A brief look into the extensive history of busking.

By Krista Golia

Courtesy of Gabriel Aldort

Historically, street performing, traditionally known as busking, dates back to the old days of Ancient Rome, according to David Cohen and Ben Greenwood, authors of “The Buskers: A History of Street Entertainment.” Cohen and Greenwood chronicle street performing as it continued through the Middle Ages with traveling and singing clergymen, and later troubadours, entertaining royal courts with poetry and music. Bouts of street performing, which consisted of minstrels and other traveling artists, spread throughout Europe and eventually found its way to America, even though there were laws and other stipulations in place against performing. Eventually the more populated cities like New York City, and Chicago and outdoor venues like Venice Beach, California, have also developed their own counterculture of sorts in the form of the street performer or busker. Nowadays street performers have morphed from the simple dress and performances of the past to the often elaborate acts of present day ranging from the animal-costume-wearing musicians, the masked Velociraptor t-shirt wearing heavy-metal guitarists, and the every-so-often shirtless fire blower.