An inside look at some of New York City’s most ignored (yet talented) performers.

By Krista Golia

Courtesy of Tony Vera

The A train rattles into the subway station coming to an ear-splitting stop. A hoard of New Yorkers push and shove, trying to find a vacancy on the not-so-comfortable tangerine-colored seats. They don’t realize that they are taking a seat for a show they most certainly didn’t buy tickets for. Because along with this gaggle of New Yorkers, six burly yet limber men have also jumped on the train, and they are ready to “break” the subway.

Yelling begins along with rambunctious hand clapping as one “crewmember” places an old-school boom box on the floor of the car and starts blasting vintage R & B and Soul tracks. As he handles the jams, another dancer starts his robotic-like moves down the aisles of the subway car, slinking around passengers, most of whom completely ignore him as they stay plugged into their iPods. The three other men take to the poles and the handrails, defying the laws of gravity, as they swing and propel themselves through the swaying car. The three men then crouch as the smallest member prepares for a three-man jump—and lands it—on the moving subway car.

By now, the train has almost reached the next stop and the members of crew remove their fitted baseball hats and thank everyone for their time. Some passengers, the ones who haven’t avoided eye contact the entire performance, dish out spare change and dollar bills to the traveling artists. At the next stop, the men hop out and move on to another unsuspecting audience in the next car.

Welcome to street performance—New York City style. In the subway stations, parks and on the sidewalks, the city attracts dancing, singing, fire-blowing and magic-making performers, showcasing their talents. Most of the time New Yorkers pass right on by without a second glance but if they were to stop to see the show, they’d witness some very talented artists excelling at their craft. The city provides a constantly changing platform; the pavement becomes a stage for the dinosaur-loving guitarist, the “crazy” piano man or the twisting and turning break-dancing comedians. Despite their talents these performers face the daunting task of grabbing the attention of New Yorkers who, usually in hurry, like to pay more attention to the music on their iPod or the emails on their smart phones than the sounds of the streets. So the question becomes why these individuals perform when it seems like New York can ignore them as much as it occasionally welcomes them. Even world-class violinist Joshua Bell couldn’t garner an audience, and that was in slower-paced Union Station in D.C. For some artists the drive comes from the yearning for street notoriety, others need to practice for the big times\ while also looking for that big break, while the rest are engaging in the simple spreading of artistic talent. Ultimately, whatever the craft or the reason may be, the performance becomes a unique experience for the passerby. It’s no wonder that many New Yorkers, the ones who actually stop and watch, can easily name their favorite.

Bryan Waterman, an NYU English professor, teaches classes on New York City’s history and culture. For him, the street performer fits into a unique category within the make up of New York. “There’s a sort of ‘if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere’ thing that goes along with street performance, a kind of desperation,” he said in a recent interview, “but also just a desire for an audience and a sense that a big break could be just around the corner.”

Another professor, Sally Harrison-Pepper, profiled and researched street performers in Greenwich Village’s Washington Square Park during the 1980s for her book, “Drawing a Circle in the Square.” Now years later, she’s a professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Miami University in Ohio, but she still remembers watching the now legendary performer Tony Vera under the arch and marveled at the great Philippe Petit perform by the fountain. From her experience she gained the true and intimate effect a street performer can have. As she recalls in a recent interview what one street performer told her: “It’s theatre of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

Tony Vera, that legendary performer Harrison profiled, was the man to watch as he performed different outrageous acts from fire eating to chair balancing in the 1980s. Now he’s 51 and retired, working as a paparazzo in the Hollywood scene. With the Washington Square Park arch as his “spot,” Vera delighted the masses by swallowing lit cigarettes and picking a girl from the audience to be his “chair person,” who he then balanced on his chin. For him though, New York will always be memorable, despite his move west to Venice Beach for the better weather because he got his start in the park. “I would do my fire show and you could see spirits,” he said in a recent phone interview. “The park was a great place and you could sit in the arch and stare at the World Trade Center. Those were the good days.” Vera doesn’t sugarcoat it though; the dreams of fame and success are difficult ones to achieve, as he had to work winters backstage at Madison Square Garden to get by. For him it was the following formula: “To be a street performer you have to have drive, be hungry and a ‘f… you’ attitude,” he says. “I’m better than you are and I’m taking this spot.”

Vera also performed in a time when law enforcement was harsh, and according to him police were quick to stop an act, especially if neighbors around the park complained about noise and crowds. Back then, just like now, according to a New York City government website, street performers do not need a permit for shows without a sound device, but with one costs $45. Currently, a permit is also required to perform in or next to a park.

Courtesy of Krista Golia

In 1987, the city decided to formalize street performances and give them their blessing with the Music Under New York program (MUNY) under the aegis of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The program continues to this day, auditioning both visual and performing artists to be showcased throughout the city’s major transit stations. This year, more than 100 performing acts are spread out over 25 locations, which include Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station along with several of the major subway stops like Union Square. Some of the most interesting and unique performers involved in the program include the heavy metal, dinosaur-loving You Bred Raptors? the smooth piano sounds of people-loving Gabriel Aldort, and the funky and original quartet known as The Xylopholks.

With a name like You Bred Raptors? it makes sense that the duo’s favorite mascot is the pre-historic legend, the Velociraptor, which they wear proudly on their band tee-shirts and jackets. That’s not the only part of their uniform though; the two boys wear an array of masquerade and clown masks to each performance. On a rainy and cold Thursday night in March, Epileptic Peat and Zach Schmidlein, are rocking the Union Square subway station and have amassed about 20 intrigued onlookers. Peat mans the eight-string bass while Schmidlein plays a full drum set. A toy piano and glockenspiel will also make an appearance. The group was accepted into the MUNY program in June of 2010 after forming in February of the same year, with then drummer Joshua Wiejaczka. Peat describes the program as the epitome as to why he moved to New York City as he tries to better his music career after a lack luster solo attempt in the music industry. “Playing this much forces you to perform better, write better and to think of this as a lifestyle and a business, opposed to a pipedream you were taught it was,” he said in a recent interview.
Even though Peat is optimistic about the future of the band, there have been lows, much like the ones Vera described. You Bred Raptors? have experienced the harsh reality that plagues many street performers: money. “On the second subway show we ever played at Columbus Circle we made $3 in an hour and a half,” he said, and happily added, “The most we ever made for that same amount of time was over $500.” You Bred Raptors? have also faced the silent treatment from iPod-plugged New Yorkers as well as unfortunately witnessing their favorite performers like Bela Fleck and Jaco Pastorious face the same, somewhat-accepted fate. “I’ve seen amazing subway and stage acts go unnoticed by most people,” he said. “But that’s the nature of the beast.”

Fellow MUNY performer Gabriel Aldort is a fedora-wearing piano player who showcases his New Orleans-inspired blues during rush hours in the Columbus Circle subway station. Aldort has compensated in more than just monetary means all because of busking. For Aldort, performing on the streets has been a self-realizing and growing experience helping him to let go of his performance insecurities. “When I started playing underground, something just clicked,” he says. “I was able to let go of a lot of that fear and just play from the heart.” Originally from California, Aldort moved to the East Coast when he was 17 and became immersed in the musical theater scene at his high school and started playing his music for money, with his first paying gig at a local Japanese restaurant. After a few years of living in New York, he came across MUNY through a friend and submitted an audition tape one day before the deadline. He recalls one man who listened to him play for 45 minutes and ended up giving him what was left in his wallet. “So here the guy is, late for work, just gave up his last three bucks, and grinning from ear to ear, totally fulfilled,” says Aldort. “Afterwards he gave me a hug, music can really have that effect on some people.”

The Xylopholks are one of the most eye-stopping acts that MUNY has to offer. Voted by the “Village Voice” as the “Best Buskers dressed as Animals,” the quartet is made up of Skunky, Piggy, Doggy and Froggy all of whom wear some sort of furry animal costume, which can be deduced from their names, as they perform vintage ragtime tunes from the 1920s. The band features a variety of instruments from guitar to drums with their favorite instrument the xylophone. They’ve travelled around the world, performing in festivals around the U.S. as well as India, Canada and Brazil. Jonathan Singer, Skunky, who leads the Xylopholks, is a big believer in the band’s ability to make people start moving their feet and having a good time while doing it. Singer describes the group’s goal rather simply: “We wish to make people smile and perhaps even dance.” Like his other MUNY comrades, You Bred Raptors? Singer admits that the program was saving grace of sorts. For them it helped find a spot to perform their music without having to duke it out with other musicians. “We started playing on [subway] platforms and found the ‘hustle’ of it all exhausting,” he said in an interview. “Meaning so many people are out performing on platforms that it might take an hour of searching just to find a spot.” When the Xylopholks do find that “spot” they realize something uniquely characteristic of New York City as a “stage” for street performing: the people. “When you have so many people using the subway, you’re bound to have an extremely diverse audience,” Singer said. “Nowhere else do we have an audience of children, seniors, students, homeless, professionals [and the] mentally ill.” This mix, he has found, only adds to his and his band mates’ love of street performing. Singer admits that it’s the spontaneous audience moments and the people interaction that keep him performing even in this hustle and bustle environment. “I love what I do so much that the moments are fleeting,” he said.

Even though MUNY is a supportive program there are still those street perfomers who choose to bypass it and keep it old school by doing the same as Vera did back in the 1980s. These include popular performers like Colin Huggins, “The Crazy Piano Guy,” and the dynamic break dancing aerialists, Tic and Tac.

Courtesy of Colin Huggins

Huggins originally hails from Decatur, Ga. where he started playing guitar at 12 years old and piano when he was 16. His passion, which he attributes to his brother as well as legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz, brought him to New York City in 2003 when he was 25 years old. Before he started performing full-time on the streets, he was the music director for the Joffrey Ballet School and played for the American Ballet Theater, both of which are located in the city. Huggins witnessed many street performers before getting involved in busking and admired those performers for getting passersby’s to actually respond. “I like how free they [the street performers] were and how their audience wasn’t made up of friends and family, but rather people interested only in their art,” he said in an interview. “This is the way any audience should be.” Huggins has established himself in the New York City busking scene, mainly in Washington Square Park, where he rolls his grand piano from home into every time he performs.

He goes by the self-dubbed name, the “Crazy Piano Guy,” reflecting his frantic and rapid moves on the keys while he plays his favorite classical tunes. He’s travelled all over Manhattan including the subways and many of the parks, spreading his love of music to the ears the will listen. “I like performing and I like to have a good venue for classical music and the other music I play,” he said. “I enjoy seeing it make people happy.” Street performing is his only means of income and he doesn’t plan on getting a second job either. His next goal is to buy a permanent piano for the park and leave it there so that way he doesn’t have to lug his around—and fortunately for him, his parents are very proud.

Friends as well as sometime co-performers of Huggins, and other favorites of Washington Square Park, include twin brother performers Tic and Tac, who are comedic acrobats with a dash of break dancing thrown in. Tic, standing for talent, impressive and creative, and Tac, standing for top audience controller, have built an impressive resume travelling around the world and entertaining people with their act. The duo has performed their comedy and break dancing skit at half-time shows for the Globe Trotters, as well as on tour with superstars like Alicia Keys and Michael Jackson. They also appeared in the off-Broadway production of “Theolonius Monk” with Michael Bublé. Despite their success and their extremely impressive resume, the Bronx natives find themselves coming back to the streets of New York not only to work on their craft, and because they got their start there, but reach out to the people of the city. Recently, Tic and Tac had the fountain in Washington Square Park surrounded by a crowd of at least 50 onlookers laughing and enjoying their act of improv comedy, audience participation, and the piece de resistance, a five-person-clearing jump. After years of traveling and busking, Tac describes street performing in New York City as “an interaction back and forth with the audience,” that is unmatched anywhere else they perform. “Here they don’t know what they’re going to get,” he said in Washington Square Park after a performance. “We stop people with our charisma, energy and our art form.”

Tic and Tac got their start with Flow Committee, a 30-year-old troupe of dancers native to New York City and some of the first dancers to really take their art to the streets. They were only seven years old but impressed the legendary dancers with their skills. Coincidentally, Tic and Tac are also very familiar with Tony Vera and the other legends of the park like Philippe Petit, so they know the dedication it takes behind each and every performance. “They [people] try to make street performance, like they say a vagabond profession,” Tac said, shrugging. “But it’s far more, it takes a lot to become a great, even a good busker.” Tic chooses to break in at this moment and quips with a smile, “Freedom of expression, it’s our first amendment right.”

Busking is an integral part of the culture and rhythm of this city. The hustle and bustle of New York City can be brutal as it drowns out the music, the beat and the art of these individuals. Fortunately for those who want them there, the stage the city offers can be a great platform for performers who are following their calling or simply spreading their craft. Like Vera says, “The street performing life is hard [and] vicious and if you’re smart, you’ll make it.” Words of a legend.