The Entertainer

The Summer of 1999 - The Start of the Faces of Disco Double Act - by Liam Collins

1999 was one of my favourite summers. I had returned from Reno where I had enjoyed some great adventures, my Dad and my brother had both been out to be part of them at different times. I was in incredible shape from the tough training from Enoch my American coach and I had just earned my first vest for England representing my country in a home nations match in a decathlon in Scotland.  I was just about to start University at Loughborough but before that I had 2 months where my athletics season had finished and my academics were about to begin and I wanted to make the most out of it to raise enough money so that I could fund my way through University. My plan of dancing on the streets had worked the year previously to get me my ticket to America and to getting bronze medal at the World Championship trials and there was no reason why I couldn’t do it again.

I wanted to take the act up a level, how could I improve it?  First of all was portability. I remember discussing with my dad who is an engineer, that I needed some sort of box with strong wheels that could carry all the kit but also have my sound equipment built in.  We set to work together on building the ultimate “busking box” It had golf trolley wheels and had speakers built in, a mixer and motorcycle battery, car amp and all of my newspaper articles covering the entire box as well as iconic 1970s images.

It did the trick, I could fit all of my masks and props in as well as the money so that no one could steal it.  It even had rope handles for carrying it up the stairs at Leicester Square.

I can remember getting out of the tube and the adrenaline as I saw the densely packed crowds who I would soon be entertaining. The only difference this time was it wasn’t just me, I had my older brother Rob to help me. I had never worked with Rob and had not spent any time with him on our own for any length since we were much younger.  He had finished Uni and was just about to start full time work. Little did he know that, that summer would change his life forever.  We were both fully dressed up as 70s icons and were well prepared. We had rehearsed our dancers despite their simplicity bordering on tedious but we rehearsed nevertheless.  Rob was never a dancer and so had the part of the joker whilst I had the parts, which required a little more skill but not a lot!

We couldn’t believe how well we did. Our first day we made £230 double what I had made the previous year in my first show. Each day we would go back to our friends who we were staying with and count the cash, bag it and pay it in the next day at the bank. We always kept a record of what we made and how many shows we had done. We would remember by sticking pieces of blue tack to the busking box and Rob would encourage me to push through and do one more and that would pay for the Indian take away that night and we always did. 

One day we couldn’t believe our luck. The most beautiful blonde model came up with an eastern European broken accent sounding and looking like a bond girl! She said. “Excuse me, I love your act and my friend is working would you mind if I hang out with you guys?”  Her name was Monika, I fell in love.  We hit it off instantly and she tagged along as the roadie and we had a great few weeks together. Sadly things never worked out when I left for Loughborough but I will always remember Monika from Leicester Square.

I remember one Wednesday when Rob and I broke our record we made £379 in one day and we felt like rock gods. We went home and sat in the bath together drinking beers and celebrating like we had become masters of our own destinies. We knew inside us that from that day on life would never be the same. How could we ever do a normal job when we could have such an amazing time traveling, seeing new places, earning great money and making so many people smile. That moment was one I will treasure. Since then I have gone down many paths and I still long to perform with Rob again on the streets one day and just disappear to other cities turning up without a penny and leaving with a hat full of notes.  When you can turn up to a city with nothing but the clothes on your back and that night afford a nice hotel and a meal in top restaurant for doing something you love it is a tough feeling to beat.

Rob and I churned out the shows and had some great nights out and I raised the money I needed to pay me through my first few terms until it was warm enough for me to come out and top it up with a couple more shows.  I achieved my goal and my parents didn’t have to give me a penny for my first year at Loughborough Uni.  What happened to Monika, who knows?

For Rob, that year he went on to work selling advertising airtime and contemplated using his Law degree to become a Lawyer but something inside him told him his calling was street entertaining and in the summer of 2000 he decided he would take our show on tour to Australia and try and make it work with an old school friend. I was too busy with athletics and could not make the trip. He was determined to tour Australia and not go down the typical route of picking grapes or stacking shelves so off he went and 500 shows later when he returned, he had made the decision that he would become the world’s greatest street entertainer.  Everyone mocked him, he couldn’t dance, couldn’t sing, couldn’t draw a crowd and when he did he couldn’t keep them and if they stayed they wouldn’t pay and if they paid it was out of sympathy but slowly and surely he watched and hung around the best in the world. He copied their moves and made up his own jokes, he toned his body and trained his body to endure great feats and escape from chains. He read book after book on the great Houdini and how to master the art of escapology and eventually after 8 years of touring the world and learning from the greats he has now earned his place in Covent Garden as one of the best there is. He has mastered his craft and helped and mentored many other young street entertainers including my dance partner now Richard, to become great street entertainers in their own right.

Always remember that the body will achieve whatever the mind can believe and conceive. Rob believed it and understood what it took to get him to where he wanted to be, everything else was not important.  There is another famous saying if you think you can you are right and if you think you can’t you are also right. Rob thought he could and he was right.

So that was the birth of the double act, the birth of Rob’s path to greatness in the street entertaining world and my vehicle to get the funds I needed for athletics and University but above all that it was just a great summer. 

 

Click here to read more about Liam Collins the Entertainer and the history behind where he is now.