Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada

The Vancouver Whitecaps Soccer Club have a long standing tradition of hiring live entertainment to perform at Swangard Stadium prior to games as well as during the half time break. I’ve done the gig a number of times when the Whitecaps have had home games and am usually one of a couple of variety entertainers as well as a live band who are hired to perform. I think it’s awesome that the Whitecaps puts on such a great show for the fans that come to support their team, but this is by no means the only opportunity I’ve had to work the fringes of professional sports.

When the Hockey All-Stars Game came to Vancouver about ten years ago a ton of local entertainers were hired to perform during the festivities. Some went all out to incorporate a hockey theme into their performance, others were simply hired to do great shows for the fans who came to experience all that the All-Star Game had to offer. I was really impressed with the level of organization, audience turn out and how much fun it was to perform in this environment.

My friend Geoff Cobb hooked up with an agent a few years ago who specializes in finding acts for halftime shows and the like and know that Geoff has performed at quite a number of events.

Another friend of mine, Barrett Felker, who performs as one half of the Gizmo Guys toured with the Harlem Globetrotters for a season or two early in his career doing a juggling show for their half time spot.

Vancouver based acrobats Peter Boulanger and Ninon Parent have also taken their show to the basketball court for half time shows.

Other friends, Sem and Teresa of Semcycle Fame have worked for a ton of NBA franchises with their unicycle show.

All this to say that opportunities to perform at professional sports events exist all over the place and some performers have focused a lot of energy on promoting specifically to this market. It’s important to understand before you walk into one of these gigs that you’re rarely (if ever) the reason that sports fans come to these events and many may leave to go visit the concession stands while you’re doing your act, but if you can pull out all of the stops and hammer home a great show you’ll no doubt have a blast performing for a huge crowd in a huge venue… Heck… It’s the closest thing to performing in a modern day gladiatorial ring that you’re likely to experience, so why not jump at the adventure!

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Where in the world am I today?: Guangzhou in the morning, Beijing in the evening.

As a follow up to the post that I wrote on Monday where I talked about the importance of building strong relationship with clients, I thought I’d throw out another idea for how to keep really good clients happy.

Sometimes it’s a very good idea to not over saturate your show with a given client. The longevity of the relationship will benefit as a result because by spacing out your performances a bit you’ll have more time between shows to work on new material or for the client that’s hired you in the past enjoy seeing some of the same material again.

In the interim between when you perform for the client and when you do a repeat performance, why not offer your services as a consultant on who your client might be able to bring in to mix things up a bit. If you are able to locate talent for them who will deliver a great show then you’re value as an asset to that client will increase. Now how you choose to operate in your roll as consultant can take various forms some more profitable than others.

Charge a consultant’s fee. This puts and money involved in an up front billing scenario. This is the nature of the relationship I’ve had with the Pacific National Exhibition and the Street Stars Program for the last five years or so. I’m brought in by the creative director of the fair who considers me an expert in the sphere of world class street performers. Over the years I’ve grown my files on various acts from around the world so that depending on what sort of acts will help realize a particular year’s vision for the event I’ve usually got a few different acts to suggest. I’m brought in, provide a service and also act as the liaison between the fair and the performers from the time I go in for the first meetings until the day the Fair opens. Now the PNE is a large enough event that the idea of paying a consultant fee for this service makes sense.

Act as the talent booker or agent. In this scenario you act as the representative for another performer and charge a commission for the service you provide. In this scenario the fee comes off the back end. The client pays a flat fee then you take your commission/finders fee out of that fee before the balance is delivered to the performer who actually does the show.

I set up a company years ago that acted as a tour organizer for performers and charge them a commission on the work that they did. I did it in part because people were coming to me saying things like –

“Dave, we see that you’ve got a great tour booked always seem to be working. Would you be able to set up a similar tour for me?”

I set up tours for people for a couple of years, but I always felt a bit weird taking money from my friends. Sure I was providing a service, but the idea of being an ‘agent’ who makes his living off of the hard word of artists seemed a bit off somehow. There’s a difference between being an ‘agent’ and being a ‘manager’ and I think I’d prefer the idea of helping guide someone’s career as a manager, but in the end I think I was happy enough just managing my own career with out having to babysit the careers of my friends.

But back to the concept of developing great long term relationships with clients… I’ve been lucky enough to do the corporate Christmas Parties for a few clients a number of times. Even if I love how the show went down and the client wants me back the following year I’ll often suggest that they hire someone else for the following year just to mix things up a bit. In this scenario I just provide a list of local acts who I’m confident will provide a great show and offer this information up as a free service.

This does two things. It makes life easy for that client which is great and it gives work to my friends. I’ll often send this list out as an email and then BCC all of the performers on the list just so that they know where the lead came from. My hope being that by being nice to them, they’ll turn around a be nice back and suggest me in a similar fashion. Perhaps this is a bit naive on my part, but it’s how I choose to do things.

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Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada and on my way to China.

Today I find myself on my way to China for a job with the Canadian Tourism Commission, but one short week ago I was teaching unicycle as part of the 13th Annual Circus And Magic Partnership (C.A.M.P.) Program in Winnipeg. I posted last week about how much fun the C.A.M.P. program is but beyond it being an absolute hoot to hang out with the Instructors that Neal Rempel (Artistic Director of the Winnipeg International Kidsfest) assembles to teach the program, the reality of teaching circus to kids is one that’s worth investigating as a way to diversify your income base.

Many of the instructors from the C.A.M.P. Program in Winnipeg have created their own training/teaching programs that are either housed in a permanent home or travel to where the students are.

My friends John and Annie from Firefly Theatre in Edmonton teach ariel workshops for teens and adults through out the year in the gym that they train in as a way of supplementing the revenues that their company makes.

Dean Bareham from the Green Fools and Flyin’ Bob Palmer have set up programs around Alberta at various locations and will grow/shrink the program depending on the budget so that they’ll either go in by themselves or bring several instructors in with them to teach.

Phil Leconte from the Silly People is trying to set up a C.A.M.P. program in Waterloo, Ontario based on the Winnipeg model and actually brought out one of the potential partners/funders to the Winnipeg this year to see the Winnipeg model first hand.

My friends Sem and Teresa created the Cirque Amongus program that opperates out of the Detroit Area.

Even giant Cirque du Soleil’s Cirque have a program to teach youth called Cirque du Monde.

If you have a skill and have the ability to explain it with enthusiasm and passion there’s a very good chance that there are opportunities in your community to share your knowledge and skill and be compensated for your time. Beyond the financial reward though, teaching for me is a chance to make sure the things that I’m passionate about are passed on others and this is good for the soul work.

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Where in the world am I today?: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

My friend David Duchemin (who’s been popping up on my blog posts a lot recently) asked me to come up with a list of things to consider when making the leap from doing something as an amateur/hobbiest to making it your full time career. As Wednesdays are all about work it seemed in keeping with the them for Wednesdays to share the list of ten things that I came up with when considering making the jump to making your living from your hobby.

10 things to consider when going Pro…

1. If you can, start young. It’s way easier to suck when you’re young and you don’t technically need to make a living from what you do because your parents are supporting you. This is a bit tricky for those who find what they love and want to turn into a profession later on in life, but I was lucky and got my start young and it served me really well. You’re going to spend a certain amount of time sucking before you get good. If you’re relying on what you do for a living while you’re in the middle of your suckage stage it’ll make things significantly harder.
2. Be a student of the game. What ever it is that you’re trying to be a pro at, make a study of the profession, the people who are successful in the business and what makes them successful. This isn’t to say you should be come like them, but there’s a lot to be learned from people who’ve gone before you.
3. Be grateful for the assistance you get in pursuing your love and turning it into a profession and make sure you not only acknowledge the help you’ve been given, but make a practice of helping those who are coming up the ladder after you… It’s just good karma.
4. Figure out what your “nut” is and make sure you’re going to be able to make your nut by pursuing your love as a career. This can either mean working at your love part time until the revenue stream warrants making the switch with out much of a lifestyle change or changing your lifestyle so that it doesn’t cost as much, your nut becomes smaller and you can afford to pursue your dream even if it means taking a hit income-wise.
5. Whenever possible, love all aspects of the job. This includes practicing the craft, promoting the work, dealing with clients, and ensuring that from start to finish the service you provide goes above and beyond the client’s expectations. This will lead to more work and better work.
6. Be as conscientious about the 10th opportunity you get to work with a client as the very first time. The Care and Feeding of a client shouldn’t suffer because they employ you multiple times. If anything you’re degree of care should increase as this one client may well contribute significantly to your income and by keeping them happy you insure that this source of income never dries up.
7. Whenever possible make the job a game and fun for everyone involved. If people have fun working with you they’ll want to work with you again and again and again. This doesn’t mean lessening the degree of professionalism, but being well liked and a lot of fun to work with, ‘good on the ice as well as the locker room,’ will often get you more jobs than having the best product combined a sour attitude.
8. Make sure you really want to make your love, your passion into your job. Sometimes the shift from hobby to vocation takes some of the excitement out of what you do. If you go from loving what you do to hating it because you ‘have to do it’ to put food on the table that shift can create a certain mental stress that has a negative effect on not only the work you’re doing but also the lifestyle you’re trying to live…
9. Spend time crafting celebrity and leveraging it. Being a great at what you’re doing is great, but once you carve out a level of celebrity, you go from being hired as a performer to being hired as “The Performer” because the client wants to work with you and not just any old performer. This is more often than not worth more than what ever skill it is you’re trying to sell.
10. Look at the top professionals in the field you’re pursuing. Look at how they live their lives. Look at what it takes for them to do what they do. Carefully have a look at any sacrifices that they’ve made and whether you’d be willing to make the same ones in pursuit of your craft. Look at where you are compared to them. Consider how long it may take for you to get to that level (if ever) and make sure you’ve got enough drive to reach a level that you’re going to be happy with. In other words work towards success, but before you even start, make sure that the success your working towards is actually one you want.

Got any other ideas on things to consider before becoming a professional? Feel free to leave a comment.

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Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada

When I first moved out to Vancouver back in the Fall of 1990 the income I made from the street shows I did down on Granville Island really did represent a significant percentage of my income. Back in those days the performers policed themselves. You showed up in the morning and took your place in the line up. It was a first come first serve sort of deal, so if you REALLY REALLY wanted the first show you got their at the crack of dawn… That honor typically went to Rick Lewis who would often get the first show in and as a result of his diligence the last show too…

Now to keep your place in the line-up you had to leave some of your props near the pitch and what ended up happening was that the venue, which is located in front of a retail business, ended up looking a bit like a bizarre garage sale. Though the retailer, was, is and hopefully will ever be, busker-friendly, having a pile of crap in front of the store didn’t appeal… After enough complaints the governing body of Granville Island established the Granville Island Busker’s Program via the Granville Island Cultural Society.

These days, the system is far more regulated (including a busking permit that needs to be purchased) than it ever was when I was working down on Granville Island on a regular basis and in fact, I was recently asked if I’d be willing to be on the jury committee for the SEGI (Summer Entertainment on Granville Island) program. Applicants either submit their promotional materials and video or perform a live audition and are programmed into the best performance times on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from mid-May – the end-ish of September.

Now… Since the permit system went into effect I’ve had mixed feelings about paying for the privilege of working a street pitch and some of these mixed feelings were echoed in response to the announcement of the 2008 SEGI Program that was made on Performers.net. Hard core street performing has always had an element of defying authority and creating something where there was nothing, and to have a street pitch this regulated feels a bit off to me. That being said, the pitch is a lot of fun to work, having pre-scheduled times that you know are waiting for you is a luxury that many street pitches around the world don’t have and if you commit to making this a regular staple of your performance diet, then the fee is more of an annoyance than anything else.

There is good and bad to just about any performance space be it on the Street, at a Corporate Event, or on a Cruise Ship Stage. The beauty of working on the Street and one of the things I still absolutely love about that environment is that it makes you sharp. If you’re not doing well, the audience simply walks away… If you can make it work on the Street you can make it work just about anywhere, and Granville Island is certainly one of the nicer street pitches in Canada.

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Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada

I’ll admit it, I was a fan of the first reality shows I ever saw which came from Japan. Contestants were given really bizarre challenges like being given a paddle boat shaped like a swan and asked to navigate from Osaka to Yokohama in the open ocean. Or fathers asked to perform a bizarre task like typing the lyrics to a song in a given time limit when they’d never touched a keyboard in their life before. Fun to watch because there was the element of human struggle combined with a really bizarre task.

In more recent years shows like Survivor, American Idol and America’s Got Talent started popping up and producer used slightly different techniques to create an audience for their shows. The creation of celebrity, the use of hype and sensationalism and the building of a great product for TV – reality shows went Hollywood! As an entertainer I certainly understand the techniques used to make the shows appear interesting, but never fully bought into it.

Then in November I got an email from the associated casting director for “America’s Got Talent” with an inquiry as to whether I’d like to submit myself for auditions for Season 4. I was a bit skeptical as to whether I really wanted to be involved with something like this and as I know a guy who was involved in the show last year I thought I’d fire off a quick email to get his thoughts…

Me – Got the an email today from Americas Got Talent and am not entirely sure what I think about this as an ‘Opportunity.’

There are pros and cons to this I think and before doing anything I wanted to get your take on your experience with the show last year.

Worth your time? A waste of time?

This is the response I got…

Doing this “talent show” is a real crap shoot. They may make you look very good or very bad, and I mean they when I say they. The editing on this show can really kill you. I saw acts that did very well in the audition but when the show aired the editing made them look like crap. The producers are in total control of how you look. They will edit audience reaction shots that are not even from your show, which could be good or bad. One thing you need to know is that if you do not have something that is totally unique and can showcase in 90 seconds, I would think twice about it. Even at 90 seconds they can edit that down to 20 or 30 seconds if they want to make you look really lame. The music acts do well on this show because they can fit into the 90 second audition slot nicely but the variety acts and comedy based acts have a lot harder time making that work. I strongly suggest that you look at some of last years acts on the NBC web site and see what worked and what didn’t. My human puppet bit worked well in the 90 second slot and looked unique to the judges compared to all the other vent acts that auditioned. That’s the only thing that I do that I think gave me a chance to get through. My goal was to get 5 minutes and that’s exactly what I got. It was a 50/50 chance of getting that and having them making me look like shit.

In the end I opted not to follow up on this chance to be on TV because I didn’t feel like what I do was going to be well showcased on the show. I also took a moment to look at myself as a product that could be turned into a story for Television and realized that I come from a bit too normal of a background to make for really interesting TV. I’m happily married, I’ve got two kids that I love, I work regularly and have made a successful career out of performing even if I’ve never reached ‘Star Status’ I do feel like I’ve reached a level of fame and respect with in the industry that I’m really happy with. There seemed to be more to loose than there was to gain. Add to that the fact that rumor has it that David Hasselhoff has a thing against jugglers and I decided not to shoot myself in the foot on this one.

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Where in the world am I today?: At Sea aboard the GRAND Princess, The Caribbean

Through the years I’ve had the opportunity to perform at a number of Music Festivals. Way way back when I used to live in Ottawa and shortly after getting my first car I’d throw my props into the back of my Austin Mini and zip over to Montreal to perform on the Streets at the Montreal Jazz Festival… My appearances at that time were completely impromptu and the money I collected in my hat at the end of the show was the full payment that I received.

Since that time I’ve been invited to a number of great Music Festivals including:

• The Dawson City Music Festival (Dawson City, YK, Canada) – http://www.dcmf.com/
• The Riverbend Festival (Chatanooga, TN, USA) – http://www.riverbendfestival.com/
• Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival (Salmon Arm, BC, Canada)- http://www.rootsandblues.ca/
• Vancouver Folk Music Festival (Vancouver, BC, Canada) – http://thefestival.bc.ca/

Being a non-musical act playing at an event which is predominately all about music is a mixed blessing. I always feel a bit like the odd man out when I’m at a Music Festival, but the very fact that I am different seems to at times be an advantage because it gives people a change from a strictly musical diet.

My ability to grab a few bits and pieces and play for the crowd while change overs from one band to the next are taking place has also been a huge bonus both for my exposure at these various events and for keeping stages alive even when there’s a break in the music.

The four events listed above are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the possibilities out there. Type in “Folk Festival” or “Music Festival” into your favourite search engine and you’ll have a huge list to choose from. Start making a list of the one’s you’d like to go to then find out who the Artistic Directors of each event is (often listed on the websites) and send in your stuff, follow up the mailing with a phone call and see if you can get yourself in…

I’ve had a blast performing at Music Festivals and am a huge music fan, so when the chance comes up to perform at a Music Festival I usually jump at it.

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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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Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada

Fringe Festivals are a ton of fun and have the potential of being very lucrative if you play your cards right and understand how to maximize the exposure of your show. The way in which these festivals are organized varies a little bit from city to city, but the basic concept comes down to this. You become your own producer front all the costs of putting the show on and in turn collect all of the profits from it as well. If you’re able to get lots of bums on seats by creating a buzz about your show, coming up with creative marketing techniques and having some great reviews then the potential of doing very very well with a show that’s got a broad appeal. 

Though I’ve been to many many Fringe Festivals over the years (Adelaide, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria) I’ve always played the Street Venues which were glorified street performance pitches. In my case, the fee I paid (if any) covered the cost of a sound/light technician who was present at all of my shows and helped ensure that my technical needs were properly addressed. I’ve enjoyed great success at Fringe Festivals and had my biggest hat of all time (the amount in tips collected in one’s hat at the end of a show) at the Edmonton Fringe Festival many moons ago. 

The beauty of these festivals though is that experimental theatre has a chance to get tested out in an environment that is receptive to artists taking risks. I’ve seen some really amazing shows at Fringes around the world and made some amazing friends at these festivals as well. Beyond just doing your own shows though, the Fringe Festival Circuit ends up feeling like a lifestyle choice as you end up becoming a part of a community of artists who are pursuing risks and creativity much more so than at some other gigs.

Useful on-line resources – 

Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals
http://www.fringefestivals.com/members.html
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival
http://www.edfringe.com/
The Adelaide Fringe Festival
http://www.adelaidefringe.com.au/

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

I’ve been fortunate to work a variety of venues over the years, and even more fortunate that I’ve been around since the beginning of most of the Street Performers Festivals in Canada. Each of these events seem to be run in a slightly different way with slightly a different emphasis on the conditions that are provided for the performers. All can be an enormous amount of fun and a couple of them even help to organize tours of multiple events. The following is by no means an exhaustive list of Canadian Street Performers Festivals, but gives a taste of some of the events that are out there.

Canadian Street Performers Festivals exist in the following cities:

• Ottawa •  http://ottawastart.com/busker.php
• Kingston • http://www.kingstonbuskers.com
• Toronto • http://www.torontobuskerfest.com
• Waterloo • http://www.waterloo-buskers.com
• Windsor • http://www.passthehat.com

Events that organize multiple events in their perspective areas:

• Halifax Buskers Festival • http://www.buskers.ca
• Edmonton International • Street Performers Festival – http://www.edmontonstreetfest.com

Readers wishing to add additional links are encourage to post other festivals in the comments area.

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