitars, eat fire and play
the drums also flock to the streets to strut their stuff and make a
living.

City Walk and Third Street owe their reputations, in part, to
the street performers who entertain the crowds at every turn, and
provide a sense of familiarity to the atmosphere.

Each performer has a unique talent and appeal, though passersby
are often oblivious to the performers’ differing situations
and individual goals and lives.

“You get a lot of people who genuinely look at you as a
performer, and then you have a large majority that look at you as a
homeless person, which is kinda sad,” said City Walk
performer Mark Madison. “Most street performers I know have
trained hard. They’ve done this for years ““ they
deserve props.”

  SARAH ZUSPAN Lenzie Johnson passes the
time away by playing on his drums during the daytime on 3rd Street
in Santa Monica. One of the main differences among street
performers is found in their performance training and history.
Madison, 29, a comedic juggler, began training 14 years ago and
started a juggling club at his high school. He performed around the
country for eight years before he came to City Walk where he has
been working for two years.

Brothers Chris and Dave Smith, a guitarist/vocalist team that
regularly performs at Third Street, first ignited embers of their
musical dreams playing in their basement 25 years ago and have been
involved with various bands for 15 years. They started street
performing only four months ago.

Lenzie Johnson, on the other hand, plays beats on a conga drum
without having had any formal training.

The performers have also had very different job experiences.
Some have done everything from sales to driving delivery
trucks.

“I think every street performer has to resort to odd jobs
at one time or another,” Madison said.

Johnson was in construction until he started having pains in his
feet and knees that hindered his work. Now homeless, he relies on
his musical inclinations to support himself.

Street entertainment is the main, or only, source of income for
many of the performers at City Walk and Third Street. For Madison,
his routine is like a job ““ he had to audition in order to
perform at City Walk and he has supervision along with several
requirements. For other performers, however, it is an independent
way of life.

“You just get tired of saying, “˜I’m spending
10 hours a day doing something I don’t want to
do,'” said Chris Smith. “That’s why I think
people are here on the streets, that’s what they want to do.
There is a choice but I’ll die poor this way. I prefer
it.”

Some performers, like the Smith brothers, stay devoted to
entertaining, but others try to get conventional jobs in
conjunction with street performing to supplement their income. Most
performers, however, whether they need the money or not, do it
because they genuinely love to entertain.

Madison likes to perform for the audience more than for his own
enjoyment. Within the juggling genre he also uses the diabolo, a
circus tool consisting of a wooden spool that is whirled on a
string tied to two sticks, eats fire, and adds a few dance moves to
his accompanying music.

“I’ll (break dance) in my show if I’m
desperate for attention. When you’re street performing, you
have to pull people in. And the less people, the more desperate you
have to get,” Madison said.

Although an audience increases the pleasure of performing, Chris
Smith keeps strumming folk, rock, pop and blues, all with the jazzy
attitude of improvisation, for his own enjoyment. He also plays
with the hopes that performing on busy streets will bring him and
his brother the exposure they dream about. Until he lands a gig in
Europe or Asia, his plans are to keep on strumming.

Johnson doesn’t categorize his music. He sits down and
plays whatever beat he is feeling. He doesn’t try to draw in
a crowd or hope for exposure, he just tries to make a living. He
can buy food, but struggles to find housing, being able to afford a
room only once or twice a week.

“(There is the disadvantage) of not having a home,”
Johnson said. “I’d like to shower everyday as opposed
to taking a birdbath. And I think it hinders me from finding a
girlfriend. But it always feeds me ““ if nothing else, it
feeds me.”

Even trained performers like Johnson are able to notice the
reaction of their audiences.

“Nobody is throwing rotten tomatoes at me or
anything,” said Johnson. “But every once in a while
I’ll look up and see somebody saying, “˜What are you
doing? What are you trying to do?'”

Aside from the reactions of the audience, whether positive or
negative, music and performing provides a beneficial and profitable
outlet.

“I think street performing is the noblest of all types of
performing because they always pay you after they see your show.
Whereas you can go to a movie, you spend $8, and it’s bad and
you’re kinda screwed. But here, they watch your show and give
you what they think you deserve. Sometimes someone will give me a
20, and it makes my month,” Madison said.

While street performing can be a choice, to some it is a dream,
and to others it is a means of survival. For Dave and Chris Smith,
street performing is the perfect job: it provides both an income
and happiness.

“We are pigs in heaven (here in Santa Monica),”
Chris Smith said.