KEY POINTS:
The International Buskers Festival is on and throughout Auckland City, crowds are gathered, marvelling at the talent, tricks and showmanship of the 14 visiting artists.
Heading out for an extended lunch break, nzherald.co.nz caught some of the acts, reviewed below.
The festival runs from today until Tuesday and features lunchtime and evening performances in Aotea Square, Vulcan Lane, Westfield Downtown and the Viaduct Harbour.
BASKETBALL JONES (NZ)
**** (4 stars)
The festival's only Kiwi act, Basketball Jones drew an early crowd of under 10s. With his colourful outfit and friendly persona, Jones warmed up the crowd with his fast handiwork, spinning, juggling and bouncing basketballs with seamless ease.
While Jones' ball skills amused the kids, his cheeky humour added something for the grown ups. Audience participation featured strongly in the show, so if you're the shy type, head to the back of the crowd.
Trying to catch as many performances as possible, I left before Jones jumped on his eight foot unicycle, but judging by the first half of the show, it would have been a slick trick and well worth a gold coin donation.
TONY ROBERTS (AUS)
**** (4 stars)
Arriving halfway through Roberts' act, I found the modern day Houdini standing with two tennis rackets around his waist and galvanised chains attached to his crotch. Two volunteers then proceeded to wrap the escape artist in the heavy chains, before padlocking them tight.
Promising to escape in two-and-a-half minutes, Roberts wriggled and writhed behind a black tubular curtain, seemingly frustrated with the efficiency of his volunteers efforts.
I can't tell you if he made it or not - that would spoil the fun - but I can say Roberts drew one of the biggest crowds of the day and justified the attention.
SCOOT SHOW (AUS)
*** (3 stars)
Based in Aotea Square, aka Emo Central, Scoot faced the toughest crowd of the day. After a delayed start (the windswept square presented a slight challenge to the fire props), Scoot balanced an 11-foot ladder on his chin before launching into a series of juggling tricks.
Scoot's chatty and slightly cheesy comedy provided the occasional laugh but his act wasn't engaging enough to hold my attention for the whole show and I was soon off to check out the next act.
GARY KNIGHT (UK)
**** (4 STARS)
Gary Knight is a showman of the old-school variety. Part magician, part comedian, Knight delighted the crowd with his family-friendly show.
Five-year-old Harry was pleased as punch to help out Mr Knight with his cup and ball tricks, especially when he received a $2 coin for his efforts.
While simplicity is the key to Knight's tricks, he still managed to wow the audience and raise eyebrows with his swift execution of them. And I for one still can't work out where those oranges came from...
SPACE COWBOY (AUS)
***** (5 stars)
Fresh from Byron Bay, Australia it's little surprise Space Cowboy missed his original slot as he took a quick siesta. After seeing his action-packed show though, it's no wonder the boy gets tired.
Rounding up spectators with his slick whip-cracking skills, Space Cowboy delivered 50-minutes of awe-inspiring delight as he swallowed swords, juggled knives and rode a 9-foot "suicycle" (unicycle) while blindfolded.
Mistakes were made, which only added to the suspense, and by the end of the show people were clambering over each other to give the man some money. Unheard of.
Definitely the best act of the day (that I saw) and, one suspects, possibly the best act of the festival.
