Busker Profile: Kenneth, the "Chicago 10 Man"

Meet the "Chicago 10 Man."

Or, rather, just the Tin Man. Cuz that's how he referred to himself when I first met him.
And then, you know, he tried to trademark the Tin Man.
And found out that the "Tin Man" has already been trademarked.

What, you asked?
How could Tin Man possibly be trademarked? (Believe it or not, I actually asked that question.)
Well... because of this guy:

The guy in the middle. In case you're confused over who I actually mean.

So officially, he is the "10 Man."

That said, out of habit, I'm just going to refer to him as the Tin Man for now.
And the Tin Man is pretty important in terms of my research because he is the first street performer I met on the streets of Chicago. That means I have quoted him a lot and will be quoting him a lot, so I thought I should properly introduce him.

The Tin Man is an entrepreneurial guy. And in case you haven't noticed, he's a statue.
Or not really. Cuz he moves and all.
He's what other street performers call a living statue.

Oh no! Don't blink!

Except, you know.

Not that scary.

Like the weeping angels, living statues generally don't move when you first see them.

And then you blink!

Or, rather, you do something... and that something triggers movement. In the case of these fictional angels, you blink. In the case of most living statues, a spectator gives money to the statue, and the statue moves.

Or, even, a spectator walks just close enough for one of these living statues when BAM! The performer reaches out and shocks the passerby with their movement.

I'm guessing that each living statue does it just a little bit differently... and this week, I'll try and tell you a little about what this specific living statue does.

So here we go...

The Snapshot

Performer: "The Chicago 10 Man"

Started busking: 2003

Location in Chicago: Michigan and Ontario, right in front of the AT&T store

His act: living statue/mime

How I met him

The first time that I saw him, I had just moved to Chicago. I was driving through to pick up the keys to my apartment downtown when I saw this silver guy with bright red hair crossing the street in late September of 2013.

The second time, I saw him performing sometime in October and shook his hand (or rather, we fistbumped! Cuz apparently shaking a silver guy's hand would be like touching King Midas. My hand would turn silver, and then it'd fall, and then I would have to become a pirate.) He gave me his contact number for my research.

The third time, I finally showed up to formally observe him. That would be December 14, 2013. Through the winter that sucked Chicago into a polar vortex, I observed his performances for a couple hours every weekend. But hey! At least I got to move.

This guy spent those hours standing, for the most part, absolutely still:

The Tin Man, working. In costume. In winter. In Chicago.

When and where to find the 10 Man:

You'll find him at Michigan and Ontario when he's working, right in front of the AT&T there.

And he'll probably be there everyday when the weather is nice. In December, January, and February - when it's much colder - he should be there most weekends.

Stay tuned...

For what? I don't know yet. Stay tuned for... a tornado? A... vortex? Maybe we'll leave Kansas.

Let's be honest. I'm making this up as I go along.