Local performers add flavour to upcoming festival

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While local resident Dylan Studabaker works his magic for the crowd, fellow performer Ezra Houser will take in the spectacle from on high.

Both Studabaker and Houser will take part in the Scotiabank BuskerFest next week. The event brings street performers from around the world together in a massive public celebration featuring all sorts of artists.

Studabaker, known in some circles as the Punk Magician, will be performing in BuskerFest for the fourth time. The venue - performing in the street, surrounded by the crowd - is certainly unusual for his type of show.

"(BuskerFest) is probably more unusual for a magician than for any other act," he said. "Magicians rely on angles a lot of the time, but out in the street, people can watch from all angles."

Though his act contains some seemingly dangerous elements - in one illusion, it appears as though he chops off his arm - he has geared it to appeal to all ages.

"For that one, a second after I chop my arm off, I show how I do it," he said. "I also do a lot of ancient sleight-of-hand involving cigarettes, but I make it clear I do not encourage smoking."

Other illusions include a diminishing deck, in which he appears to make a deck of cards shrink and eventually disappear simply by running his hand over it, and a guest appearance by Mr. Grapes, a hairless rat who appears out of a flaming bucket (and once again Studabaker is quick to point out that the rat is never in any danger).

"After the show, the kids get to play with the rat and he's probably the most popular part of the show," he joked. "I worked 20 years on my act and that's what the kids like most."

The Annex resident has loved magic since childhood and performed his first trick when he was five years old. He finally started making a living at it when he appeared in the Halifax Busker Festival years ago.

"I met a busker there who saw me and said 'Hey kid, you're ready'," he said. "I went home right away, got some of my stuff and started touring."

Unlike such current phenomena as Criss Angel and David Blaine, Studabaker does not exude an air of mystery or encourage the audience to buy into his act as anything more than an impressive display of skill.

"I come from the Doug Henning school of magic where you believe that magic is not real but the power of illusion is real," he said.

While Studabaker thrills the BuskerFest crowds with his illusions, Houser will be wandering through the festival grounds, towering over the crowds as a colourful 10-foot-tall stilt dancer.

The Hillcrest area resident has been performing on stilts since he joined SwizzleStick Theatre in 1998 and has since played an instrumental role in Cleveland's arts scene and performed in such locales as Trinidad and Easter Island.

Unlike many of the buskers on hand, Houser will not perform his own show at BuskerFest, acting instead as a roving entertainer.

"I'm not a traditional busker in the sense that I'll set up, have a show, put out a hat and ask for contributions," he said. "I don't want to take away from (other performers) who rely on donations."

Houser will make his way through the crowd, dancing along to music or to his own beat and keeping the crowd entertained when they aren't watching other acts.

"I'm mostly there to enhance the scene," he said. "People get a real charge out of it when a 10-foot tall, colourful character shows up and starts dancing and working it above the crowd."

Studabaker and Houser will be among more than 80 performers at BuskerFest, which takes place from Thursday, Aug. 21 through Sunday, Aug. 24 in the St. Lawrence Market area. While the event is free, voluntary donations will be accepted, with proceeds going toward Epilepsy Toronto. Visit www.torontobuskerfest.com for details on the festival.