The First Street Shows in the History of FISM

It is 10:30am on 12 July, 2025. I, along with two others, am about to do the first street shows in the history of FISM.

With me in Mondovi, Amino-san in Asti, and Jyoti Superneturel in Turin -- it feels like a big deal. But then I look around me at Piazza Cesare Battisti, and I start to panic: There is little to no foot traffic in the square.

I can make people stop. But I can't make people appear.

Video of an empty piazza. This video was taken right before the first shows after lunch, but the morning was similar.

Then I notice that on the very edge of the square is a trickle of pedestrian traffic coming through from a morning farmer's market. I use every busker trick in the book: I announce the show, hop into foot traffic, wave my wand around, and do some quick, visual magic. I get the few people who are there for the FISM-announced event to clap and cheer as loud as they can.

Some people stop. But despite my small and unthreatening stature, no one was willing to follow me off the pathway and back into the middle of the square. Not at first at least.

Slowly -- with a time limit, the pressure of an international competition, and my peers and heroes watching from the sidelines -- I manage to eke out a show. It isn't pretty, but I do it.

This is actually a pretty pathetic street show. Believe me when I say I've done better.

I pushed through it like I would any raw street show. I cut off applause, kept my transitions tight, and expected them to leave at any sign of weakness. Then I hatted, I bowed, and...

...They stayed.

The next performer started his show with my audience and built his audience on top of that.

Over the course of the remaning four shows that morning, the audience accumulated. They stuck around until we broke for lunch. Those who were there longest, who had stopped for my show at 10:30am, hung around for a full hour and forty minutes of street shows.

What was happening? Pedestrians acted like the most jaded of city folk; most of them simply refused to stop. But once they stopped and decided to watch, they evolved into the most laid back of festival attendees. Throw in a language barrier, and I had a lot to figure out if I wanted to do better in my second show.

In the afternoon, thankfully, I went second.

We were still working with sparse foot traffic (see previous video), but I didn't go first. I had an initial audience to work with. I was calmer, I now knew a handful more Italian words that were relevant to my show, and the vibes were just right.

There are no photos because I forgot to ask someone to take some for me -- but trust me when I say it was much better than my first show.

I ended the day with that little bit of imposter syndrome squelched. I don't know if I'll make it through pre-selection, but I'm starting to believe I deserve to be in the mix.

My fellow competitors at Mondovi: Eric Evans, Kris Bentz, Frisco Fred, Roman Buria, Felice Ling, Liuba and Oliver

OH. And we made time for gelato, wine, and appertifs.