Step right up, folks! And welcome to the oldest, grandest, most splendiferous show on Earth. Matriculants of this ancient open-air university include a who’s who of august personages: Robin Williams, B.B. King, and founding father Benjamin Franklin, just to name a few.
Yes, it’s street performance, a form of entertainment that has spanned ages, roped in countless genres and reached almost every country. (Fun fact: Europeans know street performances as busking. It was possibly derived from the word “busk,” which means to “cruise as a pirate.”)
11. Marvel at Taipei’s Lord of the Ring, who, it is whispered, is the only man to have vanquished dizziness
12. Even we, chroniclers of such things, cannot adequately describe these Chicago street performers. The Aluminum Worm? The Living Air Duct? They remain a mystery
