Magicians are, by their nature, rather reclusive. We tend to practice by ourselves or with small groups of fellow magicians. We usually go out to gigs on our own or, in the case of larger acts, with our partners and crew.
Regardless of how many or how few people you have as part of your show, one thing is certain: During the show, the majority of the attention of you and your crew is on the show itself. You’re paying attention to your act, your lines, blocking, the moves you need to make.
My show began to improve when I started having a “Spotter” – someone (in this case my very, very patient wife) who would go out into the audience and, rather than watch the show, watch the people watching the show. She began to watch the crowd to see how they responded to each joke, trick or bit of business. This added a layer of understanding which I did not have up until that point: the key to a good show lies in how the audience reacts to that show (on average).
(I have to put “on average” in there because there will be some shows which, no matter how much effort you put into it, you’re not going to get the response you want. I’ve rambled about that in the past and doubtless will come back to that again, thus, “on average”.)
If you have someone who can objectively watch your audience and keep track of how various bits work in your show, then you will have an even better idea of what it is you’re doing and how it affects your audience. This is one step beyond having someone critique your show, and in my opinion more valuable. Since a festival entertainer’s goal is to draw a crowd and keep a crowd, knowing what draws and keeps that crowd is key to creating a successful show.
In a lot of cases, if you ask someone you’re friends with (or worse, related to) how your show was, you’ll get a glowing review regardless of how the actual show went – you’re their friend / relative! Of course they want you to feel good about what you’re doing! But if you ask them how the crowd was, even if they’re inclined to give you an unnecessarily glowing review of the show, you’ll have some idea how the crowd responded to it, and will be able to review your show in that light.
So, get a friend, relative, spouse or fellow performer to sit in on a few of your shows – compensate and / or bribe them as appropriate. You’ll find your show will be better once you’ve got your crowd “spotted”.
In gigging (that strange semi improv thing Ren Fair performers do on the street), there are very few rules. The biggest rule is this:
Any challenge or situation you are put into, your response should always be “Yes, and -”
You should always build on what’s put in front of you. When building, do your best to make certain you leave the person you’re gigging with the opportunity to build further on what you’re giving him. This avoids issues like the dreaded “Gig that ends with someone threatening to kill someone else and that’s about as far as we can go with this.” As well as the “Gig that ends up a long shouty soliloquy made by one person who loves the sound of his own voice.” Not that I know anything of either type beyond hearsay.
It also gives your fellow giggers a chance to shine, which is never a bad thing. If you’re seen as someone who enables someone else to have a good gig, then you’re likely to be gigged with more often!
Tags: gigging
If you’ve spent much time at Renaissance Faires, you know that there’s this guy named William Shakespeare who is touted about as having written a very large number of popular plays. Many of them are quite funny – and I’m not just talking about the ones with all the blood and gore and killing.
However, a common lament among modern Shakespearean actors is that the lines issued to the “Clowns” in Shakespeare’s comedies… are among the least funny, and in fact the least understandable lines ever written by anyone for a character intended to be humorous.
The least funny line ever, as cited by no less a light than Hugh Grant, is as follows:
FABIAN: Sowter will cry upon’t for all this, though it be as rank as a fox.
… now I know what you’re thinking. What you’re thinking is… What the heck is this person talking about? Okay, bear with me as any exercise in Combat Etymology is going to take a bit of a running start.
First, the Context: there’s a bit of poetry reading going on here, or reciting, and it’s not very good poetry. You can check it out here for yourself.
So what the heck is Fabian saying?
“Out upoin’t” comes from the Elizabethan era phrase “out upon it!” Which, surprisingly enough, is very similar in intent to the current “get out of here!” or “shut up!” response to something which is entirely undesired. In this case, bad poetry.
“Though” in this case is not used as a contrast, but rather in the same way we use “as if”. “As though” was used in this manner for much of this period.
“Fox” is… a fox. Yeah. Little pointy nosed woodland varmint.
“Rank” is used not to indicate status, but smell. As in “wash your costume – ye gods is it rank!” Foxes, if you are not aware, can be smelly little beasts.
Sooo… Souter will cry out upon’t , though it be rank as a fox in fact means that Souter would tell you to get that hot stinky mess out of here.
I know from experience that with the appropriate set of gestures, the phrase can in fact be made understandable by the modern audience. Whether or not it’s funny is up to the audience.
Tags: combat etymology
This past weekend I auditioned for a theme park and one of the major Renaissance Faires in my new home state of Texas. The environment for these two auditions was vastly different, but both brought home some of the things I’ve babbled about here before:
- Be Very Flexible
- Make Your Show Modular
- Making an Auditor Snarf a Beverage is a GOOD thing
At the theme park, I was told ahead of time that they were looking for someone to do 15 minute “street sets” – no stage, just roll up, perform, and move on. I took the various bits of my act and assembled a 15 minute set for the audition. When I got to the audition, I was asked to do a brief intro set, and then to stick around and perhaps do more. Since two auditions for the same person are better than just one, I went with that plan. For the first “set” I did my sword-swallowing opener, then went right into the “Grand Finally” with the Garotte trick. A few other auditions later, I went back up and did a slightly edited version of my Mongolian Pop Knot (once again, thanking Whit “Pop” Haydn, without whom I would not have a career) as my second audition. It was during Pop Knot that I caused an auditor to snarf her slushie. Any time that happens, I consider it a “win” for myself.
At the Renaissance Faire, I did an edited 10 minute set, Sword – Pop Knot – Garotte, or what I like to think of as my “the last act went WAY over time and the Queen is coming up in 10 minutes!” panic set. Again, it went well – I’m not certain when I caused an auditor to snarf a beverage but according to my long-suffering wife, it happened. Another win for me!
Will I get either of these gigs? Hard to tell. I’ll keep making phone calls and auditioning. Onward!
Tags: working conditions
Okay I think we’re back! The weekend before last I was honored to come out to the Tulare County Renaissance Faire for what will likely be my Last Huzzah in California for a while – a good time was had by all and we banded together to help some of our brethren who have fallen upon medical difficulties with a benefit on Saturday which involved, among other things, pies. Many, many pies. I’m certain the embarrassing photos have already hit Facebook.
One of the truly nifty things which has arisen from that weekend is the announcement of the release of “Knight of the Living Dead”, a story written by Steve “Stevil” / “Myth” Moore, one half of the bewildering team of “Myth and Magic”, and Michael Gallowglas, storyteller and yes, writer. You’ll find the link down near the bottom of this post. It’s a 99 cent Kindle Book, so there’s really very few reasons not to drop less than a dollar in their hat, so to speak.
You can also follow Michael via his blog at http://mgallowglas.blogspot.com/ and tell him Tobias sent ya!
Here’s the link: Knight of the Living Dead – Steve Moore and M. Gallowglas
Tags: shameless plug, shameless plugs
At the end of the show comes the moment you as a performer have been waiting for – your opportunity to get immediate feedback and a solid, quantifiable response to your show.
You get the chance to pass your hat.
It is arguably the oldest way to make your money as a performer, and the riskiest.
Some performers simply put their hat out there (this works best for acts that can be wandered into, and wandered away from, like musicians, jugglers and mimes)’ while the rest of us feel obliged to come up with some clever words to help separate the men from the money.
So far, I have learn the following:
* There is no good way to keep everyone from leaving during your hat line. Expect some drainage.
* Mention money, but start with the denomination one step higher than what you expect. I ask for fives and get three ones on average. When I mentioned ones, I got a lot of pocket change.
* Admit that you’re asking for money. Marvel at how weird that is.
* Thank everyone who under 12 who tips no matter how small the tip.
* Ignore the wiseacres who make a big deal about putting straw or other random garbage into your hat. If you’re holding the hat, just move it out from under their hand.
* If a merchant tips you in beer, food or merchandise, thank them. This may be the only way they can tip you at this event. (Besides, free food!)
* Very small children will put random things which are of great significance to them in your hat. Thank them. Sometimes this encourages mommy or daddy to give them a bill to drop.
And finally,
* Go backstage before you start counting your hat!
Tags: working conditions
Sorry to have been away for so long! I’m working on getting things back up to speed with this humble blog.
In January, I was fortunate enough to spend a weekend in Seattle with Jeff McBride in a seminar. He reminded me of something which we festival entertainers might keep in mind when it comes to our audiences.
There are two types of audiences: Remembering Audiences and Forgetting Audiences.
Remembering audiences are coming to see your show specifically to see your show. They’ve come to remember their evening.
Audiences who are at an event and then come upon your show (ie: most audiences at festivals) are there to lose themselves in the event. They are there to forget their regular lives for a while.
Remembering audiences are up for deep, heady experiences. Forgetting audiences are up for lighter, more fluffy stuff.
Remember that most festival audiences are “forgetting” audiences.
Tags: working conditions
Keep Calm-o-matic poster generation. Tobias’ Credo, if you haven’t worked it out by now.
Tags: random, shameless plugs
In my last post, I mentioned how wandering through a craft store could be perilous … here is the result of one such excursion …
Two small wooden “rounds”, some paint, stick-on lettering from the scrapbooking section and a sharpie marker… and we have the work-in-progress “parlor” version of my” Up-Vertible”…. all for about one-third the cost of a store-bought prop.
Roll your own!
Tags: cheap magic
