Traveling street performers find gigs in Pacific Beach and Ocean Beach
PACIFIC BEACH In medieval days a troubadour was a poet musician magician or fire-swallowing juggler who would roam from town to town performing their act for coins or food In the current era these talented troupes are called street performers One of the the majority popular duos in the beach area is Mark and Sarah Ames I guess we are a modern-day version of a troubadour Sarah Ames commented We do move around a lot For example Mark and I will be playing in Ocean Beach at the co-op in July we have performed in North Park Little Italy Hillcrest and I am currently doing a solo gig at Mr Shawarma restaurant in Pacific Beach The Ames are proud to be professional street musicians They have performed on street corners in coffee shops at daycares Renaissance fairs and nightclubs from Texas to California Traveling with Seamus their pet Schnauzer they live a seemingly carefree lifestyle but Sarah says that kind of freedom also has its downside I ve had to scrub a lot of toilets Sarah reported In this business you get countless rejections and every once in a while we need to get a job to make ends meet Mark and I have worked a lot of part-time jobs to promotion our music The duo agrees that while they appreciate paid gigs there are never rejections when they perform on the street and you never know who is in the crowd They say a veteran street performer knows how to spot a likely client or big tipper and then tailor the performance to that person I was in Little Italy playing my lap steel guitar when I spotted a lady who was dressed in Middle Eastern clothing with her head covered so I thought I d try several of my Arab music Well she liked it and petitioned for my card As it turned out she and her brother own Mr Shawarma in PB The next day she called and offered me a job playing at their restaurant Sarah performs from to p m on Saturdays and Sundays at Mr Shawarma which is located at Garnet Avenue Garnet Avenue For more information visit mrshawarmasd com or email markandsarajane hotmail com
