Archive for February, 2009
 Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
I’m not sure why, but for some reason there seem to be a bunch of Clown Festivals popping up in China. I was in China in October at the Nanjing Euro-Americas Clown Carnival and had a blast. Something like twenty or thirty different acts and we had so much fun as a group that a ‘Facebook Group’ was created. Prior to taking that job I had also had another offer from another agent about another Clown Festival happening at the same time. On the way back to Vancouver I ran into a ton of the performers who had been at that other festival at the Shanghai Airport. I just recently got contacted about another festival that’s happening in April in Beijing.
So…
In spite of the general panic about global economics clowns and interactive comedy seem to be in demand in China. For today’s post I thought I’d pass along a couple of addresses for agents who I’ve encountered who are starting to work with China. So here you go –
The Agent responsible for my gig at the Nanjing Euro-Americas Clown Carnival was –
Orbital Entertainment
Attn: Brian Wilson
Suite 1500 Bank Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1H 1B8, Canada
Phone: (613) 860-1846
Fax: (613) 443-9978
web: http://www.orbitalent.ca
The agent that booked the ‘other’ Clown Festival that was going on at the same time as the one that I was doing was –
Brenn Swanson
2296 Lanes Mill Road
Brick, NJ 08724
USA
email: seaclown11@aol.com
Also, for those of you interested, the production company that handled the on-site production needs of the Nanjing Euro-Americas Clown Carnival was –
Sunglow Entertaiment Ltd.
1906 Zhonghuan Building N0. 2
Lane 3856
North Zhongshan Road, SHANGHAI 20063
CHINA
Web: http://www.sunglow-entertainment.com
Now all you have to do is learn how to speak Mandarine and you’ll have a whole new market to jump into!
Happy Happy Good Good!
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Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Chinese Clown Festivals
 Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
OK… I’ll admit it, I’ve been doing shows long enough to remember a time when street performers didn’t use any amplification and sometimes I do miss those simpler times, but my voice certainly appreciates having a bit of support and the ability to add music playback to my performance has been something I’ve used for years as well… I remember very specifically being introduced to amplification at the 1988 Halifax Busker’s Festival by my friend Brian Hulse. He had a Peavey Solo guitar amp that he plugged a handheld microphone and a walkman into and the ability he had to reach a significantly larger audience really left an impression on me.
Over the years I’ve used a number of different sound system solutions, but the one that’s given me the least hassles has been my Anchor Audio, Liberty System. I’ve had a couple over the years. The first on I bought had a built in tape deck which at the time was great. Now I have one which is simply the amp. There’s a space at the top where I can place my Sennheiser half rack wireless microphone receiver and because of the way the Liberty is set up, I can even power the receiver off of the internal battery inside the Amp with a small cable running from the 12 volt out on the back of the amp to the power in on the receiver. There are three inputs, two microphone inputs and one auxiliary.
Over the years that I’ve owned the system I’ve had some small modifications made to accommodate a back-up set of batteries, but recently removed these to cut down on the over all weight of the system. Speaking of weight… This is my biggest complaint about the unit – it’s really heavy. I put up with hefting it around though because this all in one sound solution provides better than average sound quality in a pretty bullet-proof package.
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Posted in Technical Tuesdays | 1 Comment »
 Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to go on the very first Ships and Dip Cruise put on by the Barenaked Ladies. I’ve known the guys in the band for years and when I found out that the were planning a Fan Cruise I got myself invited aboard as one of the acts. Got to do it the following year as well and had a blast not only with my own shows, but also checking out all of the great acts that were a part of the event. It was like a fantastic floating music festival!
While on-board I also hit it off with Photographer, David Bergman, who was shooting the event and we got to talking about various marketing techniques. He introduced me to a technique that I completely understood and agreed with that he called “Poke Marketing.”
Basically it amounts to making a little extra effort with the clients that you really want to impress. Send an email occasionally, in David’s case as he’s a photographer, he’d sometimes send an enlargement of one of the images that he had taken to the key person in the shot who would enjoy the memory and might be able to offer him more work in the future.
There’s a fine line between pestering someone and sending a gentle reminder or ‘poke’ to say – “Hey, I really enjoyed working with you and I’d love to do it again.”
The concept of ‘poking’ someone on Facebook has much the same effect. It’s just a little reminder that you’re thinking of someone which is fairly unobtrusive, yet might just put a smile on the face of the recipient.
If you find out that a particular client collects elephants for example and you happen to find interesting elephants that you can send them to add to their collection it’ll have the effect of having that person remember you in a positive light. You don’t need to do this on schedule – ‘Every Two Weeks I will Poke Client X’ it should rather be done somewhat randomly but often enough so that you remain in their thoughts and you become their go-to person when every they need your services.
Happy Poking!
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Posted in Marketing | 2 Comments »
 Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.”
–Mark Twain, US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 – 1910)
Addendum…
“…look no farther for living proof!”
–David ‘checkerhead’ Aiken
I think it’s not knowing that you can’t succeed that gives you the confidence to try things you really shouldn’t or might not were you to really know what you were up against… Just be a tad careful not to wield the ignorance with too much reckless abandon…
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Posted in Quotes | Comments Off on Mark Twain – Quoted
 Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
Prologue: Jim and I first met at the Kingston Buskers Rendez-vous in 1996 and I distinctly remember talking to him about this cool technology that people were starting to get into at the time – The Internet. We both went on to try and use the Internet as a tool and give something back to the community. Myself with a now defunct Performers Database and Jim with what has now become Performers.net. Jim was also a big part of the launch of Super Star Performer Cards as he and I ordered the very first cards for the 1999 season. Ah the memories…
Stats:
Name: Jim McCombe – AKA The Jim Show
Birthday: December 18, 1969 (Made it into the 60s by two weeks.)
Place of Birth: Salem, Massachusetts, The witch town
Started Performing/Working in the Industry: I did a magic show for my Grade 2 class at age 7. The next time I got on stage was in high school… From ’84-’87 I was part of a BMX freestyle team called Critical Mass. We traveled around New England and did demos at bike shops, camps and county fairs. I specialized in flatland tricks, but I was pretty good on a quarter pipe. I was also the team’s announcer, so when I wasn’t doing my part in the show, I would be on mic; cheerleading the crowd and explaining what the other guys were doing. I started juggling in college at UMass in 1988. I did a few little gigs in college here and there and made enough cash to buy lots of toys at Dube. Upon graduation, I moved to Boston and within a year I started street performing and handing out business cards for birthday parties and festivals. I’ve been making a living with my act since 1993.
Discipline: Comedy Juggler
Websites: http://www.thejimshow.com
http://www.performers.net
Video Link: http://www.thejimshow.com/video/
Venues Worked: A little bit of everything but circus, cruise ships and Disney! Hardcore street performing in Boston from 1993-2005. I had a busy college period, a busy festival period and a lot of corporate thrown in here and there. These days I do schools, festivals, corporate, “family theater” type events. I don’t really busk anymore but I do enjoy street performing in a festival environment.
Hot 10 Questions:
- What’s your favorite color? • The rich, clean, vibrant green of a field of new spring grass. Think Irish countryside. That’s a color you can actually smell.
- What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream • I had Olive Oil ice cream at a Mario Batali restaurant in NY City and I have to say it was the best ice cream I have ever had. Sweet, salty, creamy, decadent.
- Name one movie that would make it to your Top 10 all-time great films. • Seven Chances – Buster Keaton. – Sweet, romantic, clever, funny, impressive stunts. Perfect Keaton.
- What was your favorite toy from childhood? • Is a bike a toy? The only thing I remember caring about from childhood through high school was my bicycle. I still have the bike I bought in 1985 with money saved from my paper route.
- Who were your biggest inspirations when you got started? • It’s hard to say. There were a lot of great local acts in Boston when I was starting out… Peter Panic, The Airborne Comedians, Ken Zemach… but I didn’t see any real big “national” acts for the first few years I was performing. I didn’t meet or even see the “legends” (Checkerhead, Butterfly Man, Flying Dutchmen, Raspynis, etc.) until I had really developed an act.
- From the world of animation what one character do you most identify with or see yourself in? • The Roadrunner. And not because I’m really fast… just that I like to stay out of trouble. I try not to let things bother me; stay above/ahead of the fray.
- Apart from the entertainment industry, name one other job you’ve had. • I think I can name every non-performing job I’ve ever had on one hand: Paper route, restaurant cook, book pubishing company warehouse shipper, ice cream scooper, camp “nature guy” (environmental educator).
- What’s something you haven’t done yet that you’d like to try? • I am planning to learn how to make wine. But not just MAKE wine… I will be planting vines in spring ’09, growing grapes and then making wine about three years later in 2012. I’ve never done any of it before, but I’m hoping to get really good at it!
- What’s your least favourite thing about being a performer? • Flying. Flying. Flying. I never get nervous before shows, but two days before I have to fly to a gig, I feel my blood pressure rise. Taking inventory, packing, double checking everything, lugging cases, taxis, airport security, baggage fees, and on and on… The whole rigamarole just sucks. I’d rather throw everything in the minivan and drive 8 hours.
- If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? • That’s a BIG “IF” man! OK, as long as we’re playing fantasy land, I’d love to hear God say: “Welcome, Jim… I see that Buster Keaton, Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra were just heading out to dinner. Would you like to join them?”
The Nugget:
Pick one nugget of wisdom you’ve picked up from your career in Show Business to share with the World.
When I was starting out street performing, I heard this nugget: “At the end of a street show, people don’t give you money because you just juggled 5 flaming torches, they give you money because they LIKE you.”
And that pertains to private gigs and every other kind of niche in this industry. It all comes back to likability. If you have the most unbelievable act in the world, but you’re a pain in the ass to work with or you make people uncomfortable on stage, you’re not going to go far. It doesn’t mean you have to be squeaky clean, just likeable! Butterfly Man is caustic, but likeable. Gazzo is obnoxious, but likeable. It’s an art. If you’re not born with it, it’s difficult to learn, but you will know it when you find it.
–Jim McCombe
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Posted in Interview | 1 Comment »
 Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
Nearly two years ago now I decided to start noodling around on ukulele and enlisted the assistance of my friend Ralph Shaw to help me pick out an instrument that would stay in tune and be a good place to get started… He suggested the Flea Soprano Ukulele put out by Flea Market Music and upon visiting their website and checking out the various styles I opted for the Pineapple model… Just seamed to suit my personality.
I spend months noodling on my new Uke before I ever ventured out for a public performance and was lucky to have the Vancouver Ukulele Circle as my first audience. The Ukulele Circle has a policy to give you a standing ovation for your first public performance which was really a wonderful boost given how nervous I was when I stepped up on stage.
I couldn’t believe how scared I was to attempt a song on my ukulele in front of an audience. I rarely ever feel nervous about stepping on stage to do my comedy juggling show, but there was just something nerve-racking about being on stage with a prop that I had no history with. Thankfully I survived the performance, received a standing ovation and continue to plug away on other songs that I may be able to work up enough to perform.
I’ve just returned home from a contract aboard the GRAND Princess and am pleased to report that I summoned the courage to try putting a couple of songs into my performance while aboard ship and the audience really seemed to enjoy my musical performances which was both remarkable and a huge relief…
I read something once that suggested that the chemical reaction that happens in your body when you get scared and the one that happens when you get excited are virtually the same… It’s one thing to intellectualize this, but it’s another thing completely to get over a case of the nerves when you try something new out on stage. Going with what you know is by far the easiest thing to do, but my experience with pushing myself beyond my comfort-zone was that it made me feel somehow more alive and this was where my fear turned into excitement.
It’s often not easy to take this sort of leap of faith, but I highly recommend it when ever you get the chance.
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Posted in Thoughts, Ukulele | 2 Comments »
 Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
The very first experience I had of performing in front of an audience and collecting tips came at the Festival of Spring in Ottawa back in 1982. Also known as the Tulip Festival, this Spring-time arts fair was populated by artists selling their wares and consumers looking for Art in one form or another. Since my beginnings at the Festival of Spring I’ve had the opportunity to perform at a number of Arts Festivals (The Festival of Friends, The Utah Arts Festival, The Fort Worth Main Street Arts Festival to name a few) and have always enjoyed the audiences who attend such events. A few years ago a fellow performer suggested that I check out the Festival Network Online which is an incredible resource for tracking down such events and is one that I have yet to take full advantage of. Well worth looking into as a market to perform in!
Useful on-line resources –
Festival Network Online – http://festivalnet.com
Festival Network Online provides links and information about Festivals across North America.
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Posted in Job Opportunities | Comments Off on Arts Festivals
 Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
That saying – ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression’ has been proven to me over and over and over again. Making a little extra effort to have a professional image can often make the difference between getting a gig and not. Keeping yourself looking good is one thing, but taking the additional time to make sure your props are clean an working properly is equally important and really doesn’t take all that much time to do.
Right after each show, if I’ve noticed something that needs to be tweaked or cleaned I make a not of it and get to it before the next show. Also, before heading out on an out of town contract I make the extra effort to unpack all of my props and repack them to make sure every thing is clean and in good working order. If the tape on my cigar boxes is starting to get a bit beat up, I’ll take the time to re-tape the boxes. If my clubs are looking a bit scruffy I’ll wash and re-tape them.
God, they say, is in the details. Making sure that your details are in place is always a good practice.
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Posted in Technical Tuesdays | Comments Off on Clean and maintain your props
 Where in the world am I today?: Woke Up in Aruba and am heading home…
Went to my computer’s dictionary to get a semi-official definition of the term branding and it gave me this –
[as n. ] ( branding) the promotion of a particular product or company by means of advertising and distinctive design.
The concept of branding has been used by large corporations and business for years to create a strong, memorable, positive impression with their target demographic.
Some companies create company awareness through a logo that, in and of itself, says very little about the products or services that they sell. Examples include the Apple Computers Logo with a bite out of it, the Nike Swoosh or the Golden Arches of McDonalds. Each of these are instantly recognizable to most consumers who know exactly what company each logo represents.
Another technique takes the company name and gives it a color and stylized font treatment that also becomes very identifiable to the point where the name itself has turned into a logo. A great example of this is the flowing type used on every can of Coka-Cola. As soon as you see a red can with that flowing text you know instantly that it’s a can of Coke.
Hybrids that take color, text and logos and combine them together have also been incredibly effective with the Starbucks logo being an excellent example of a logo that incorporates a specific shade of green with the companies two tailed mermaid logo and a specific font treatment of the text.
I’ve been very fortunate to have had a couple of things happen to me that have made branding my product or rather branding ‘me’ incredibly easy. The decision to base my costuming around a checkerboard motif is where it all started. When checkerboard items started appear in costuming I wasn’t thinking too much about it, I just liked black and white checks and bit by bit more and more checkered items became a part of my regular costume. Because I wore the same costume at every show, the checkerboard pattern began to be associated with my show and my character and became an incredible hook. People saw the show, remembered the costume and started to call me ‘The Checkerboard Guy’ which became as powerful a hook as the pattern itself had been because the name conjured up the look which conjured up memories of the show which lead to people calling me for gigs…
The name ‘The Checkerboard Guy’ doesn’t actually say much about what I do which, has at times, creates some confusion, but wording introductions or press materials to say things like, ‘Award-Winning Comedy-Juggler David Aiken – The Checkerboard Guy’ is an easy way to combine all of the elements of who I am and what I do into an easy to understand title that still taking advantage of the hooks and branding that I’ve been using for years.
The bottom line with what ever sort of branding you choose to implement is to create a positive impression for your target market and to be remembered when what ever it is that you do is needed by who ever it is that needs it. Anything that you can do to help yourself, your product or your service stick out amongst the competitors, the better.
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Posted in Marketing | 1 Comment »
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