The Act: Mime-dance. R.G. has performed in the subway for two years, and on the streets for much longer.

Favorite Spots: Times Square and Port Authority subway stations.

The Money: "The harder you work, the better the living. A few people have actually written me checks—and they didn't bounce." R. G. performs every other day for three hours at a time.

Claims to Fame: Appears in Michael Jackson's Bad and Jay-Z's 99 Problems video.

On Busking: "It's not all ice cream and cake. Sometimes you get people who try to bring you down. You get hecklers. But I look at the smiling faces. They're the ones I perform for."

Text and photos by street photographer Joseph O. Holmes