"If people didn’t care about it and I wasn’t getting reactions I definitely wouldn’t be performing,” said Kevin Smith, a magician know as 'Mr. Smith.'

Joey Albert, known by his stage name as Rockabilly Joe, is one of the local performers in this year's Ottawa International Buskerfest. Albert is an acrobat, juggler and does comedy. Drew May/ OttawaMatters.com

1 / 1 Joey Albert, known by his stage name as Rockabilly Joe, is one of the local performers in this year's Ottawa International Buskerfest. Albert is an acrobat, juggler and does comedy. Drew May/ OttawaMatters.com

When Kevin Smith performs magic on Sparks Street he’s got dozens of kids crowded around him. They’re all trying to get a better view of the small red balls he can seemingly make appear out of thin air.

The kids are so excited that Smith, otherwise known under his stage name as Mr. Smith, has to keep reminding them to take a few steps back so he has room to maneuver. The curious group shuffles a few inches back, but quickly surges forward again, leaving him with just as little room as before.

Smith is just one of the street performers taking part in this year’s Ottawa International Buskerfest. The festival features acts from as far away as Germany and Japan, but also several local performers from Ottawa, like Mr. Smith.

This was the first time Smith has performed in Ottawa's Buskerfest. He said he discovered doing magic relatively late in life – at 28 – when he was working as a carpenter.

“I remember making my very first $80 [doing magic at a] restaurant and I couldn’t believe that I was making money doing something I was enjoying so much,” he said.

Doing street shows can be more difficult than doing a private show, Smith said. He’s not guaranteed a paycheque at the end of his act and some crowds don’t take to it as well as others. He said, though, that people’s reaction to his magic tricks is what makes him love his job.

“It’s the reactions and the interaction with people, it’s what keeps me going. If people didn’t care about it and I wasn’t getting reactions I definitely wouldn’t be performing.”

Blanko, a living statue performance, lets himself be painted by passerbys at the #Ottawa International Buskerfest. #OttCity pic.twitter.com/HIZryVsmpE — Drew May (@DrewMay_) August 4, 2018

Joey Albert, who goes by the stage name Rockabilly Joe, is another local act at Buskerfest and a man of many talents, including acrobatics, juggling and comedy. He has performed at Buskerfest before but also often performs in the square outside Tucker’s Marketplace, on York Street, up to four times per day during the summer. He said he started 12 years ago as a juggler in Ottawa, but started learning acrobatics after a trip to a circus school in Montreal.

“We saw how advanced everybody was and went ‘oh my god,’ but instead of just getting depressed of how far away we were, we used that as motivation to get good as fast as we can.”

Albert’s final trick has three parts to it, he said. He starts out juggling fire on a unicycle, then does a flip over five kids and finishes it off by doing a handstand on top of a board, balanced on a cylinder.

Street performances have a much different feel than ones on a theatre stage, according to Albert. He said street performers can easily do a show in a theatre, but theatre performers can often struggle to attract an audience when busking, which he said is an art in itself.

“It doesn’t matter what tricks you do if you can’t stop people at the start -- you’re not going to get anything because you have to gather a whole crowd before you do your big tricks,” he said.

“The biggest thing is you want to get an edge,” Albert said. “Once there’s a first row of people, then other people see the show from afar and they see other people watching and curiosity kicks in and they want to see what’s up.”

Buskerfest shows are also different from regular street performances, he said. At Buskerfest performers have a set time for their show and the audience plans specifically to watch them. Albert said he prefers performing public shows because they are more intimate and personal than in a theatre. The audience doesn’t pay until the end and performers can talk to the crowd.

Albert said there is no better feeling for him than a successful show on the street. The donations people give him show exactly how they felt about his performance and he said he feels like he’s earned whatever he gets.

“When you start off your show and you’re not sure if it’s going to work, you’ve only got two people [watching] and you’re like ‘oh my god I’ve been doing this for 10 minutes now, where’s everybody else?’ But when you pull it off at the end and it’s a big crowd, it’s really rewarding.”

Ottawa International Buskerfest runs until August 6, at 6 p.m.