Street Performing

Articles

Street Performing

By Jack Lepiarz
Oct. 20, 2006

According to the state law of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, bullwhips are not classified as deadly weapons. Knives with blades longer than one and a half inches are. Firearms are. Bullwhips are not.

I made sure to check this before I considered going out to do my first street performance. Looking up the laws on the internet, I combed through the long section of the Massachusetts State Code, but found nothing dealing with bullwhips. Satisfied, I left my dorm room on a hot September afternoon and made my way to the Boston Common, where I spent several minutes setting up my equipment and doing some preliminary circus tricks. I balanced a ladder on my chin, did some plate spinning, and even spun a rope around someone. I was just getting warmed up. Once I had finished that, I changed my music and advised the audience to step back. This part of the show, I told them, could be very dangerous. Kids, don't try this at home.

Try it at a friend's house.

So anyway, I pulled out my bullwhip, and had gotten through no more than one minute of whip-cracking when I was approached by a one of the Boston Common Park Rangers, a large burly man who already looked angry enough to strangle me. Without even a moment's hesitation, he told me that my whips were classified as deadly weapons and that I would have to leave.

Well, back to the drawing board, eh?

I returned to my dorm and spent about a week pondering what to do. I even printed out a copy of the passage stating that whips weren't weapons. I wasn't going to be shut down so easily. After a week's hiatus, I found myself a partner, and together, we made our way to Harvard Square. With my copy of the law tucked snugly in my back pocket, my partner and I started the show off with a bang--literally. I did some whip cracking to gather a crowd, and then did a few tricks with the whip to keep the audience pleased.

But then the police showed up.

I patted the papers in my back pocket, just to make sure that they were still there, and then smiled at the police officers, who were staring at my partner and myself from their car. Instinctively, I shouted "We're legal!", and waved the papers around in the air. My partner, however, never missing cue, immediately pointed a finger at the police. "You're next!" he declared. I shook my head, looked back at the audience, and said, "This is the part where we get arrested." But when I looked back, the police had driven on.

My partner and I finished the show relatively quickly and easily, and without incident (I didn't even hit him when I whipped spaghetti out of his hand). We passed our hats at the end of the show and I made enough money to pay for... one of my many, many props.

That was about a month ago, and now I feel like a seasoned pro at street performing. Every weekend since then, I've gone out to Harvard Square to do a show or two, or three, or four. I'm making enough money to get me through the week and to pay for any and all expenses here at college. At the same time, I'm also investing in stronger props, better whips, and wittier jokes to make the show the best it can be. Of course, street performing season is drawing to a close as it begins to get very cold here in Boston, but as long the temperature's above 40 degrees, you can expect to see me doing everything I can to entertain the kind folks in Harvard and Brattle Square.

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About the author: Jack Lepiarz is an 18-year-old college student at Emerson College in Boston. He also co-hosts the Katherine and Jack Show on UthTV.com and has been performing various circus talents for the past several years. Though often described as stubborn and egotistical, he tries to keep an open mind and treat others the way he would like to be treated.

Email: Jackwuzhere42@aol.com

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