Street Performer
I’m back after a bout of laryngitis with a look at the life of a modern-day nomad: a Faneuil Hall street performer.
Most of us have tried our hand at juggling, magic, or other such tricks at some point in our lives, but I bet very few of us have ever thought of making it our livelihood. Well, that’s exactly what my guest does for a living: while you are at your desk, he’s trying to convince strangers to pay him for getting out of a straight jacket. Oh, and if that’s not enough, he’s just debuted a new version of his act where he wriggles free while hanging upside down 20 feet in the air.
Jason Escape performs in many places around the world, but I caught up with him recently on the Quincy Market steps — waiting for some bad weather to pass before finding some people to tie him up.
Puzzle Store
This episode is a bit of an enigma: we’ll visit Eureka Puzzles in Coolidge Corner.
I’ve always loved puzzles — particularly those little metal ones you have to take apart. The problem is that over the years I’ve gotten pretty good at them, and most of the new ones I find are pretty easy. That’s not a problem at Eureka Puzzles.
My guest is the owner, David Leschinsky, and if you like puzzles he’s your guy. With thousands of puzzles, books and games — including a jigsaw puzzle with 23,000 pieces — David’s store is quite an experience. It’s one of only a few puzzle stores in the country, so I figured that there must be an interesting story in amongst the brainteasers.
So to find out, I stopped by for a chat — and couldn’t resist leaving with a few puzzles for the trip home.
Boston Athenaeum
This time we’ll visit the largest membership library in the country, the Boston Athenaeum.
The Athenaeum is in the middle of celebrating its 200th year with an impressive exhibition covering their continuous collecting of books and art over the last two centuries. The building holds books, paintings, and sculptures from the libraries of John Quincy Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and others, along with many important pieces of Boston history.
As a working library, the Athenaeum runs community outreach programs throughout New England in addition to serving its 5000 members — who get to use the library’s amazing fifth-floor reading room.
I visited the library on Beacon Hill for the first time a few months ago, and went back a few weeks ago to get a feel for the place from the institution’s director and a tour of the anniversary exhibition from a curator.
Photo Credit: Boston Athenaeum
Every city should have a podcast like Boston Behind the Scenes.
This one is a no brainer; add it to your rotation right away.
