One of the biggest challenges for any itinerate variety performer is getting all the stuff you use in your show from where it’s stored (usually at your home) and getting it to the place where you’re paid to use it. This can be particularly tricky with outdoor events, as there’s not a great deal of, say, paved roads, level surfaces, and convenient parking. (Tobias rule #4: Once you got your act together, you still have to haul it to the stage.)
Just recently, after much prodding from my patient spouse, I purchased this folding cart from a well-known catalog store. (I’ve linked to Amazon here because it’s less expensive… and if you order it I might just get a little scratch.)
This thing is… remarkable. I’ve messed about with carts and haul-alongs before, but this one just flat out works. I was able to haul things over some profoundly corrugated terrain out at Canterbury Renaissance Faire with the same level of ease as I rolled out to the Celebrate Hillsboro event held downtown in the land of asphalt and concrete.
Although designed to haul kids around (hence the canopy and padded rails), it did a great job of handling my kit, folding chairs, folding tables, and assorted folderol. It also folds up very nicely indeed!
(One other thing I found is that the canopy, when fully ‘deployed’, would support a light piece of pressboard or other ‘tabletop’ type material…. mobile close-up table / wagon set up, anyone?)
Tags: infrastructure, nuts and bolts, shameless plugs, sources
