SIGHTSEERS
Buskers in Paradise
by Randy Karr

Located in the laid-back, third-world atmosphere of Key West, Florida, Mallory Square may be the best end-of-the-road tourist attraction in America.

Every night about two hours before sunset, people gather at the northernmost end of Duval Street, Old Town’s main drag, to celebrate the end of another day in Paradise by watching the sun slip below the horizon into the Gulf of Mexico. All the while, an eclectic mix of buskers - magicians, escape artists, tight ropewalkers, jugglers, musicians, human statues and psychics strut their stuff. The captivating street performers make Key West’s daily Sunset Celebration a gala happening.

Many of these street performers have given up traditional jobs to live a simpler lifestyle on this offbeat island, 110 miles from mainland Florida and 90 miles from Cuba. A few have performed on the square for many years. They get a permanent space, while newcomers can only get a spot if they enter a general lottery each evening.

One of the most popular sunset acts is Dominique and his Flying House Cats - The Best Cat Show On Earth. Dominique and his trained house cats have been performing here for the past 28 years. His feline acrobats jump through flaming rings and walk across tightropes, eliciting ooohs and aaahs from onlookers.

Dominique is the other half of the show. Dressed like a lion tamer with French-accent, his mix of mime and dance postures are a purrrfect complement to his purrrforming kitties.

“The secret to training cats is not so much the tricks," Dominique said. "It's getting them used to people. You have to make them comfortable or they won't do the tricks."

Another popular animal act is the Jeep and Cleo Show. Cleo, a Golden Retriever wearing shorts, walks a tight rope, after which he collects dollar bill tips from the admiring crowd. Jeep, who has been performing at Sunset Celebration since 1987, is the human part of the duo. His repertoire includes a variety of acts - balloon tying, magic, music and clowning. It’s Cleo, however, that is the show’s star and its grand finale.

Other Mallory Square acts include the Great Rondini, an escape artist who escapes from chains and a straitjacket while suspended upside down from a steel tripod, Bible Bill the preacher, Dr. Juice the Calypso Tumbler and Dennis Riley, the "Southernmost Bagpiper.” There are also a few who impersonate statues and local Key West teenagers who thrill crowds by juggling knives and torches.

Sunset Celebration began in the late 1960s and 1970s as hippies seeking an alternative lifestyle moved to Key West in search of paradise and started selling their wares, notwithstanding signs saying "no peddling on the pier." When merchants bordering Mallory Square complained about the illegal vending and street performers, the City of Key West arrested a retired art teacher for selling art at the Sunset Celebration.

Angered by the arrest, Sunset Celebration performers, artists and venders responded by founding the Key West Cultural Preservation Society. The organization negotiated a lease with the city, with the understanding that they would oversee Sunset activities and ensure its artistic integrity.

Mallory Square’s Sunset Celebration continues to be an attraction drawing visitors from around the world and a launching point for many visual and performing artists. Sunset can be credited with attracting and inspiring the development of a generation of talent known throughout the world.

At the end of the day the gang's all here!

©2009 Randy Karr