I'm inclined to believe Mark *could* project his voice for four New York City blocks back in his younger days.

If he was working at it long and hard the way I was, and considering that he was young (20s) and presumably strong (of voice, at least, as I was, too) -- in other words, if he became an effective streetsinger -- he undoubtedly developed a fairly amazing degree of volume and resonance. Way more than one would ever achieve by staying indoors!

I didn't work Manhattan, but did spend plenty of time in noisy sections of New Orleans and San Francisco, and passersby often told me that they had heard me from blocks away, and were surprised at how far they had to walk before catching sight of me.

Couldn't do it today -- not nearly! I have to really admire Mark for getting back into it again after all these years.

By the way: as many times as I've posted to this thread, I never addressed the original question. OF COURSE it's not begging! -- unless you're not really busking, but just pretending to play music.