Illusions of Grandeur... and Networking on the Streets of Chicago

So I failed at posting mid-week.

That will NOT be my only failure. Be prepared. For failure.
And that ain't a great way to start, huh?

Anyway- this week, I'm going back in time to a Tuesday afternoon, two weeks ago. I had spent the previous Friday, Saturday, and Sunday street performing. Monday, I took a break, and Tuesday, I was thinking seriously about taking the day off.

That's one thing about street performing, especially those who do it as their only source of income: you're your own boss. That means a certain amount of freedom, yes, but it also means a certain degree of discipline. It's one reason I have so much respect for what I call professional street performers - those who work out on the streets, day after day.

One street performer, Jeremy the Magician from Britain, explained to me how his art is a job: "Some days it's more work than fun."
And another performer, a living statue, the "Chicago 10 Man," explained, "I have to treat my work as a career if I am going to make any good money out of it."

Me? I'm still working on getting to this mentality. On Tuesday, August 19th, at 3:21pm, I was struggling to make something out of my day. I wasn't going to go and perform, but then I got a text message from Jeremy:

"So are you going to work?"

That was all the mental push that I needed. I rolled over in my bed (Don't judge. I had just finished writing my Master's thesis. I needed the break), texted back a reply, and grabbed my stuff.

"Yeah. Heading out now. Starting late... But will see how it goes."

I headed to a spot that I knew well on Michigan Avenue. On my way there, I spotted a film crew and proceeded to ignore them. After a year of fieldwork, I had come to know the Magnificent Mile pretty well, and I had come to know just how frequently film crews work in the area. So I was surprised when, not long after I had finished setting up my table, someone from the film crew approached me.

Turns out they were filming for a Canadian TV magic special, Illusions of Grandeur. They're following around magician Zack Mirza as he makes his way through North America. It sounded like a cool show. They also asked to film a little bit of my performance.

Huh.

That was nerve-racking. But then they left, and a passerby asked to see something. I promptly forgot about them and launched into my show. Halfway through was when I noticed the cameras approaching. I finished the show, ending a little weakly on an as yet not-fully developed straight jacket escape. There was a brief interview after the show:

And then... I MET THE MAGICIANS!

I met Enrico de la Vega first, who was very nice, and tried to help me get over any nerves I had in performing for magicians. (Performing magic for magicians is a vastly different experience than performing it for laypeople). I met Lisa de la Vega, who is the first other female magician that I have ever actually spoken to and seen in person. And then I met Daniel Garcia, who is a very familiar face in the magic community. He approached just when I was performing a short routine for the crew. I felt my hands start shaking just when he popped up, but I guess loads of practice performing on the streets helped me get over that moment of stage fright.

I asked for his autograph.
It was a cool moment.
And we took a group picture!

Then - here's how I know these are awesome people - Lisa asked me for my autograph.

And then I asked her for hers.

See? No cheesy jokes. I'm all cool and chill and all that right now. Right. Erm.

The point of all this? Other than sharing my excitement... there's something about hanging out on Michigan Avenue that makes it really easy to run into people. Anyone who visits Chicago will walk down Michigan Avenue at some point. I have run into old college friends that I haven't seen for years, random classmates and their parents, and unwitting aunts and uncles of friends.

And walking down these streets, I know pretty much exactly when and where I will run into Jeremy the Magician from Britain, the Chicago 10 Man, Golden Girl, and a group of acrobats known as the Kings of Michigan Avenue. Just as much as certain street performers are anchored into certain spaces at certain times - just as much as they can be cornerstones of the city - everyone passes through here at some point. As one person looking for a job said to me, she was hanging around Michigan Avenue "to network." Running into people on Michigan Avenue is easy. Of course, convincing random passersby that you're worth their time is a different story altogether (and something that we'll explore in a future post).