Wow. How is it already half-way through August?!
I feel like just yesterday I was packing up  my kit for the ol’ annual cross-Canada tour and now, here I am, having landed back in the land of Kensington Market just last night and already getting prepped and ready to finish off the season with my own hometown festival, TORONTO BUSKERFEST!!

I am exceedingly excited to be home. Touring has been so wonderful, but there really is something to be said about sleeping in one’s own bed. I never thought I would ever get to this place: merely a couple of years before, I was happy to tour all year round. What have I become, people?!

Photo of Kate Mior by Paul Charette, All Rights Reserved 2011

It’s been a great tour, though: the weather in St. John, NB totally held out, Ottawa’s 20th anniversary Buskerfest welcomed me with open arms, and it was an honour and a privilege to be included in the line-up for St. Catharine’s Inaugural Buskerfest. In honour of that, I’ve selected a submission from that particular festival as the “Photo of the Weekend”! Special cheers go out to Paul Charette for his AWESOME shots of Coppelia. Narrowing it down to just one image was a challenge! But, here it is. And, of course, my deepest congratulations to the city of St. Catharine’s for such a great first year of their festival. I had a wonderful time and am amazed at how generous, kind, and enthusiastic the crowds were. Well done, St. Catharine’s, well done!

Speaking of Coppelia… this act becomes more and more exciting for me every day! I finally cut together a youtube video that shows off just a bit of what I can do! In the past, I’ve been reluctant to put out video of my *real* work because of intellectual property issues… I’ve slapped up videos shot of me at cabarets or other things that I didn’t feel would affect me, but, I have always shied away from showing off the stuff I am most proud of… well, while I was away on tour, my prop builder (who built my most excellent wind-up key) discovered a copycat of his design that has originated half-way around the world (he had posted a video documenting our build way back in January/February)! While I am not surprised, I’m still amazed at the power of the internet and how much harder it is to remain cutting edge and creative. But, it’s a good thing, for it keeps artists like me (and my prop builder!) on their toes and raises the bar for everyone! So there ya go. I’ve opened the flood-gates. But hey, at least *I* opened them on my own volition. And I’m looking forward to continuing to grow and learn and develop this act as awesomely as I can–after all, ‘awesome’ the only way I know how to things!

I definitely had my own epiphanies while performing; seeing all of the extraordinarily layered, complex and rich characters around me inspired me to continue working on Coppelia – since the festival I have re-worked her costume and am building something even better and more in-line with my aesthetic. Feedback, by far, is the most important thing a performer can receive from an event and the feedback I received was *just* what I needed. Exploring this character and watching her grow has been awesome! Sunday, after my performance at a private event, I took Coppelia out on the street for PS Kensington, just to have her walk around a little bit more and explore her further!

Coppelia lookin' for love. Photo: Kim Brilliant

This weekend is going to be a busy one! Canada Day celebrations, Pride, and lots & lots of busking!! This is the first year in quite a while (I’d say…3-4 years?) that I have not hoofed it to Ottawa to attend the Parliament Hill celebrations. Part of me is sad to be missing it, but, another part of me is relieved to not spend 30 hrs in a whirlwind of transit, shows until I drop, and transit home within the same day… but, I’m making up for it by performing in an AWESOME inaugural festival in a neighbouring city, so, I can’t complain.

I hope you all have an amazing weekend and let’s hope the weather holds out for us!

I had a *wonderful* time at the Dundas International Buskerfest this year. It’s always a pleasure to do shows close to home! I’ve spent so much time entertaining people all over the world over the last year or so that I have missed the very people who’s support has gotten me there in the first place.

My weekly update is a bit late, ’tis true. I’m very sorry for that. It’s been a whirlwind of work since the festival and I have totally hit the ground running. I had been dragging my heels with regards to busking prior to the weekend that has just passed, but, all it takes is one great festival to get one started! However, this morning, I’m having a lovely espresso on my awesome balcony patio, enjoying the beautiful morning before I pack my gear to head out to work, so, I figured it was time for an update!

This week I was fortunate enough to have the pleasure of hosing my dear friend James Jordan for a few days after we performed together in Dundas. One of my favourite parts of my job is connecting with old friends on the road. James and I met in China back in 2008, while performing at a clown festival in Nanjing. Aside from having an impressive moustache, James is an expert magician, MC and hat juggler. He taught me my very first hat juggling tricks, in fact! We had a great time hanging out, talking shop and busking together.

Speaking of busking, the season is now in full swing! This year, I’m making a concerted effort to take Coppelia out and show her around Toronto. Last night, I hit Queen W., the old pitch of my dear friend and roommate, Alexander Winfield, (made deservedly-famous by BoingBoing.net). I had a GREAT time working on new material in such a friendly environment. I’ve always avoided working Queen street due to several factors, but, I think I fell in love with it last night. While I am not abandoning my beloved Yonge and Dundas pitch, you should definitely keep an eye out for me on the hip strip this year!

Speaking of busking and speaking of media…. it’s that time again: photo of the weekend!! Now, I was silently stalking Flickr.com and found some amazing photos..however, they were not sent directly to me, so I am unable to put them up since I don’t have expressed permission from the photographers. That said, however, a wonderful local photographer by the name of Pierre Dubeau who I have always seen around Y&D Square sent me a crazy cool shot he took the day I was actually shooting a commercial and *not* busking. Technically, it doesn’t fall under the rules and guidelines for Photo of the Weekend….but this is my website, so, I MAKE THE RULES!! AHAHAHAH!!!

Way to go, Pierre, for making the front page of katemior.com!

So there you have it.  Dundas Buskerfest was awesome! Queen st. W is awesome! The season is upon us! AWESOME!!

Hope you all had a great Victoria Day weekend! I sure did.  I had a great time performing at the Toronto International Circus Festival (TICF) and the Warkworth Lilac Festival. If you happened to come out to TICF, you may have caught Coppelia roving around, bumping into people and things! Maybe you even got a chance to wind her up?For those of you who missed it, I managed to snap a shot of her in one of her many, MANY costumes! I had a blast performing for all of the awesome audiences who came out to the wonderful (free!) event held at Harbourfront Centre.

Coppelia as 'Robo-Wife 9000' - Thanks to Kristen McGregor for the shot!

This weekend heralded in the official start to the summer busking season! What fun!
This, of course, means it’s also time for a refresher for some of you about a topic I am very passionate about: that’s right – busking etiquette!

Over the years, I’ve compiled a list of things to do and not do if you happen to stumble across a busker in your town!

The Do’s:
1. DO stop and watch the show! After all, you’re bound to see something pretty remarkable!

2. DO get involved in the show! Most of us don’t have a show without an audience or participants to help us out! This includes making lots of noise when we do stuff you like.

3. If you take a picture or have been called to be a part of the show, MAKE A DONATION. It is *bad* busker etiquette to engage in a show and walk away without any contribution. If I’m good enough for you to take a picture of, then I’m good enough for a tip.

The Don’ts:

1. DON’T walk through a show as it’s happening. This especially includes chalk-drawing and statue shows. Remember: when we are performing, our area of the sidewalk (‘pitch’) is our stage, and you wouldn’t walk across a stage at your local theatre, would you?

2. DON’T give pennies. Nothing is more insulting to a busker than small coin. We all would much rather prefer you say something like ‘Thank you for making my day!’ or, perhaps even say ‘it wasn’t my bag’ (and even then, you can walk away before the finale..)

…that’s pretty much all I can think of for now. Just remember one rule of thumb if you happen across one of us working this summer: what other job gives you the product before asking for compensation? Just remember to tip us what you think we are worth (*cough*$5*cough*) and have a wonderful experience watching the magic unfold before your eyes!

See you this summer!

So I made it to Singapore and am having an AWESOME time at the Sentosa Buskerfest. The festival is in it’s first year and I am having such a blast performing for the wonderful crowds in Singapore for the third time this year.
Despite the fact that it’s rainy season and there is a typhoon happening in the Indian ocean, not too far from us, we’ve been lucky to have wonderful weather (with the exception of a couple of rain spots here and there) and wonderfully engaging crowds.

I love performing for Singaporeans. I find the folks here to be very similar in temperament to Canadians. My theory is perhaps because of our other similarities: we are both multicultural hubs, we both have the British influence, and we both have extreme weather to deal with (we get the cold, they get the hot)! So, it is such a delight to be back here.

For those of you in Singapore, please do come down to Sentosa Island to watch amazing world-class performers for free! I am located by Beach Station for two hours between 5:30-8:30 nightly!