The Buskerfest

It's Saturday morning and I am back in the office to prepare the phone conference with Paris and Cologne. Wow, that sounds important and cosmopolitan... but it's not. After the telco I bang my head on the desk for about 10 minutes until I feel sufficiently numb. I decide to leave the remaining work until Monday and go to get some lunch.

In the afternoon I visit the Toronto Buskerfest, which takes place in a couple of streets close to my hotel. The Buskerfest started Thursday and will end on Sunday. Apart from an impressive list of buskers...


... you can crêpe it up...


... learn to milk a cow...

... and buy various items from local aritsans.

But I am really just interested in the buskers and I start with Mysterion, the mind reader:

Mmmh, no... I fear, I know how he does it. Not that I am clever, but his trick is not so good. So I quickly move on and watch this guy juggle with fire and lock up children in suitcases (afterwards he turns to the mother and says "why didn't you stop me?"):

Next up, Fire Guy...

His show is a mix of skateboard stunts and juggling (fire again, but not surprising given this guy's name). At the end he jumps through the burning star with his skateboard:

I am impressed. But I have saved the best for last. On to Alkazam, Australia's most flexible export:

He manages to wriggle his whole body through a squash racquet:

Apparently he can dislocate his sholders at any time and relocate them without feeling any pain. After a good show he ends up on a pole...

and... juggles. But not with fire, he uses knives instead:

And he is funny. Apparently the one thing every self-respecting busker has to say during the show is “If you want to enjoy my humour, lower your standards now.” Honestly, they all said it. It seems to be a must. My standards were already low enough for Alkazam.

I return to the hotel, entertained and hungry. Tomorrow I will go to the Canadian National Exhibition.