Random Interview: Darth Vader, South Bank
By Kaf Blamire Saturday 15 May, 2010 15:36
It’s a bright and fresh spring morning on the South Bank. Above the murky waters of the Thames a group of people are smearing face paint across their cheeks and setting up their performing stations for the day. A silver wizard readjusts his staff, a golden king is pulling up his britches, “the most pierced lady in the world” is laying out her rug and a man who is about to spend the day dressed up as the ultimate dark lord, Darth Vader, is surveying the sky.
Darth: It gets very hot in my costume, I am thinking of changing it to fabric of some kind instead of this leather. I only started last October so I haven’t been through a summer yet.
snipe: Why did you choose Darth Vader?
Darth: I love Star Wars like most men my age. He is the biggest villain. People may like or hate him but everybody knows him.
snipe: I suppose he is the ultimate bad guy icon. Why do you enjoy doing this?
Darth: I love to interact with people. Everyone is different you just need to find a way to reach them.
snipe: Do you feel like you are quite a confident person?
Darth: I’m trying to be.
snipe: I suppose the mask must help in a way..
Darth: Sometimes it is good that no one sees me, in a way you can hide. But it’s harder. You can’t use your face to draw people in, or grimace at them.
snipe: Have you ever had any strange or negative experiences with the public?
Darth: Some groups of school kids can be bullies. They like try to challenge you. It’s hard because I know I can’t hurt them or anything.
snipe: It must be quite hard resisting when you have a light sabre. Is there a good feeling of camaraderie amongst the performers here? Do you look out for each other?
Darth: We have to rely on each other in some ways, like look out for each other, but sometimes there are arguments. Like people say “I was here first, this is my spot..” The first time I came down here I didn’t know anything about it, or how it worked. I just came down here with my bag of stuff. There was this guy next to me, a dog man. He had his face painted like a dog and his hand went up into a small dog carrying cage to make another dog and he just sat there with that song It’s My Life playing over and over again all day and when I came back next week he was dressed up as Darth Vader.
snipe: That must have been annoying. What happened to him?
*Darth: I don’t know. He disappeared. The other day I saw a guy dressed up as Darth Vader on Britain’s got Talent and he was really pathetic.
snipe: Why was he pathetic?
*Darth: He was just such a weird guy… But yeah, sometimes I really like the other performers along here. Like the other day there was a guy who sang like Frank Sinatra and I asked him to sing Fly Me to a Moon and he sang it for me.
snipe: I suppose you have to watch out for the public stealing money and things like that…
Darth: People keep their money in boxes very close to them, like see that guy? [He is points to a silver figure without a face, sitting on a chair. His glasses are suspended in the air where his face should be] He keeps his box right there on his lap.
*snipe: It must be good being outdoors, being down here by the river.
*Darth: People don’t realise how hard it is standing here for eight hours a day. It can be really hard. I am usually here from 10 – 6 but it is fun and gives me a bit of extra money. I have another job working in a school doing admin.
*snipe: Are there any rules here for buskers?
*Darth: We can only busk in this section and sometimes it gets quite crowded. The best spots are up there by the wheel, because the tourists come down from there first. If one person leaves their spot near to the Eye we all move up a spot.
*snipe: What one message would you like to get across to the public?
*Darth: Be nice to us.
