It is hell at first, but street performers are a special tribe of entertainers who grow into their art.
This was said by Japanese acrobat and gymnast turned street performer Jackie Chan Chan, who has been travelling the world for the past five years after a stint in Australia left him jobless.
A trained acrobat and gymnast, Chan Chan, 34 – also known as Herosan – said that before becoming a street performer he had travelled to Australia to work on a farm because prospects of a career in acrobatics in Japan were not that great.
His show, punted as a circus comedy show with high-level stunts, lots of jokes, music and dancing coupled with big tricks, has been an audience-puller at the National Arts Festival where he is performing alongside other buskers on the Amazing Stages at the Village Green.
“Before I was a gymnast, I was an acrobat for a long, long time, but then I realised I can’t get a career from there.
“Eventually I went to Australia to work on a farm but realised it was a scam so I worked on the streets to make money,” Herosan said.
He said his experience in South Africa had been very enjoyable so far, especially because he was comfortable speaking English.
“Before here I was in Macedonia, before that I was in Poland and before that Croatia – and [it’s] not just the English language barrier [in those countries] but I think the people here are much happier and laugh much more and are more energetic,” he said.
“I am a break-dancer too, so I like spinning on my head.
“In the beginning, it was hell but slowly but surely you meet other street performers who know what street performing is, then you slowly start blending in and before you realise it you have a street show.”
Herosan also pokes fun at himself and his cultural background in his show. Catch Jackie Chan Chan along with fellow buskers daily at the Village Green