SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — Who is the performing man at 10 Mile and Southfield Road? If you've ever driven in the area, you've probably seen a man doing drill routines in the crosswalk.
That man is James King and the reason he performs may surprise you.
The Chicago transplant is a street performer and was part of drill teams in the city before moving to Metro Detroit.
He developed the hobby after seeing other family members turn to dangerous paths in life.
"If i didn’t stay busy, I'd be with my brother in a gang," King said. "I lost my brothers to gang violence.”
The reason he picks up this wooden gun, is that so he can keep himself and others away from real ones. He wants others to learn the joys of drill performance and stay out of trouble, like his 16-year-old stepson Deshaun Stamps.
"If I'm stressing about certain things I be like hey let’s go perform and get my mind off certain things," Stamps said. "Helps me cope with a lot of stuff I’ve been through.”
King gets a mixed bag or responses for his performances at the busy intersection in Southfield: people loving it, people hating it and people asking him why he doesn’t get a job.
King works with patients suffering mental problems in the evenings, but in the daytime his passion is spreading a simple message through his performances.
"We got to put the guns down and save our youth," King said.
King says eventually he’d like to get his own space and teach other children drill performance. However, for now he’ll continue performing at events, competitions and on the streets of Southfield.
