Bubble Magic
(1982 ) The Famous Whirling Carousel? Stand back. The Mount St. Helens volcanic bubble? Coming right up.
A bubble cube filled with smoke? No sooner said than done, declared David Minstrel, dipping his wands into his jar of soap. He began building bubble onto bubble into a sudsy concoction like a geodesic dome. He took a quick puff from his cigarette, gently slipped a straw into his creation and filled the center chamber with smoke. Voila! A square bubble.
"Bubbles are universal magic," said David MacKeand, better known at street markets and fairs as David Minstrel. "Everybody likes bubbles -- kids, adults, even dogs like them." A familiar figure where folks gather for fun, MacKeand makes his living playing music, singing, and creating bubble sculptures. Working festivals and crafts fairs, cafes, bars, and college campuses, he travels from Santa Cruz to British Columbia in a yearly circuit that brings him to Portland for three months every spring. "There's no place I can call home," said the 29-year-old Toronto-born entertainer. "I left home the day I turned 16 and I've been on the road ever since."
Weekends find him at Saturday Market, playing his guitar amid the crafts booths and jugglers and fellow street entertainers. With his gaped-tooth grin and infectious enthusiasm, he easily gathers an audience for his original compositions. On a good day, he said, he collects more than $50 in tips in his guitar case.
"I don't need food stamps or welfare," MacKeand said. "I can play on the streets and make enough to live on any day. That's all anybody wants -- to pull your own weight and be happy." People are attracted to his profession he said. "There's a growing number of bubble players. It's a self-ordained occupation. I've been doing this for nearly 15 years and I can't seem to do anything else."