Singaporean busker punched while performing in London’s Covent Garden

Singaporean busker Bryan Wong was in the middle of a performance in London’s Covent Garden on Jul 23 when a stranger punched him in the stomach.

Wong is a performer who uses props like a cyr wheel, a human-sized hoop for acrobatic feats, and other circus-related equipment.  

A video uploaded to his TikTok account @brylights shows him speaking with a man in a hoodie before the man suddenly landed a blow on Wong’s midsection with his left fist. Wong responded by grabbing the man’s arm, then letting go as the man pulled away.

Wong turned and told the audience: "Everybody, I'm very sorry. I'm going to end the show. I can't continue like this."

Although the altercation was over swiftly before any of the bystanders responded to the situation, Wong wrote: “The audience was really supportive of me though so that was really nice.”

He added: “Missing Singapore but I’m learning a lot here.”

He later posted another video on Jul 25 addressing the question of why no one had reacted and sharing more details about the incident.

“Basically, the guy invaded my pitch twice. The first time, he did it at the start of the show. I played it off like every busker does," he said.

When the man came “onstage” in the middle of the show, Wong said, "Can you just leave? Because I'm trying to do a show here.” The man then started kicking Wong’s things.

"I wanted to usher him off the stage and that's when he hit me.”

As to why no one stepped in to help, “My friends were distracted (and) didn’t actually see what happened until after he left,” Wong said, and “no one can blame the audience for not knowing what to do”.

"People asking why I didn't fight back – I'm a performer. I was doing a show and I was not only representing myself, I was also, in a way, representing all the buskers in Covent Garden. So, if I fought back, it would not look good on me; it would not look good on them.”

The “worst” part was that there were children in the audience, he added.

“Personally, I don't care about the guy. The punch didn't hurt. Honestly, it's just sad to see some people living their lives like this, finding satisfaction in hurting other people. I think that's stupid and that's lame.”

He continued: “I'm not going to let it affect me. I came to Covent Garden to be a better busker, to bring better shows back to Singapore. So, I'm going to focus on that and focus on improving.”