Busking scam: electric violin

Buskers miming to recordings?

Kill me now...

 

Buskers hang in high-volume foot traffic areas, places I haven't been in almost two years. That said, I've not seen or heard of such a thing before this.

 

I've watched my son play violin for over 20 years. I just laughed when I saw that video. Kudos to the violinist who challenged the imposter to play with her.

 

Wow must have been a slow news day

 

I'm totally okay with it. Lipsynching and air guitar are common at all levels of musicianship. It would be cruel as a society, to be okay with an aging millionaire celebrity playing air-guitar in a superbowl halftime show, but not okay with struggling amateurs at the local level playing air-violin for pocket change.

Given that lipsynching and air-guitar exist, and are standard tools of professional entertainers, I think it is elitist to say, these technologies should be forbidden for local amateurs. I think music-making should be democratic, and the tools should be available to anyone who wants to make a joyful noise. (Even beginners, posers, scrubs, losers, nerds, and geeks.)

Basically, I think it's elitist to say only rich, successful people are allowed to play the Milli Vanilli game.

 

Question: Are those guys who pretend to be statues then move and startle spectators also running a "scam"?

 

perfect!

and then there's this: how many of us log into TB every day pretending to be musicians or bass players?

 

I saw a guy doing this recently, and he definitely sounded too bad to be faking.

 

As if buskers weren't annoying enough already, now they're faking it. It's the end of days.

 

Crappy that people feel they need to fake-busk to make money, and crappy that people fall for it. "Scam" feels a tad hyperbolic to me, though, compared with the boiler-room berks who keep calling trying to wheedle me out of my credit card numbers. They're fun to play with.

 

Wow, I think I gave one of these folks money in upstate NY! I don’t regret it for a moment though. I was driving through a parking lot and saw a woman standing with the man performing who was nursing a baby. If they’re standing in a strip mall parking lot like that, they are desperate.

 

in the late 90's my dad took my brothers to a mets game at shea stadium. not sure why I diddn't go, but apparently even back then there was a guy "playing" guitar and the instrument slipped an fell and the music kept playing. they thought it was the funniest thing in the world.

so, it happens. oh well.

 

At least it's more entertaining than regular begging. It is a form of performative art. Requires some preparation and continuous effort. "Scam" definitely doesn't feel like the right word, because they probably really do need money.

Fun fact, ordinary intersection begging in my area is an organized crime racket, even out in the suburbs. Gangs control various corners and put the homeless/disadvantaged person out there for a shift, and then take a cut of the earnings. I used to watch the shifts changing from my office window, and a guy comes out to replace one person with another person every few hours, counts the money, drives away to change the shift at another corner.

 

My MO is to tell them I owe a considerable sum on my credit cards. When they ask me for my account number I ask them to hang on the line while I go look for the card. I'm still looking for the card.

 

In NOLA, I saw an old guy just standing there, I asked “that’s it?”…he said, “somebody’s gotta do it”.

In another spot, I saw two mimes fighting over a prime spot to perform. I offered the most visible upset person a dollar. They got really mad! “I perform for my money!”

LOL!

 

I guess I'm not elitist then. I don't think it's ok for the pros to charge for tickets, then mimic playing. It's pretty much fraud to me. Same for buskers.