In this episode, we look at street entertainment through the centuries in and around Covent Garden.
Listen Now:
A Tom-Tom Player
Written by
Sarah
Fleming
Performed by
Doctor
Shama
Rahman
Delve Deeper
Read Mayhew’s about street entertainers in London Labour and the London Poor Volume 3 at Gutenberg.org. The Guardian has an article about Mayhew’s books and their impact.
About this story
Journalist and social reformer Henry Mayhew interviews Bengali drum players busking on the 19th-Century streets of Victorian London.
Piazza
,
Covent Garden
,
London
The Sound of a Whole Orchestra
Written by
James
Rampton
Performed by
Lulu
Freeman
Delve Deeper
NME has an article about Sheeran learning how to use a loop pedal. Facebook has busker Charlotte Campbell talking about being banned from Facebook. Watch on Charlotte cover a Sheeran song on YouTube.
About this story
Teenage Ed Sheeran is practicing his trade in 2010, busking on the streets of Covent Garden.
Trafalgar Square
,
London
Busking Changes Everything
Written by
James
Rampton
Performed by
Zak
Ghazi-Torbati
Delve Deeper
Find out about Ramin Karimloo on his website. See Karimloo and Stephen Barry sing togetheron YouTube.
About this story
London busker Stephen Barry is surprised in 2016 when Broadway singer Ramin Karimloo unexpectedly drops by for an impromptu duet in Trafalgar Square.
