Dr. Philistine, one of the veterans of street performing in Covent Garden, discusses how his profession has changed throughout the years and the growing scepticism in his audience
As I watch Philip – in art Dr. Philistine - juggling three cutlasses on a single foot while balancing on a rope nine feet from the ground with the same ease I do the washing-up, I do agree with his Facebook page tagline: the street performer really seems to be born on a rope.
The raindrops fall heavily on the narrow alleys of Covent Garden. Luckily Dr. Philistine managed to get a performing slot this morning in the inside area – after speaking to him I learn street performers are selected via a ballot system where names are pulled out from a hat every morning at 9 am.
A decent number of people have gathered to watch his show. I observe them while Dr. Philistine shows one of his innumerable tricks which have been part of his act for almost 30 years. Most of the audience is on their phones – I see a girl trying to apply the dog-face filter on Philip’s face, while a lot of people come and go during the performance.
Dr. Philistine doesn’t seem to be discouraged - he continuously engages with the audience, he likes to pick up a little boy and an old lady at every show as he knows his audience would feel enough sympathy for them to keep watching the performance.
“Street artists live with what you donate,” Dr. Philistine says. “We keep doing this for you, the audience, in the hope to make a small positive difference in your day. We are not homeless or desperate for money, this is simply our job.”
As he leaves his hat in the middle of the piazza, I am sadly not surprised when I see only few people putting some pennies in the bucket. And it doesn’t surprise me more when Dr. Philistine confesses to me he hated every single moment of that performance.
“This audience, I mean, the audience in the last few years has become so sceptical and judgemental,” he says. “They don’t let themselves go in a genuine laugh.”
The piazza in Covent Garden has been Dr. Philistine’s workplace for 27 years. He started performing on the streets as a fire juggler in his early twenties because he couldn’t find his career vocation and after few shows he realised street performing was the one.
He later on went to Thailand where he learnt how to do the rope tricks and came back to London to undertake expert training in street performing. There have been moments of poverty, street performers were often chased down by the police in the 90s, but it didn’t take long for him to put on the perfect show and start making a living.
“I didn’t care if the police burst in the middle of the show to tell me to fuck off, I was enjoying every bit of it anyway.”
But now, Philip doesn’t look at his profession with the same positive attitude.
“Performers today seem to be driven by money rather than art,” he says. “It is a shame, but I am struggling to see real street artists nowadays.”
Dr. Philistine thinks people in need see street performing as an easy way to get some money and go into it quickly even if they don’t have any particular performing skills. This has lowered the reputation of street performers in general who are now seen as “miserable, homeless, and without a job”.
“I wish the audience could see us on the same level as West End artists, we are still entertaining and doing art at the end of the day,” he says.
With his only job of street performer, Dr. Philistine has travelled around the whole world and managed to buy a house in London where is currently living with his partner and her two children. When he doesn’t succeed in the ballot, he takes care of it.
Dr. Philistine is the living proof that street performing could be a rewarding job in all respects.
“My profession has changed so much since I’ve started,” he says. “Now there are more street performers around and getting a space to do your show is getting more and more competitive. Satisfying a more and more picky audience is a hard job to do as well. However, to me street performing is giving an emotion to people, like any form of art does.”