I think you're right alanabit, the taunters have 'issues' themselves, which they vent on the vulnerable. But what puzzles me is why passers-by don't say or do anything. This dear old boy has been there for decades, and deserves our support as citizens (in my view). I do like inOBU's phrase 'gently persistent', and his view that buskers etc. should uphold staunchly the long and ancient traditions of street performance in the face of philistine aggressive opposition from the Authorities. Life in the city would be so bland and bleak without street singing, dancing, acting etc. Here in the UK, street 'mummers' and musicians have a very long history, possibly a thousand years. There is room for all of them in a city the size of eg Norwich. Along Gentlemen's Walk (a pedestrian street in front of the market) you can see a Scottish piper, a man dressed as Charlie Chaplin miming, South American panpipe players, my dear old Puppet Man, a young lad playing Baroque music exquisitely on his violin, a poor lady derelict trying to play her tin whistle, it's all there. I just lap it up, I just wish I could give all of them a quid each time!