Taking the performance to the streets

Things have changed an awful lot in the past 10 years, since I came from England to work as a street performer. There is quite a diversity of street performance now, partly due to an increase in Arts Council funding.

But it's also due to the amount of exposure Irish people have had to what's going on around the world, through acts brought in for the various arts festivals. For instance, in 1990 I was one of the only stilt-walkers in the parade; this year there were a good 60 of them! Irish street theatre has evolved into something which has a distinctly Irish quality. The likes of Macnas and Bui Bolg draw a lot on Celtic mythology, for instance, and there is also a move towards incorporating aspects of 1990s Ireland, with quite a lot of humour.

In this year's parade I was doing pyrotechnics for the Big Drum - the biggest drum in the world. It's been designed as part of the ESB Millennium Big Drum Carnival, which we'll be touring around the country. The carnival involves performers, musicians and a bunch of special effects. I've been involved in this project from quite early on in its inception, helping to build the drum. I generally build my own props - in fact, I started life as an engineer designing safety equipment for power stations!

When I was in my early 20s I took up juggling as a hobby, and it pretty much went from there. By the time I was 25 I realised engineering was not for me. I learned more and more performance skills and gradually I was able to support myself through street theatre. I've worked in just about every single place in Ireland, in England and over in Europe. One of the nicest places to work used to be Grafton Street on a Sunday afternoon, before the shops were open. People were just out roaming casually around. But you have to stop a crowd for about half an hour if you want to make a living out of it, so I haven't been busking there for a the past three years.

These days I work mainly on larger performances, at festivals around the country. About a year ago I set up a company called Skeleton Crew. I'm the only full-time employee - hence the company name. Last year we toured a show called Justin's Bucket.

I've been training as a pyro-technician with a group called Theatre of Fire for a few years. It's brilliant stuff, so I like to incorporate it into whatever I'm doing. Right now, with a team of seven other people, I'm about to devise a show which will involve a collapsing circus tent.

I'm one of those people who comes out with that cliche, "I'm really lucky to get paid to do what I do" - I really do love my job. I absolutely love it all, from building props to doing shows, even submitting proposals to people.

I have had one or two scary moments. I was once kicked off my stilts, though I only sprained my wrist. Another time a high wire collapsed under me - but because of the way it was supported, it slid down slowly, supporting me all the way, and I landed comfortably on my two feet.

I've never lost my nerve, but on occasion I have felt like I just couldn't do it. If I ever felt any danger, I would just pull out. Sometimes I'm commissioned to do something quite specialised. Last year I was involved in a show in Sligo, where we built a huge sand castle on the beach which had a large archway going across its entrance, between the two towers. We walked on a tight rope from one tower to the next. It was a really lovely show to do, and we'll be doing it again in August, in Greystones, Co Wicklow.

During the winter months I tend to work on the administrative stuff - doing accounts, putting together proposals, working on publicity, and that kind of thing. Occasionally during those months I might think about getting back into engineering - but then I think: no, I just love this, I'm sticking with it.

In an interview with Jackie Bourke