Lol, looks like something I would do.
A few years ago, we were visiting Times Square and as we left the train station, they had a set up like that. Only difference is, they were right in the thick of it, amongst the homeless, break dancers, singers etc. We stopped and talked with them. As I understood it, they were not suppose to approach people, just allow them to come up talk to them. I also understood that this would be done in areas with plenty of foot traffic, such as in large busy cities.
Too funny, they couldn't get far enough from the game population without you popping up.