New Orleans icon, you may see him sellin praline candy or pecan or sweet potato pies, keep an eye out for the zu zoo man rollin accross the waters of the mighty mississippi. famous for his singin and new orleans eccentric antics he is truly a jewel and a fine example of our culture. you might be able to catch him on royal singin jimmy hendrix new orleans ocopello style or the metors my favorite.
started in 1959 in front of a live audience, started on the street some odd 15 years ago full time inspired by tranpa and stoney brooks who you may have seen in documentries or on commercials about the city.
he hand makes all his goodies and is a self taught musician.
he is a spiritual man a christian with a love of his own unique form of gospel, he considers himself saint with saintly ways which gives him a mystical orah that motivates him to wanna convert, "to be better then what i was, not better then anybody else."
this is what albert's student The Great Wilsoni or Keith balloonatic says about his teacher;
Hi there, this is for Albert Owens.
I brushed shoulders with a genius a linguistic genius of words,wits and comedy.
Some considered him the king of the park(Washington Square Pk), I know I did.
He was a great entertainer, a comedian with no match. Everybody copied him and his comic humor. who at a drop of a dime could play the blues , R & B, or classical music on his quitar, harmonica or piano (who knew).
He was the Lenny Bruce of the 80s 90s. Washington Square Pk had a few great acts, his was tops, He loved life and hated few, always had a bad word for someone but meant no harm, I am very much indebted the the man Albert George Owens, He took me under his wings and taught the ropes I owe much to this man larger than life. God Bless.
Dynamo, some of you may have seen his huge body of work on you tube.
some of you may have seen his t.v. specials or caught him in vegas with snoop dog.
i met him before that in covent garden. he used to do an extremely small doorway act on james street.
he was sort of like a white rapper type who would moon walk to his incredibly difficult and amazing close up card tricks. he had a very small crowd 5-8 mins. he had modest but consistant hats all day long.
the other performers at the time were unanimus that he was one of the most talent, humble, close up magicians they had ever met.
they all said how much potential he had. i was skeptical until i met him and it was all true. he was a genuine giving intelligent person and incredibly talented. he was entertaining and he fooled me bad.
sure he didn't make the bigger hats like the half circle shows or circle shows but everybody believed in him.
everyone incouraged him to seek public greatness......
so he did.
as the story goes if i can remember what he told me and some of the other guys told me; snoop dog came down saw him discovered him and took him to vegas , he also put him in one of his videos, after that Dynamo got signed for a t.v. show in england.
i am embarrassed to say that i have not followed his career enough to know exactly what he's done so far.
immediately after his first break some that had told me all those nice things about him changed their story, they said, he wasn't talented enough, he didn't have enough experience, he was arrogant, and it was much to soon for him to think that he could represent our industry with his new exposure.
funny enough he had just done everything they had taught him and told him to do and they were right he could be successful.
after his success, i went and talked to him and he seemed even more humble and talented from what he had learned from his new experiences, he wasn't aware at the time about the efeect he had made on the other performers.
in my judgment they were wrong about him. i made this judgement even though i was just a vagabond traveling sidewalk show guy {and still am}
this story of course is a similar story with blain and angel.
point is.
IF ONE OF OUR PEERS IS BECOMING SUCCESSFUL IN MY OPINION WE SHOULD SUPPORT HIM OR HER TO BRING OUR INDUSTRY AND OUR SELVES UP!
it should be understood that i am not talking about myself, thinking i am becoming successful....i'm a sidewalk performer for christ sakes, i am getting old quick for the work i do and i am just trying to make ends meet on what i make on the streets and i am selling products for money to give to my children, WHICH BY THE WAY I WONT SEE A CENT OF AND I WOULDN'T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY.
i just thought i would give my 2 cents about Dynamo's good character. so if your a fan i think you should know on top of it all, in my opinion he is a really decent guy.
of course that's not just my opinion he still has quite a few friend around that would say the same thing about him.
here is an interesting interview by him and i am proud to say he mentions new orleans and their workers.
unfortunately, i wasn't in new orleans when he was there so he's talking about the other guys there.
please watch this interview and go to some of his performance videos because i feel he you could get a better feel of his performance from some of the other videos. but i think what he says is very import to us.
JoeJoe has traveled through 38 States, performing his unique brand of magic and illusion on Main Street USA.
joe joe is legendary. regretfully i have not met him yet, but have admired his work and reputation for many years.
he sent me a small bio and i'm gonna post it because i think it is best in his own words;
Background: "When I was 18 living in Ocean City I was working the usual dead end jobs - you know, dishwasher ... busboy ... mcdonalds.
It seemed I was always looking for a new job, and got the bright idea that as a street performer I could make money anywhere in the world without ever having to actually apply for a job.
It didn't happen overnight, but eventually I figured out how to do it".
Influences: "To me, Penn and Teller are successful street performers. Harry Anderson is a successful street performer.
The one thing they have in common is they are not actually working the streets. I hope I get that break and get off the streets, as all the streets are just dead ends.
I don't care how much money you can get in a hat ... it is still nothing compared to what Robin Williams can earn just for showing up at a party! I am amazed at how many street performers don't realize this little fact.
Your goal should not be a fat hat, your goal should be a great act - that is what makes a street performer successful".
Mentor: "There is an old timer here in town, Master Magician Jim Lee - he is featured on my Floating Street Lamp video. I've been working with him for roughly 15 years now. You want a who's who, he would be the one to do one on.
He is the real deal, toured with the carnie circuit doing the bed of nails longer than I've been alive. I don't know how old he actually is, but I hope I'm in as good shape when I'm his age".
The Act: "I try to be original and do my own thing. I think my sword-through-body is the people's favorite. It is tricky to pull that off when half your audience is under 13, but I figured out how to get away with it. Its really not the kids I worry about, its the parents - they are so over sensitive.
I grew up watching Tom and Jerry and the Road Runner ... my sword is nothing compared to cartoons".
here's his site;
http://joejoeonline.com/showtimes.htm
here's his blog good stuff;
http://joejoeonline.com/blogger/
joe joe has a large body of video clips on his site and throughout the internet displaying his talents with illussions on the street...which is a rare nitch.
John Sturk Hometown: Detroit, MI Location: Chicago, IL Teachers/Influences: Chris Capehart, Eric Evans, Whit Haydn, Gazzo, Cellini Time in magic: 4 years Time busking: 2 years
Weekend busker. My day job is a project coordinator for FUN Incorporated, America's largest magic manufacturer. I sell magic all over the world, but only perform in a small part of it.
I hope any busker in Chicago will look me up; happy to get together and session. My website is www.johnsturk.com.
