Where in the world am I today?: Grand Turk, The Caribbean

Not working enough? Having a hard time getting your name out there? Want to push yourself to create new material on an ongoing basis? Why not consider making these opportunities happen yourself. I mentioned Fringe Festivals last week in a blog post, but this takes the basic principal that Fringe Festivals operate on and takes it one step further. When performing at a Fringe Festival you’ve got the a team of people working to help you get all of the elements in place so that you’ve got a venue, technicians and a bit of a support infrastructure. 

Though I’ve never self produced my own show, I’ve got several friends who have. They took the time to track down a venue, then looked after all of the details to make the show happen.

“The Silly People” in Waterloo are one example of a couple of guys who decided to rent a theatre, make posters, sell tickets, look after the technical aspects of the show then invite a bunch of their friends and create their own variety show. Over time their shows became increasingly popular and based on the success of these shows they decided to produce the Waterloo Arts Festival. 

There’s a certain risk in taking on a project like this, but often with great risk comes great reward. You’ll end up learning a ton by producing your own show which will likely end up making you a much more gracious guest when invited to perform at other events and have a much greater respect for the work that goes on behind the scenes well before you step out on stage to perform. So… If you think you’ve got a great show and aren’t having luck getting booked into other markets, why not book yourself into a show you build from the ground up.

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