London Ninja

Busking is highly different in London than they are in San Francisco. Frankly, they suck in SF. You get the same old shit every time you go down to Fisherman’s Wharf, with those black dudes in their silver outfits shaking their cans at everybody. Some make noises and continuously shake their jar of coins at the kids. It is dreadful. There is no originality, no fun factor, it’s just a bunch of black(or white) dudes in metallic suits shaking their coin jars at everyone. I’m not sure if I recall any other kind of street performers in SF other than those God-awful ones.

There is also a army of buskers in San Francisco that will shake their jar of coins at you asking “Got change?” There’s not much amusement in what they do but they do dress up in interesting costumes that are generally composed of soot, dirt, unwashed clothes, and body odor. It’s an interesting outfit and some of the buskers do a monologue to themselves pretending there is no audience around…but all in all not very inspiring.

London, however, changes the game in busking. First of all, they don’t bother you. They just stand there until activated. They are generally not overly aggressive, and they are actually amusing.

Here are some examples from London Eye area: