ALL OR BUSK

ALL OR BUSK
Created by Daryl Wing

GENRE
Reality (talent/competition)

LOGLINE
With no money for food, accommodation or travel, contestants must busk and blag their way across the world using only their talent and their charm. A seemingly insurmountable challenge, the team furthest from home wins. How far could your talent take you?

SYNOPSIS
Street performances can be just about anything that people find entertaining: musical performance, clowning, comedy, improvisation, balloon modelling, dance, acrobatics, contortions and escapes, juggling, magic, fire eating, sword swallowing, snake charming, fortune-telling, football free styling, street theatre, street art, present a flee circus, puppeteers, storytelling, mime artists, living statue…

The show will document the events that unfold as our contestants find themselves being team players; the show will bristle with personality clashes as they are forced to adapt to their new roles. They will have no idea where they will sleep at night, where their next meal is coming from or how they can possibly afford to travel the thousands of miles that lay between them and their ultimate goal.

The contestants will be given video cameras to keep their own video diaries each evening so they can give a personal and revealing update of how they think the challenge is going.

Their income will depend on many conditions, including the composition of the audience, the type and quality of their performance, the weather, the time of day and their ability to work as a team. Location can be the key, and competition from other entertainers can also play a role, both positively and negatively.

Each day two will perform whilst the third member of the team will become the bottler. A bottler is a British term that describes the person with the job to pass the hat, usually by circulating through the audience with the money hat to collect donations. Bottling itself can be an art form, and the difference between a good and a bad bottler can be crucial to the amount of money earned on a pitch.

Some people will heckle buskers, whilst they may also find themselves targeted by thieves due to the very open and public nature of their craft. They may have their earnings, instruments or props stolen.

The competition will not take place in the contestants’ home country, although they will be chosen from here. This is to prevent foul play. They will be jetted off to another location, miles from home, in a foreign country (English-speaking), making the whole challenge that much harder.

Viewer participation will also make the show more exciting. They will get to choose which contestants will take up the challenge. During the series though more viewer participation will be required to generate revenue and sustain interest.

Why camp when you can stay in a hotel? Because it’s cheaper, but we all know that the lack of luxury may get to some of the contestants. A twist will see only two winners; each team will have to nominate one of their members who they feel is the weakest. If their overall choice matches that of the viewers vote then they will remain as three, increasing their chances of earning more and going further.

The show will also introduce other professional performers that are arguably better than the contestants. They will steal the patch that has become successful, creating competition and conflict. This, of course, will be unknown to the contestants.

The three teams will have to map the route they wish to take; they have the say, working out how to get the furthest the quickest. This will make interesting television as they plot their way across the world. They basically have to clock up the most miles. They can fly or walk, but they have to do it together.