Archive for the ‘Performance’ Category
Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
When I first moved out to Vancouver from the Ottawa area back in the Fall of 1990 one of the motivating factors for the move was because I wanted to peruse work in the Film and Television Industry. Based on my years of performing and videos that I had together even back in that day I managed to get representation from a local Agent who sent me out to casting calls for commercials and other bits and pieces that they felt I was appropriate for. I also tapped into the world of working as an extra on film sets, and in particular as a ‘special skills extra.’
Now be forewarned that working as an extra on a film set usually involved hours and hours of sitting around until you’re actually needed in a shot, but people who do this sort of work on a regular basis typically bring along a book and/or some work that they need to get done or spend time texting people or networking. You don’t actually get paid all that much per hour as an extra, but then again you don’t actually do all that much either, so it’s pretty decent money for just sitting around reading a book. I’ve had days were I’d go into set, wait in the extra’s holding area and then not be needed for the shots that were being done that day. It’s usually a six hour minimum call meaning that you’ll get paid for at least six hours even if you’re only needed for two or three hours, and if you’re on a shoot where they hold you past a certain number of hours, your pay scale goes into an overtime scenario and you get even more money per hour…
Now… If you’ve got a specific skill that they want to have in a particular shot, you know how to juggle or walk on stilts or can ride a unicycle or can do a back flip or some such well then the pay scale jumps again because you’re given the designation ‘Special Skills Extra.’ I’ve had friends who are acrobats who’ve done special skills work and then progressed on to doing stunt work which pays even more… Again, the hours are long, the amount of money per hour isn’t spectacular, but it adds up quickly especially if you’re in one of these ‘specialized’ skill groups, so it’s well worth putting your name into the ring and letting casting directors know that you have these skills.
This is perhaps a fairly regionally specific sort of market. There’s a ton of Film an TV work that gets done in Vancouver, but films are being shot all over the place, so if you hear of a film being shot in your area, there may be a way to find out who the talent wrangler is and make sure they know who you are.
In Vancouver there are even agents like ‘Reel Athletes‘ who specialize in the placement of actors, athletes and special skills performers for this industry. As with any gig, if you land the job once and you show up on time, are well liked, and do a good job other opportunities will spring up which will lead to others and still more beyond that. Like Ethel Merman sang in ‘Annie Get your Gun‘ – There’s no Business like Show Business like no Business I know.
Posted in Job Opportunities, Juggling, Performance, Stunts | Comments Off on Special Skills Extra Work
Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
OK… Admittedly I’m not an authority on the best classes and the best teachers as I’ve only taken a few workshops in my day and though I did major in Theatre in University, I only completed one year of the four year program before touring and working became so abundant that I never made it back to school, but there’s a lot to be said for studying your craft in a more formal setting. Working on your technique in the reasonably safe environment of a class or workshop setting can let you push yourself and experiment in ways that you might not consider in a paid performance situation. Having an instructor suggest exercises that get you out of your comfort zone and push you will allow you to broaden your vocabulary of both physical skills as well as your intellectual architecture.
What follows is a bit of a list of schools and teachers that I’ve heard great things about and thus am including them here as a resource for those who want to push their technique to a higher level…
Schools –
- The Celebration Barn (South Paris, ME, USA)
- Centre of Gravity (Toronto, ON, Canada)
- The Clown Conservatory (San Francisco, CA, USA)
- Dell’Arte School of Physical Theatre (Blue Lake, CA, USA)
- l’Espace Catastrophe (Brussels, Belgium)
- National Circus School (Montreal, QC, Canada)
Teachers –
This list barely scratches the surface of some of the great schools and teachers that are out there, but as I have yet to get myself back into the classroom, this list is meant to get others started (perhaps even myself) not to be definitive. If you know of others that you think should be included, I encourage you to list them in the comments section.
Posted in Performance, Technical Tuesdays | Comments Off on Studying your Craft
Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
…Or do I???
I’ve been remarkably lucky during the 28 years that I’ve been performing. When I started I didn’t need to make ‘a living’ out of it but somehow over the course of time and by default it became my career. Opportunities lead to other opportunities and I’ve been happy to follow one thing after another for nearly three decades now. I think to some degree I’ve had a seductive amount of success with what I do. I love performing, I love the work that goes into the getting of jobs etc and the revenue that this circular cycle (promote – book – perform – promote – book – perform) has allowed me to live a very comfortable existence and provide a happy life for myself, my wife and my kids. It does become a bit of a repetitious cycle though.
I had an email earlier this week from a performer who wanted to ask me a few questions. As her email stated…
I am planning on starting a solo performing company, and am now doing some market research. I was wondering if you would like to help me by answering a few brief questions.
Like I know what I’m talking about – Ha! So I called and we talked for about thirty minutes or so and she asked me a number of different questions related to the style of performing that she’s doing and how best to make a career out of it. I’m not sure I gave her the information that she was looking for, but it was a useful conversation for me because it got me thinking about how I’ve built my career.
Earlier this week I also got together with my good friend David Duchemin for lunch and our conversation wandered all over the map as it often does. One of the things that came up was that although I’ve had great success as a performer, success has been more a result of being busy chasing opportunities as opposed to making a plan, setting myself goals and setting out to achieve them a skill that I recognize in him.
I’m reminded of watching my kids play soccer. When they were very young the entire team ran after the ball in one big throbbing mass of excitement and enthusiasm. As they’ve grown into the game, they (and their team mates) have recognized the benefits of playing position and having a clear plan of attack when it comes to putting the ball in the net. When I relate this image to my own career I think I’m still at the stage of being that mass of excitement and enthusiasm with out necessarily the clarity of playing position and having a plan of attack.
I was impressed by some of the speakers at the Creative Mix Conference a week ago today because many of them had created definable parameters by which they channel their creativity and creative output. Amazing! Stop chasing your tail and actual construct the roadmap that allows for you not only to channel your energy but realize amazing success. Who’da thunk?
Now in some regards I think we all set about the pursuit of ‘success’ in different ways – just because I seem to have followed a less charted course doesn’t mean that my success is any less valid, but I scratch my head sometimes and wonder if perhaps I might have achieved a different kind of success had I sat down early on and plotted a more coherent direction…
I think many performers who turn to the street as their venue of choice do so because they don’t want to follow a specific set of guidelines or procedures. I totally get this, but as much as I love the street as a venue and the freedom it provides, I also recognize for myself that a bit of structure can be a very good thing so today I’m meeting with the guy who co-ordinated the Creative Mix Conference for a lunch and a bit of a brain storming session with a bit of Career Management as the general topic that I’m looking to throw at him…
I’m not sure if this will lead to self-directed career management or some sort of career coaching, training or just what, but it feels like it might be time to look at alternative courses and approaches to getting the most out of this thing that I’ve had such success doing. Onward and upward!
(giving credit where credit is due – I got the image that accompanies this post here)
Posted in Performance, Thoughts | Comments Off on I don’t need no Stinkin’ Business Plan…
Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
This is the fourth of the series based on the venues that I’ve played while working on various Princess Cruises ships and it dawned on me that this series might have been better suited to my ‘Technical Tuesday’ discussions as opposed to work related Wednesday which are usually a place to discuss the actual getting of gigs, but knowing a bit about the venues in advance of actually pitching yourself for work on a cruise ship may in fact effect the decision as to whether you actually want to get work in these venues, so I guess it’s still relevant to the normal topics usually covered on Wednesdays.
I first experienced doing shows in the Explorer’s Lounge aboard the Crown Princess back in September of 2006. The layout of the Crown is a bit different than on the ‘Grand Class‘ Princess ships and some of the other ships in the fleet in that the area at the aft (back) of the ship where the VISTA Lounge is often located instead is home to ‘Club Fusion’ a dance club and bar that also gets used for a variety of other activities including ballroom dancing classes, various game show sorts of events and of course as a dance club. Because there is no ‘VISTA Lounge’ on these larger ships, the secondary performance venue defaults to the ‘Explorer’s Lounge’ which on some of the other ships serves as one of the primary live music venues.
Working on ships is a bit different than working ‘on land,’ but were I to draw comparisons to venues I’ve worked on land, then I’d describe the Explorer’s Lounge as having the feeling of a comedy club. People are seated in chairs at tables and along sofas around the room, and the venue itself is quite a bit smaller than the Princess Theatre or the VISTA Lounge and can usually accommodate a crowd of between 250 – 350 people. Compare this to the between 600 and 800 people that can be accommodated in the Princess Theatre (depending on the ship) and it becomes immediately apparent that this is a more intimate venue for shows.
This comes with both pluses and minuses… On the plus side, playing in a venue that feels really full when there are 250 people in it is great because it’s always more fun to play to a full room. Put that same number of people in the Theatre and it would feel deserted. On the minus side, the powers that be at Princess Cruises feel that to allow as many passengers as possible the opportunity to see the shows that are going on in this venue, they require acts to do three shows a night. This is one more than normal when working in either the VISTA or the Princess Theatre, but the salary remains the same, so it’s more work for the same amount of pay.
Much like the VISTA Lounge that I discussed last week, this venue can be a challenge for jugglers because the ceiling height is quite limited. Like the VISTA this space also has a semi-raised stage that can be retracted during the course of the performance if necessary and for me it usually is. Simply stated, when I get up on my Unicycle I need all the height I can get.
In the image that accompanies this post you’ll hopefully be able to make out the line of the dance floor that meets up with the carpeting in most of the room. The stage is actually set on rollers and pivots around a point in the centre and rotates out from underneath the permanent stage that is set back from the dance floor. It takes about 30 – 45 seconds to roll the stage out or in, so it’s important to allow for this time during the course of your performance if you do need to take advantage of the extra ceiling height. The other alternative is of course to perform the whole show with the stage put away, but I quite like being on stage during most of my show as it improves the sight lines significantly for people around the room to be raised up a bit for the majority of the show.
The seats in this venue are arranged in less of a symmetrical formation than in the VISTA Lounge and seem to have more pockets and alcoves or people to get tucked into for private conversations and such before shows or at other times during the day. Although this doesn’t maximize the seating capacity that this venue could offer, it provides a nice loose feeling which goes had in hand with what the cruise lifestyle is all about and still allows for pretty decent sight lines from around the room.
Technical support in Explorer’s Lounge is usually provided by two individuals. A technician/crew chief who runs the sound and lights, and a back stage assistant who looks after any on-stage needs during the course of the show. Just as there was a step down in what’s possible when we went from the Princess Theatre to the VISTA Lounge, there is a similar step down in terms of what is possible when going from the VISTA Lounge to the Explorer’s Lounge. I’ve never really pushed the limits of any of the spaces on ships from a sound or lighting perspective as all I seem to need lighting-wise is a general wash on stage and someone to run a few sound cues for me… My low tech requirements may not fully take advantage of what’s possible, but it also means that far fewer things can go wrong and this seems to have served me well over the years I’ve been working on ships.
Much like the feeling in the VISTA Lounge, audience members walk into the Explorer’s Lounge expecting a less formal ‘presentation’ of a show, so this venue suits the style of my show quite well. Sure doing three shows in a night ends up being quite a work out, but ya never know who might be in the audience, and I always try to go out and give it my best and have a good laugh with everyone at every show.
Posted in Cruise Ships, Job Opportunities, Performance | Comments Off on The Explorer’s Lounge
Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
And so continues the discussion of the various venues aboard Princess Ships. The Vista Lounge is what I like to call the Cabaret venue aboard many of Princess’s Ships. This venue can be a challenge for jugglers because the ceiling height is quite limited, or is when the stage is set in the ‘up’ position. Thankfully (?) my show doesn’t rely on technical juggling that requires too much in the way of height and I can play quite successfully on the stage when the stage is in the ‘up’ position and as it only takes about 20 – 30 seconds to lower the stage for when I need a bit more ceiling height when I perform on my unicycle I keep the stage up for the majority of the show then have the tech crew lower the stage right at the very end prior to me getting up on the unicycle.
Why not keep it down for the entire performance you might ask? Well the nature of the seating arrangement allows for good for sight lines from about the knees up when the stage is in the up position, but only from about the mid-chest up when the stage is lowered. I prefer to keep the stage up for the greatest visual appeal until I get to the end of the show when I absolutely need the extra space for riding and juggling on my tall unicycle.
The seats in this particular venue are arranged in an arched configuration which provides and excellent view of the stage from just about every seat in the house. There are a few support poles in some of the Vista Lounges on some of the ships that impede the sight lines somewhat, but for the most part this arched arrangement works very well. These arches are made up of both sofa like seats as well as individual soft seated chairs and there are an ample supply of small tables for drinks and a bar at the back of the room which lends itself well to the more ‘cabaret‘ feel in this particular venue.
Technical support in Vista Lounge is usually provided by three individuals. The Crew Chief who runs the sound and lights, the Stage Manager back stage who looks after things like raising and lowering the stage (in my case) and may assist a bit with staging needs and the third member of the crew is quite often a spot light operator. Though the lighting effects that can be created in this venue aren’t nearly as sophisticated as those that can be achieved in the Princess Theatre, quite a bit can still be achieved with the creative use of what this venue does offer. Also, as you can see in the image, speakers are hung from the ceiling around the venue and provide excellent coverage for the room so that the quality of the audio is evenly distributed through out the space.
Give the choice of playing the Princess Theatre and the Vista Lounge I tend to opt for the Vista as I like the fact that the audience is in closer proximity to the stage. This allows for much stronger interaction with the audience which is something that my show relies on heavily. Being able to hop off the stage and virtually be in the middle of the crowd brings an immediacy to my performances with is much more in keeping with my training working as a street performer and in festival environments. The other nice thing about this space is that it can accommodate about half the number of people (if that) that the Princess Theatre can so if you’ve got a small-ish crowd it’s still a lot of fun to play in this space as it feels fuller than the Theatre would with similar numbers.
For what ever reason people also seem to walk into the Vista Lounge more prepared to play. In the Princess Theatre there seems to be a sense of the fourth wall being somehow more appropriate and shows in that space tend to have a more presentational nature. Shows in the Vista seem to lend themselves more to breaking that fourth wall and mixing things up a little bit more.
Posted in Cruise Ships, Job Opportunities, Performance | 1 Comment »
Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
For a couple of years now (actually more than a couple of years if I really think about it) I’ve been meaning to get around playing with either Powerpoint of the Apple equivalent, Keynote. These slide show organizing software packages are used in business to make presentations and deliver talks where the visual images/slides are used to help make the points that are being talked about… I’ve been a big fan of watching the Apple Keynote speeches that are typically delivered by Steve Jobs and have enjoyed the way that the presentations have been so seamlessly accentuated by stunning visual graphics, videos, music, impressive text etc and have always figured that given the right situation I’d like to learn how to do this sort of thing and figure out a way to incorporated it into one of my shows.
Now it’s not the thing if you’re presenting a show outdoors which I often do, but in an indoor setting they can be quite effective. I first saw one used by a performer who was doing an impersonation show. He’d flash images on screen of the voice he was emulating and the power of the visual combined with his impersonation had a far greater impact than what the effect would have been had he just gone out and done a series of voices. The next performer I saw using slideshow technology was a stand-up comic named Jim McDonald on a ship who had a series of great jokes about what life is like on ships and used slides to help make his points. The visuals combined with the set-up and punchlines of the jokes appealed to both the audiences ability to hear the joke, but also to see it as well… The more senses you appeal to, the greater the effect you have on the audience… That’s a given, but as a juggler the visual impact I usually aim for is more directly related to the skills I’m presenting than some other visual that might be more of a distraction than an addition, so I’d never figured out a way to successfully incorporate the power of a slide show presentation with the style of performance that I do.
The chance has finally come though… This Thursday, October 22 I’ll be one of twelve speakers at the CreativeMix Ideation Conference. As the website states –
This conference is for everyone who depends on their creative output—whether it’s a small or big part of their work. The goal is to help individuals take their creativity to the next level! We believe that the next level can be achieved through inspiration that comes from learning and working outside the box.
When I was first asked about doing this I wasn’t really sure how it was going to pan out and to be honest I’m still not sure how it’s going to pan out… I’ve had a pretty wait and see what happens approach to this as it’s been in the works for almost a year, but the cool factor of what this is has just recently started to hit me. I recently took another look at the list of speakers who will be talking and scratched my head and wondered why on earth I’d been included in such a cool cross section of Vancouver Creative Community, but decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and am diving in head first in an attempt to get as much out of the experience as I possibly can…
This includes finally sitting down and playing around with some visuals that I’ll be including in my 25 minute session. I opted to use Keynote as the presentation software as this is what the presenter specifically asked for I figured that since this is what they’ll be using it’s likely best to keep the software packages as in sync as possible so I run into the fewest possible technical head aches. Sat down last Friday and took the on-line tutorials on the Apple website then noodled around with the version of the software that I’ve got (a few generation’s old at this point), then Saturday I sat down and crafted the talk from the ground up and played with the visuals that I’ll be using and put them together in a nice slideshow format so I could meet the imposed Monday deadline (yesterday) for such things…
Having this deadline imposed on me gave me the incentive I needed to make the time to learn the software. Now that I’ve played with it, I’m quite keen to see how the talk goes on Thursday and how it feels using visuals of this nature in the context of my ‘performance.’ If it ends up being as fun as I hope it will be I think I’ll have to start working on other ways I can incorporate this into my regular shows… Hmmm… Fun!
Posted in Performance, Technical Tuesdays | Comments Off on The Push I Needed…
Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
I’ve had a call the other day from a friend inquiring about a show at a social function that they were helping organize for a group of about fifty people. We walked through the formalities of talking about the wheres, the whens, the expected audience, all the stuff I inquire about before talking about price, but inevitably the question of price is where the conversation leads…
So… How much will this cost?
Over the past couple of years I’ve been working more for cruise ships, multi-day festivals, trade shows and in situations that are quite a bit different from what this friend was asking me to come and do and I was a bit stumped as to what I should charge… Now it should also be mentioned that this particular friend is well connected with a fairly high profile company with whom I’ve had a connection since 1992 and I’ve enjoyed numerous benefits as a result of this connection so in the bat of an eye and with out really thinking too much about it my answer to the question – “How much will this cost?” my answer was –
“Free!”
I went on to say that because of my long term association with various people at the company and all of the benefits that I’d received over the years that I’d be happy to come and do the show for them. No need to worry about money… I’m sure I’ll continue to benefit form my association with them so consider this favour or perhaps just a deposit into the karma bank…
Our conversation continued after the details were more or less in place and not two minutes later we were talking about an opportunity that, were it to pan out, would more than compensate me for my time and effort for this upcoming show that I’ll be doing for ‘free.’
Never underestimate the power of giving things away. If you’re trying to impress a potential client or have a particular cause that you feel strongly about then contributing your talents in a pro-bono fashion can have huge spin-offs and help get a the ball rolling on what may end up becoming a very profitable long term relationship. Short term loss for long term gain trumps short term gain for long term loss every day of the week, so the hidden benefits of giving a few shows away are quite often worth more than what you might have charged in the first place and long term be worth more than you might even imagine.
Posted in Marketing, Performance | 2 Comments »
Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
Last week I started an in-depth look at the venues aboard Princess Cruises various ships with a look at the Princess Theatre. Today I thought I’d go from a discussion of the ‘main room’ to what many might consider the extreme opposite end of the spectrum – The Piazza.
A bit of background on the space itself… The Piazza first appeared aboard the Crown Princess when she was launched in June of 2006. The atrium on this ship was designed to emulate an Italian Piazza or town square with a variety of shops and restaurants around the permitter and up and around the other two decks that opened onto the space. Now the story I heard was that Martin Hall, an English guy and also head of entertainment for Princess Cruises wanted to include a ‘Street Program‘ and incorporate performers like the ones he was familiar with from Covent Garden into this space to give Princess Passengers a new, exciting, never before seen on sea, entertainment experience by bringing street theatre to his ships and it proved to be a success. Performances in the Piazza proved to be so popular that the space was also incorporated into the next two Princess ships that launched, Emerald Princess (2007) and Ruby Princess (2008) were also designed with the Piazza space and base on it’s success there, three other ships, Golden Princess, Grand Princess and Star Princess were retro-fitted during 2009 with a Piazza space.
As you may be able to gather from the photo that accompanies this post, there is a main circular mosaic which in essence represents the stage. As you stand on this stage you face a small stairway where audience members will often gather if they’re enjoying the show. Tables and chairs are set up around the space on a couple of different levels and are usually well populated by audience members. The stage itself is located on deck five, and there are staircases that rise to deck six and seven which both open up to provide balcony viewing opportunities for those interested in standing and watching the shows from above. During my most successful shows in this space it’s been standing room only on deck five, fully lined stairways from decks five to six and from decks six to seven and audience lined up around all of the balconies as well.
This wide open ceiling space is wonderful for me as a juggler as I don’t have to worry about high throws as much as I do in some of the other Princess venues. Another really nice thing about this space is the fact that the acoustics are quite bright which makes the space feel livelier. In the Princess Theatre which I described last week the soft seats, the carpeted floors and the upholstered wall panels absorb the sound, but in the Piazza, the tile floors, and harder surfaced walls mean that the sound bounces around a bit more keeping the energy in the space a bit more dynamic.
Technical support in the Piazza isn’t quite as extensive as it is in the other venues aboard ship, but because this space also gets used for other events like the Captain’s Cocktail, the Champaign Waterfall, Cocktail Demonstrations, Game Shows, etc. most technical requirements can be accommodated. There is always a technician assigned to the space during performances who can run sound cues and assist with minor staging requirements, but for the most part, the more self contained the performer is the better.
The ‘street theatre‘ shows that are scheduled in the Piazza are fit in around other acts that traditionally perform in the ship’s atrium. Most often this means a variety of musical acts. I’ve worked on ships with piano players, jazz guitarists, string quartets and multi-instrumentalist. Typically the musicians are programmed for 30 – 60 minute sets where as all of the ships that I’ve performed on with the Piazza, the ‘Street Performers’ are scheduled for 10 – 15 minutes.
Now, coming from a street performance background, and in particular one where I’m used to doing shows that run from 30 minutes to an hour, a 10 – 15 minute time slot feels like I’m just getting started. I treat my shows in this space as a bit of a game with the audience getting increasingly involved in the performance and sometimes even after having done a 25 minutes spot (well over the required time) the audience will demand that I give them more… This is both enormously flattering and a real pleasure when it happens. All this to point out that although the time requirement is 10 – 15 minutes, there is flexibility if you want to play longer.
To be honest I think Princess is still trying to work out how to best use this space and are trying a variety of different performers and styles in it to see what works best. I’ve seen everything from roving characters who wander though the space during a 15 minute stint to vegas style cabaret acts who do their 8 minute act and promptly leave to stage magicians who use the space for a demonstration of close up magic to actual street performers who totally ‘get it.’
It’s always amusing to me when I join a ship and see people’s reactions to working in the Piazza. Some look at it as ‘below them’ as though they’re doing a show in a hall-way, a shopping mall, not a proper stage at all, but every venue can be a gold mine of opportunity if you approach it with the right attitude and likely because of my years of experience performing on the street I walk into this space and have some of the most enjoyable shows that I’ve ever done on ships in this space. Like so many things, it is what you make it, so why not make it fun!
Posted in Cruise Ships, Job Opportunities, Performance | 1 Comment »
Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
The year is 2006, the festival is the Edmonton International Street Performer’s Festival, The show is “The Juggling Sherpas” a show that I created with Geoff Cobb aka Thom Sellectomy… The premise behind the show is that two Sherpas from Nepal find themselves in Edmonton armed only with a book on street performing and their Sherpa Know-How to help them make enough money to return to their homeland.
The reality of all of this was that Geoff and I had joked for a couple of years about how so many new shows that seemed to be cropping up were so formulaic that they seemed like they were following the same patterns and rules that must have come from the Master Guide to Street Performing… “THE BOOK” as we called it. The joke lead to the idea for the show… The idea for the show lead to us actually creating “THE BOOK” that we had been joking about… I think this paragraph from the Introduction sums it up best –
The book that you now hold in your hands, So You Want to be a Street Performer, gives you all of the information that you will need to become a street performer, freeing you from the bonds of corporate oppression and allowing you to be your own boss. So You Want to be a Street Performer is your Emancipation Proclamation from the tyranny of day to day life. This book contains all of the insights, tips and hidden gems required for you to earn a living on the street. This guide will come to sere as your bible, outlining a code that will guide you through a life of street performing. This tome will serve as your very own Declaration of Independence!
During the creation of “THE BOOK” my primary job seemed to be to proof read, but Geoff insisted that I come up with a couple of the elements that can be found in the the Appendix of “THE BOOK.” My most significant contribution seems to have been with the creation of “The Denaid Equation” which explains how and why successful street performers area able to get money put into their hats. This purely mathematical formula will actually make sense to anyone who has ever done a show on the street and though it’s liberally sprinkled with humour there are truths that ring true beyond the comedy.
Why was it called “The Denaid Equation” you ask… Well we came up with faux pen names and characters for the guys who actually wrote the book. These names were created by taking all of the letters from our names and re-arranging them into new names.
Geoff Cobb became: Brofy C. FeBoge
David Aiken became: Kavi Denaid
Thus “The Denaid Equation” was credited to the faux pen name of yours truly.
Fancy reading the entire text? Well it’s just a click away… After discussing things with my co-author I received permission to upload a pdf version of “THE BOOK” that I helped created by scanning all of the pages of one of the original copies of “THE BOOK” from our time at the 2006 Edmonton Street Performers Festival and uploading it here. Either click the previous link on any of the links for “THE BOOK” throughout this post to view the text on-line or download it to your computer.
Posted in Performance, Technical Tuesdays | 1 Comment »
Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
I must admit that sometimes, in the heat of the moment I get excited and don’t always listen before I take action… Though this has never really gotten me into trouble I know that there are times when it’s better to shut up and not only listen, but actually hear what’s being said before taking action.
I reminded myself of this the other day when I got an email from a client that I’ll be working for later this month. I’m going to be acting as a pitch-man of sorts, a colourful host who will assist various vendors in making their presentations a little bit more interactive and a little bit more dynamic. I’m guessing that I’ll be able to incorporate many of the variety skills that I usually have at my disposal when I do my comedy juggling show, but this time around I’ll be taking on the role of a TV Magazine Show Host I suspect. The fact that I have a trunk full of skills at my disposal will make things that much more interesting which I suspect is why this client turned to me to mix things up a bit.
Anyway, I got an email from the client with a rough outline of what the script is to be for the various products that are going to be a part of this trade show situation along with the added information that I’d be getting contact information for all of the various vendors of these products that are going to be demo-ed some time in the coming week. Each of these vendors will likely have their own agenda and methods for making their presentations as successful as possible and I’m being thrust at them to help liven-up their presentations…
I’m really excited by the opportunity to partner with so many different people for this contract, but I’m also keenly aware that one of my primary jobs is to support and enhance with out diluting the main focus of the presentations. The key to making it successful is going to be to listen carefully to each presenter, hear what they’re saying, blend well with their presentation style and make each individual shine in front of their audience. I need to be able to reflect their energy, enhance their energy, encourage a bit of zaniness while at the same time not walk in and steal focus, my job is going to be to augment their focus not try to be the focus.
I think being a parent and perhaps some of the work I’ve done at the C.A.M.P. Program in Winnipeg will really prove an asset as in these other situations my prime directive is to use everything I’ve ever learned as a performer to shine the spotlight on someone else and encourage their success… It’s an odd sort of shift in focus when you stop trying to be the centre of attention and realize what the centre of attention needs to be and support it to the best of your ability.
Inevitably I’ll end up having the spotlight shone on me at times, but if I can remember to stay focused on the larger picture I should be able to ensure that the client that’s hiring me and all of the vendors that I’ll be working with will come out looking like the real heros at this trade show. If I do this successfully not only will the event be a success, I’ll also solidify my relationship with this particular client for similar opportunities in the future.
Posted in Performance, Thoughts | Comments Off on The Fine Art of Listening
Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
Since I’m working a lot on cruise ships these days and in the coming months I thought I’d take a bit of time to describe some of the performance spaces that I typically work when I’m off galavanting around the world on one of these contracts. I seem to be working more for Princess Cruises than any other line, so I’ll use the five different performance spaces that you find on Princess Ships to give you a better sense of what you can expect if/when you head to sea for a contract on one of their ships.
The five different venues that I’ve performed in to date ranging from the very luxurious 800 plus seat Princess Theatre to the street-like setting in the middle of the ship that has been designed to emulate an Italian Piazza. Each of the performance spaces offers a different set of strengths and challenges, and knowing about each before you join these ships can help ensure that your shows look as good as possible.
On my most recent contract aboard the STAR Princess I ended up working in three of the five venues that are used on Princess Ships, The Princess Theatre, The Vista Lounge and the Piazza. Were I to cover all of the venues in a single post I’d end up with an incredibly long post, so I’ll attack this process one venue at a time. I’ll start with the biggest of the venues, The Princess Theatre (you can see the floor plan of the ship here).
The Princess Theatre is the ‘MAIN ROOM’ on Princess ships and has a traditional proscenium which lends itself well to the many production shows that are presented for passengers over the course of their cruise. In spite of the limitations and added technical challenges of creating a theatrical space aboard a cruise ship, this venue has a very sophisticated system of flies that allows curtains, screens and set pieces to be flown in and out of view of the audience making for very quick changes. Many of the ships also have lifts that allow the cast of production shows to be lifted up to stage level or lowered out of site which gets used to dramatic effect in a number of shows. One ship that I’ve worked on (The GOLDEN Princess) even has a ‘rain’ system where water is rained down from the ceiling in a line and is captured in a gap in the stage below. This is a pretty spectacular effect and one I hadn’t anticipated seeing on a ships.
Lights and sound are all controlled from the main booth at the centre back of the audience and this booth is maned by the senior production manager, along with a lighting technician and a sound operator. Backstage you typically find a crew chief and any number of back stage hands the number of which depends on the needs of any given show. Out front you may also have one or two spot light operators.
Now as a juggler I seem to be used more often in the cabaret venues on the ship than in the main theatre though I did get to play in the theatre on this last contract which allowed me to pull out my free-standing ladder for the audience. Normally I don’t often bring it out because the ceiling height in some of the other venues aboard the ship prohibit the use of some of my ‘taller’ props.
Depending on the ship, the theatre can hold an audience of anywhere between about five hundred and eight hundred passengers. The seats are raked, meaning that they slope up and away from the stage which allows for excellent sight lines for just about every seat in the house. Now, if the theatre is full, the energy in the room can be fantastic. On the other hand, if the venue is sparsely populated this venue can be significantly more challenging to play than some of the smaller venues aboard the ship.
Something about this particular venue on Princess ship, the soft seats, the carpeted floors, the upholstered wall panels means that the energy that you put out as a performer is somehow immediately muffled as soon as it leaves the stage. This is challenging enough when you’re playing to a fairly full room, but if the space is only 30 – 40% occupied it becomes even more of a challenge to get a sense of how well your show is being received. You just don’t hear the sort of reaction that you may expect having performed in other venues and knowing this in advance can help prepare yourself for a muted reaction from the audience. Now it’s important to realize that the audience may well be enjoying your show, but it’s just less audible because of the nature of the venue.
Audience reaction may also be a reflection of the demographic in attendance on the specific cruise that you’re being employed on. On shorter three or four days cruises (The ‘Booze Cruises’ as they’re known in the industry) the demographic is typically younger and crowds are more vocal and boisterous. On longer cruises (some as long as 30 days and even up to 100 days) the crowd is typically older (retired) and their level of enthusiasm can make it feel as though you’re not doing very well even though the audience is thoroughly enjoying your performance.
When the planets align and you get a full house of enthusiastic spectators the Princess Theatre is a joy to perform in. When, however, you’re playing to a house that’s 20 – 40% full and the crowd is made up of people who are less vocally appreciative, it can be an enormous challenge if you rely on audience interaction in your performance as I do. As always, the mark of a true professional is one who walks out onto stage and deliver the very best show possible no matter what the conditions… Besides, you get paid the same no matter what the situation, so why have fun! Next week I’ll look at the next of the venues I typically work on Princess ships, the VISTA Lounge.
Posted in Cruise Ships, Job Opportunities, Performance | 5 Comments »
Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada (eventually)
And so my journey home continues… The trip started last night in Papeete, Tahiti… 10:00 pm departure on Air Tahiti Nui Flight 101 to Los Angeles, then on to Alaskan Airlines Flight #703 up to Vancouver…
So why all this talk of flights and schedules? Well apart from the fact that it’s what will eventually get me home later today, it also ties in to today’s topic which centres around the Food & Entertainment Schedule that are created on Cruise Ships… I figured since I was just on the STAR Princess that it might make for a decent topic for a Technical Tuesday…
Before getting to the STAR for this latest contract I had received two different stories about what I was going to be expected to do by my agent in Miami. When the contract was first confirmed this is the note I got –
You will need the 75 min…probably a full show & split bill show.
This was then changed to –
They are asking for a full show & a short piazza spot…so you will only need 55-60 min, not 75. like I initially told you.
Then, when I got to the ship and checked the Food & Entertainment Schedule that details the show schedule for the time I was on board, I discovered that the cruise director was in fact asking me to do two completely different 45 – 50 minute shows and then in addition to this he got me to do mini-street style shows in the Piazza.
“Subject to Change”
Seemed to be the catch phrase when it came to my performance schedule aboard the STAR Princess this past week.
Usually, what my agent tells me and what actually transpires when I get to the ship are one in the same thing, so I’m not exactly sure what happened this time around but I am thankful that I was somehow able to pull it off. The Food & Entertainment Schedule usually details the schedule for the week and when you get to a Princess Ship, these schedules are either included in your welcome aboard information or are available in the cruise director’s Office.
Now, even though these schedules are usually very accurate, it does sometimes transpire that changes are made on the fly (like they were for me this week) for a variety of reasons, so it’s important to be flexible enough and travel with enough material to be able to roll with the punches and make sure that what ever your asked to do, you’re continually delivering great shows to the audiences. Do this and your long term career aboard ships is pretty much guaranteed!
Posted in Cruise Ships, Performance, Technical Tuesdays | 1 Comment »
Where in the world am I today?: At sea aboard the STAR Princess…
Before setting sail aboard the Star Princess from Hilo a couple of days ago I had the immense pleasure of getting picked up near where the ships dock by the one and only Robert Nelson, The Butterfly Man. Robert and his wife moved to Hawaii about 5 years ago and it’s easily been eight or nine years since I last saw him at the Windsor Busker’s Festival, so it was a great chance to catch up with one of THE legends of the Street Performance World and just get to hang for a few hours.
We drove back to his place in Pahoa and gravitated towards a couple of chairs in the shade of the car port where we enjoyed cool drinks and great conversation! It wasn’t long before we were joined by another incredibly gifted performer that I first met in 1990 at the Winnipeg Children’s Festival. A puppeteer and super-nice guy named Steve Hansen.
The conversation revolved around great stories from our mutual shared history either from places we’d all performed together, or people we all know and I got to wallow in the fact that this art form that I’m a part of whether you want to call it ‘Street Theatre’ or ‘Variety Performing’ or ‘Busking’ has such a great living history filled with some of the most interesting characters on the planet.
In Japan they have a Sempai – Kohai system that roughly translates to Master and Apprentice though I think some of what that means has been lost in North American/Western culture these days. My feeling in Japan is there is a special sort of acknowledgement that is given to those who have gone before you for the contribution that they have made to the art form that you are pursuing. There’s a certain appreciation for the wisdom of people who have been at it longer than you have. Even if technically they don’t have the skills that you as a younger performer posses, there’s an awareness that the contributions that have been made by these legends in the industry deserve recognition and respect.
As I sat in the shade and listened to the stories, the humour and the wisdom of these two greats that had gone before me I felt lucky that circumstance had allowed for this chance to spend a few hours together. Our time was unfortunately cut short by my need to get back to the STAR Princess before it set sail, but those few hours at the Butterfly Estate will likely resonate with me much more than any other experience I’ll have during the rest of this contract. Good times!
Posted in Performance, Thoughts, Travel | Comments Off on A blast from the past…
Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
A while back I got an email from my friend Guy Collins asking me what I knew about the College Market. I wrote back explaining that my knowledge was a bit limited, much of which I wrote about in a recent-ish blog post here… He took that information, followed up on it and asked another friend, Wacky Chad, some more questions and recently sent me another email with this additional information as a follow-up on some of what he discovered… Here then is some additional information about booking shows in the College Market thanks to Guy Collins and Wacky Chad –
From Guy –
Here is what I have found out about the college gig scene.
1. You have to join sonicbids.com – This is OK but it does cost at least $5.99 a month for a basic EPK (Electronic Press Kit). I have got some good leads from sonicbids but as yet no concrete bookings! Check them out yourself. Typically, agents who book for the US colleges will only look at you if you have a sonicbids EPK though I know Gazzo got enlisted by an agent who just knew of him!
2. If you are going to represent yourself you need to join NACA and or COCA, this is very expensive. $710-00 for NACA and about $250? for COCA. Then you have to be selected to go to one of their conferences which you have to buy booth space at which again costs you approx $250-.
(NACA is North American Campus Activities. COCA is the Canadian equivalent.)
This additional information from Whacky Chad –
When I joined sonicbids I had no idea what to expect, I just put up a really nice EPK on there and an agent saw it and my video – liked it and picked me up. So, based on my experience, try submiting you’re website, and sonicbids EPK to agents.
Also, try walking in to the student activities board (or find the contact us part of local colleges and email them from their website or send them promo to address with special note that your trying to break into the college market). Ask someone at the college who and where to go to give your promo to that deals with campus activities and entertainment. Meet and greet this individual in person if you can. Go to a few colleges in your area and explain who you are, what you do and how long you’ve been around for. Basically do cold calls to your local schools to try and get the ball rolling.
If you say you’re trying to break into the college market and would perform a show for a discounted price (like $400-$700) they may go for it. Then tell them you’ll help promote yourself around campus, make posters, flyers etc. Basically try and get a lot of students to come even if it costs money out of you’re pocket to do the advertising.
If you go this route, check out – gotprint.com – for HIGH quality flyers, and make your self look as good as possible. Spend the extra money and get the dual side color flyers (not cheap B&W paper flyers). This is very much a case of spending money to make money. Do what ever it takes to secure that first show. I would maybe even print 10 big posters of your act and frame them to hang up around campus explaining when and where the show will be. Make the posters so you can change the date and time and location.
Once you book the show, get a professional to video tape your amazing college show and edit the quality video footage into a slick package that you can then put on sonicbids and you’re own website and make sure you clearly state that you specialize in college shows on you’re website.
Other Important info about college gigs:
- They like super-funny!
- Be extremely personable!
- Make yourself easy to book – this includes a tech rider that is not overly complicated
- Great promo and easy to download!
- You’re act has to have “the college look” – that’s what I’m still trying to figure out. One that says this show is perfect for college students.
Posted in Job Opportunities, Marketing, Performance | 2 Comments »
Where in the world am I today?: Ketchikan, AK, USA on my way back to North Vancouver, BC, Canada
Part of the fun of show building is seeing what sort of crazy props you can find to help tell what ever story your show is built around. Not admittedly I’ve lived most of my life as a comedy juggler and tools of that trade seem to be fairly ubiquitous… Clubs, Balls, Cigar Boxes, Juggling Machetes, Torches, Unicycles, blah blah blah… Magicians (unless they’ve created their own routines from scratch) also tend to carry similar props to one another – cards, coins, ropes, rings, etc. These things become the tools of the trade and it’s not the prop that’s important, it’s often the personality of the person manipulating the props that ends up drawing the focus of the performance.
With my latest adventure in show building, ‘The Hot Dog Show,’ I got to think a bit outside the box in terms of the tools I used to tell the story of a six inch tall stuffed Dog Toy shaped like a Hot Dog who happened to be an Unprecedented Stunt Performing Super Hero. Getting the audience to buy into the concept was the first challenge, but beyond the challenge of getting them to accept the premise of the show was the challenge of finding props that had what I refer to as ‘quirk appeal’ – that unique ability to capture the intrigue of an audience simply based on it’s appearance and perhaps people’s pre-conceived notion of what ‘should’ be done with that object.
Prior to the show’s debut I tried to get as many of the elements in place as I could, but it was inevitable that during the course of the run I came up with other ideas for things I’d like to add to the mix to increase the resonance of the performance and add funky little elements to the scene that would give me more to play with and provide an increased intrigue for the audience.
The show itself is set up around three super stunts, and prior to the show debuting I had a red flashing light that I pulled out at key moments of the show to help build tension before the execution of the stunt… Over the course of the run I wanted to find more stuff to help create this anticipation before each stunt and came up with the idea of tracking down a cymbal playing monkey that I could bring out to add not only to dramatic tension, but also a completely abstract element of ridiculousness to the scene – a stunt Hot-Dog accompanied by a demonic looking cymbal playing monkey… How great would that be…
So I turned to the worlds largest garage sale – eBay – and sure enough I came across a ton of cymbal playing monkeys… The one I’m after is referred to as the ‘Jolly Chimp’ and though I’ve put bids in on a few that have come up I haven’t won my very own ‘Jolly Chimp’ yet… I will though… Trust me… I will! I mean look at that scary looking monkey… Even if, in the end, I decide not to add him to the cast of The Hot Dog Show, he’ll find a nice place on my desk and keep me company for years to come… No if I could only get my hands on one of those dippy birds… All in good time my friends… All in good time!
Posted in Performance, Thoughts | Comments Off on Quirk Appeal…
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