Early days
Whilst studying for a degree in Fine Art at Brighton Art College I became interested in the subject of trickery, which I used as the basis for art work in a variety of media (mostly printmaking, video & photography). My fascination with juggling in particular grew to the extent of spending obsessive hours teaching myself how to actually do it.
On graduation (BA Honours Fine Art) I continued making art and practising juggling. Local juggler/magician Lynn Thomas kindly taught me some tricks, encouraged me to practice, and commissioned a video of a juggling event he was organising - the first ever European Juggler’s Convention (Brighton 1978).

The First European Juggler's Convention, Brighton 1978

Back row: Herman Sagermuller, Lloyd Timberlake, Mark Robertson, Mike Gelb

Middle: Magenta, Lindsay Leslie

Front: Lynn Thomas (organiser), Stuart Fell, Toby Philpott, Bobby Menary (photo: Tim Bat)

There were only about a dozen jugglers present, but spending a whole weekend in their company taught me there was a lot more to it than chucking three balls around. By the time I had edited the videotape, I was hooked. Motivated by a burning desire to perform, I practised hard and turned my creativity to devising an ‘act’ I could do in public.

Juggling out of the closet, onto the street
My first opportunity to perform publicly came later that year with another video commission, this time for a local mime group who wanted a video to promote their show for a forthcoming visit to Spain. I asked if I could tag along and ended up busking with a mandolin player on the streets of Barcelona.
We got kicked out of Barcelona after six weeks by the gun-toting Guardia Civil, who were very jumpy about crowds gathering on the streets in support of the post-Franco Catalan independence movement.
The showman within me had stirred, and on return home I looked for a job as a juggler/performer.

First professional engagement
Incubus Theatre Company was a well established fringe/street theatre company auditioning for a summer tour of pubs, art centres and street festivals around England and the Netherlands – including the celebrated Festival of Fools in Amsterdam. They needed a juggler with a driving licence so, despite my lack of experience, I got the job.

Working with experienced actors Patti Bee, Sue Elliot and writer/actor Paddy Fletcher was the best performance education I could have wished for.
By the end of the tour I had gained the confidence and enough material to branch out on my own with a solo act.
However, for an aspiring professional entertainer desperate to forge a new act, there were few opportunities to earn a living, let alone to learn the art. I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity with Incubus, but what next? Cabaret bookings were confined to established performers, variety was in its final throes and circus was pretty much a closed shop. Street performance was the only option.

Covent Garden
In 1980 I moved to London and looked for a busking pitch. I first tried Tower Hill which I knew to be a legal pitch, but there weren’t enough people about to form a decent sized audience. So I moved on to the Tower of London and gathered a big crowd by the river, but was forbidden to perform there by the Beefeaters. Strolling around the West End looking for another pitch, I found myself at the newly re-opened Covent Garden Piazza. My search was over.
I signed up to perform under The Portico of St Paul’s Church, where street entertainment was legally sanctioned by the church and administered by the Covent Garden Community Association.

Sharing the Covent Garden Piazza pitch all year round with a bunch of exciting, innovative and hilarious street performers (‘Randolf the Remarkable’, the Human Juke Box, the Greatest Show on Legs, Duncan Trillo, Chris Lynam, Moonbeam, Dave Brown, the Popticians, the Amazing Mendezies, ‘Unusualist’ JJ Waller, Pookiesnackenburger amongst others) was an inspirational experience, with a steep learning curve. Progress was measured by the size of the audience, and income determined by the weight of the hat at the end of the show.

Covent Garden Piazza Street Performer’s ‘Chocolate Oscars’ Award

Winners 1982 – as voted by the Market Stall Holders and regular punters

Back row: John McKenna/Sid Rasputin (escapology award), a freelance bottler (name unknown), Mac MacDonald/The Human Juke Box (best bottling speech award), Nick Dwyer, Luke Cresswell, John Helmer/all Pookiesnackenburger (Musical buskers award)
Front row: Saundra Staunton (operatic puppets award), Tim Bat (juggler’s award), Captain JJ Waller (award for best award acceptance speech), Steve McNicholas, Sue Bradley/both Pookiesnackenburger

The Street Entertainment Scene
Elsewhere in the United Kingdom, the eighties saw the ubiquitous pedestrianisation of town centres and a relaxing of the legal restrictions on street performance. City and town councils around the country recognised the popularity and benefits of top quality street entertainment; not only tolerating ‘buskers’ but actively encouraging them, and even paying professional performers.

By the early nineties it seemed that no festival was complete without an element of street performance, and there were innumerable festivals dedicated to the art around the UK and abroad.

This ancient form of entertainment has undergone a tremendous resurgence in popularity over recent years, resulting in a proliferation of new artists and outlets for their work. For me, the genre provided the first opportunity to earn a living as an artist, and the solid foundation for a long and diverse career in entertainment. Street performance continues to be just as exciting and challenging for me now as in the early days at Covent Garden.

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