Drew Anderson

James Jordan performs at his regular spot in Eau Claire, without the amp that helps save his throat.

James Jordan doesn’t think he’s asking for much. The guy just wants to use a small amplifier for his magic show, which he regularly performs in Eau Claire. He thinks it’s a harmless request, particularly as a rock band blasts music out of huge amplifiers set up outside the market on a warm spring day while we talk. “What was that you just said!? You’re willing pay for it!? I can’t hear you!? Haha! Yes, yes. I do like iguanas. What!?”

Although he and other street performers were allowed to use amplification in the past, the city now forbids them from doing so, despite the plethora of other noises spilling onto the streets.

“Our little amps don’t really do a lot…. They just make it loud enough so I don’t have to shout, so I can perform more than one show in a day because shouting for one hour really kills you,” says Jordan.

“None of us want to be that loud. We realize that, as street performers, being that loud actually pushes people away from you and we want to draw people in.”

It was the amp-rule change that prompted Jordan to form a loose organization with other professional street performers — to represent their interests and to shine a brighter light on what they’re doing. Tentatively called the Calgary Street Performers and Buskers Society, its 10 official members have been talking to city hall and have produced a pamphlet highlighting their shows and where they perform.

But Jordan isn’t celebrating. He’s not entirely sure that anything will come from the push to get the rules changed, even though he and many others are willing to pay for a licence to amplify their performances.

“I’m feeling like the City of Calgary is definitely behind us and there are people behind us, but for some reason, nobody had the motivation to push hard enough,” he says.

“We’re not asking for a lot and what we’re asking for, we’re all willing to pay for. If we need to pay somebody to do this, then add that to an administration fee to our permits. I’ve paid $300 for a street performer’s permit for a weekend. Professional street performers know that that’s part of the business.”

Jordan has been a part of that business for almost half his life. He started practising magic at the age of seven, and started taking it seriously when he was about 13 years old. At 16, he began performing in front of Eau Claire Market and bringing in a whopping $50 per day. That sealed his fate. He was hooked.

When the weather turns rough during Calgary’s winter, Jordan heads to New Zealand and Australia to perform year-round. Coupled with his corporate performances, restaurant shows and a small management business called the Beguiler’s Guild, this isn’t just a weekend hobby for Jordan; this is how he makes his living.

So this is why he wants to see a certain level of professionalism on Calgary’s streets. “Applying a paid permit system is one solution to auditions,” he says. “Because a lot of people don’t want to audition, but those people that don’t want to audition, don’t want to pay $300 for a permit. So you just wean them out right away.”

But not everybody is a professional. Not everybody wants to spend so much money to perform from time-to-time. So, is this punishing those up-and-coming performers or those who perform as a hobby?

“The way I like to think of it, it’s more of an inspiration to better yourself. It’s not so much an act of elitism it’s: get-your-act-together, comb-your-hair, come-on-out. There’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to get a permit if all you’ve got to do is clean your act up and practice your violin at home instead of just on the street.”