We attended the Toronto Buskerfest on August 23 2012, on the Thursday because it was the cooler of the 4 day festival. I think we should have not attended the first day, because many of the acts seemed to not have arrived into Toronto yet. There was little juggling or unicycling, though still lots of comedy.

Jackie Wise from Ireland, magician, Toronto Buskerfest 2012, Toronto, Canada. Photo by Don Tai
Jackie Wise is a magician and dressed in a black jacket and pants with a t-shirt, promoting his jackie.ie web site. I never found out his last name until I researched him for this posting. Really, to not put your last name in? He was a pleasant enough guy but a little slow with the pace of performance. He taught us a magic trick, and took a cellphone away from a girl in the audience who was disrupting his performance. Good with kids, nothing hilarious, but Ok for the Little Weed.

Cirque Mechanics, with their rolling Gantry Bike and girl on the trapeze, Toronto Buskerfest 2012, Toronto, Canada. Photo by Don Tai
Cirque Mechanics, and their rolling Gantry Bike, from the US, really took me by surprise. The Gantry Bike is a 1.5 lane wide monster with wheels on both sides and a scaffold connecting the two sides. It is so wide a car could easily pass through. I did not see any sign about the group on the bike. Their bike rolls down the street and randomly stops. Then a girl gets on the trapeze and twirls around a bit. Then they roll on for a few more yards and repeat. The bike is powered by two guys, one on each side, who pedal and move the bike. This must be one heavy device. As there were kids sitting on the side of each curb, there was ample opportunity to squish a bunch of kids each time they moved. Unique, beautiful and odd all in one. You really do not see trapeze on the street.

Cirque Mechanics and their Gantry Bike Trapeze, with pretty girl doing tricks. Toronto Buskerfest 2012, Toronto, Canada. Photo by Don Tai

Lemon Bucket Orkestra is a European-style Um-pa-pa band but they are all young and not dressed in lederhosen. They are fun to watch and listen. Toronto Buskerfest 2012, Toronto, Canada. Photo by Don Tai
The Lemon Bucket Orkestra from Toronto, is a European-style Um-pa-pa band are really fun to watch. It is very unique to see such a band without the European trimmings and garnish. I enjoyed their music. They are loud and attract a lot of attention.

Daniel Champagne from Australia, playing harmonic guitar songs with hammer-on techniques. He is very good, but not my kind of music. Toronto Buskerfest 2012, Toronto, Canada. Photo by Don Tai
Daniel Champagne from Australia, was stuck at the East end of the street. It is good for him because it was the quietest place. He was playing harmonic guitar songs with hammer-on techniques. He is very good, but not my kind of music. At the time I did not even know he was from Australia. I did not see anyone talk to him. I guess all street musicians all look alike? His guitar looked well used and worn on the lower edge.

Chicago’s Ultimate Tumblers (C.U.T.) jumped high over various people and did not make any mistakes. Toronto Buskerfest 2012. Toronto, Canada. Photo by Don Tai
The Chicago Ultimate Tumblers (C.U.T.) are a group of black tumblers that can jump very high over people and obstacles. There was a City TV weatherman there and he winced when they jumped over him. He need not worry, as they jumped much higher than his head. They use a springboard to gain height, but still were very good. They land on gym mats. They made no mistakes and the crowd really liked them.

Canadian Australian Comic Daredevil United Syndicate – CACDUS, Ernest and CBG. Ernest is the Australian. A bit cheeky but entertaining. Toronto Buskerfest 2012, Toronto, Canada. Photo by Don Tai
The Canadian Australian Comic Daredevil United Syndicate – CACDUS, is a team of the Australian Ernest and Canadian CBG. They have a good competition between themselves. There are some homosexual overtones in their performance but these go over the head of the kids, thankfully. Their swimsuit/wrestling outfits certainly shock and awe the audience. Audience participation is really good with the water balloon fight. CBG mounts a giraffe uni while Ernst pogos, and quite high up. I thought that their performance was the best of the day at Buskerfest.

Canadian Australian Comic Daredevil United Syndicate – CACDUS, Canadian CBG in a wrestling uniform on a giraffe uni. It is all good clean fun, especially the ensuing water balloon fight. Toronto Buskerfest 2012, Toronto, Canada. Photo by Don Tai
Overall I would say that this year’s Buskerfest was not as entertaining as last year, but this may be due to bad luck and not the performers. There certainly looks like a good amount of talent in their performer’s roster, so maybe mytiming, on a Thursday during the day, may be off.