Free Agency – - The Art of Creating Your Own Performance and Recording Opportunities
Greetings! My talented colleagues in the live entertainment business: during this week’s blog posts, I have offered two alternatives to paying comedy (and music, poetry, etc.) clubs for stage time (and pimping out your friends to pack the house for the club owner/managers) and/or waiting for bookers (for cruise ships, night clubs, lounges, hotels, casinos, etc.) to respond to your promotional packet and, maybe, give you an opportunity to perform and earn some money. So far, I have suggested 1) Performing at retirement centers (for free or for a small fee) in order to get plenty of stage time (to work on your material and timing), and 2) Getting together with other entertainers and offering to perform comedy showcases or variety shows for restaurants, bars, etc. on their slow nights.
Today, I have a third alternative to share with you. I call this option “Free agency.” This option involves working together with your fellow performers (stand-up comedians, jugglers, Illusionists, stage hypnotists, mimes, comedy magicians, ventriloquists, singers, musicians, pantomime artists, etc.) to rent out venues and produce your own live, stage shows. A lot of fraternal/service organizations have halls which are available for rent, often at a reasonable rate. The halls have decent acoustics (they’re often rented by country and rock bands). If the lodge has a bar and the organization is willing to help advertise the show, you will probably get some of the lodge “regulars” to attend the performance. If the lodge has a kitchen and a ladies’ auxiliary (forgive my sexism), you may also be able to offer dinner and a show to your audience and share the proceeds with the lodge.
You and your fellow entertainers will need to be willing to share expenses (hall rental, advertising), setting up (chairs, tables, etc.) and putting away down chores, and the proceeds. As I mentioned in yesterdays blog post, you can also take turns being the opening act, master of ceremonies, middle act, and feature act. You could also rotate set-up and tear down assignments. This way, the same people aren’t always lumbered with the most difficult and most boring grunt work.
Once you and your friends have made some money, you can rent an actual theater and record a live performance. Then you will have a CD or DVD to sell at future performances and on your respective web sites.
I will be implementing this plan in the Columbus, Ohio area along with several performers I have met through meetup.org. Anyone else who would like to join us, please contact me by telephone at 614-891-7393 or send me an email via this web site.
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Entertainers: You Can Accept the Comedy Club/Booking Agent Status Quo – - – Or Create Your Own Destiny
Attention: comedians, musicians, ventriloquists, comedy magicians, variety performers, mimes, stage hypnotists, singers, jugglers, pantomime artists, and all other stage entertainers! Are you tired of submitting you promo package (demo, pictures, one sheet, references, etc.) to countless entertainment bookers and never hearing back. And when you call to follow up, are they always “in a meeting? Have you had enough of the “open mic” (stand-up comedy, poetry, music, sketch comedy, etc.) scene? Are you sick and tired of paying five to ten dollars for every three to five minutes of stage time the club owners/managers see fit to dole out to you? Have you worn out or alienated all of your friends because the “open mic” clubs won’t let you onstage unless you bring at least five paying customers every time you pay to perform? If any of all of this sounds familiar, then, perhaps you would be willing to consider an alternative.
No, I am not selling anything. I’m not plugging any book, CD, DVD, or other source of wisdom guaranteed to make you rich and famous. What I would like to do is offer some free (my favorite four letter word) advice to anyone out there who is as fed up with the status quo re: booking agents, club owners, etc. Take a look back in history. What did our great grand parents do when they were finally fed up with the working conditions in the sweat shop factories, coal mines, and other work places of their time period? First, they organized. Then they seized control of the means of production. You can do the same. Please understand, I am not advocating strikes and boycotts (although they, too can be effective). What I am suggesting (and will also be doing) is that you take control of your means of production (your collective talents) and offer them to those who would appreciate and respect your abilities. Start by assembling enough entertainers of differing skills to put on your own variety shows. Stop thinking of other stage performers as competitors whom you should avoid at all costs. They are your colleagues in the entertainment business. You can help each other succeed.
Once you and your fellow entertainers are organized, start approaching local restaurants, bars, etc. and offering to present a comedy showcase or variety show on a night that is usually slow for that particular restaurants or bar. Why not try and negotiate a small fee or free (there’s that word, again) food and drinks for you and your talented colleagues? It doesn’t cost anything to ask, and you’d be surprised what some restaurant/bar owners or managers will give if you can attract a crowd on a slow night. You can all take turns be the opening act, the master of ceremonies, the feature act, etc. This will enhance each person’s performing experience and you just might make some good friends along the way. Some of you may even decide to perform onstage as a team. Successful comic actor Fred Willard (Everybody Loves Raymond, Back to You, Fernwood Tonight, America Tonight, Rosanne) started out as part of a four person sketch comedy troupe which was known as the Ace Trucking Company.
Tomorrow, I will offer yet another alternative to the so-called “tried and true” methods of booking performances.
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A Call To Arms (and legs, and faces, and voices and where ever your talents lie)
Calling All Performers
I am assembling a troupe of variety entertainers (in the Columbus/Central Ohio area) such as: pantomime artists, comedians, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, mimes, humorous storytellers, physical comedians, puppeteers, musical performers, and the like for the purpose of booking and producing our own vaudeville style variety shows.
The idea is to share equally in the up-front expenses (venue rental, advertising, etc.), set-up and tear down work. Although we would rotate roles re: master of ceremonies, opening act, feature, headliner, etc., we would all receive an identical portion of the profits (except for back of room sales where everyone keeps their own receipts). Each performer would also have a say in choosing venues, dates, etc.
Anyone interested in taking part in this entertaining and, hopefully, profitable venture please contact me via the web site. I believe we could all have fun, make some friends in the entertainment community and make a little money in the process.
To check this out further, go to the performers at large meetup page.
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Of Groups
I recently read the late comedian George Carlin’s last book Carlin’s Last. While I can’t condone the years of massive drug use, like Carlin, I have little to no use for groups. For every person added to a group, deduct 10 points from the collective I. Q. I’ve never been much of a joiner. To quote the late entertainer, Groucho Marx, “I refuse to be a part of any group that would accept someone like me as a member.” While I believe in God and did graduate from a Christian University (they didn’t know what to do with a comic like me, either), I don’t seem to fit in any church or denomination. At the last church I attended, the minister spent 15-20 minutes of each service reading jokes he had downloaded from the internet. Most of these “comedic gems” were old and over-used long before the internet came into being. If I want to listen to someone repeat other peoples’ jokes, I’ll go to a comedy club on Open Mic night. I’d rather pay a small cover charge than ten percent of my income.
T.V. preachers seem like hucksters to me. They tell to send your money to God, but, whose address do they give you? Organized religion manages money about as well as Congress. And each group looks to their constituents (I prefer the word “flock” because we’re all getting fleeced) to bail them out.
Both major political parties are a joke. The only thing third party candidates seem to accomplish is to divide the vote of one party so the other party can win. Congressional members from all parties make their shady deals behind closed doors then put on a show (like during the so-called bailout voting) for the public. If this is representative government, who exactly are these over paid fools representing when they make our money disappear faster than any magician could? It’s like watching a really bad pantomime stuck in a sad comedy of errors. But, alas, we get the government we deserve. We watch numerous presidential candidates each spend two years (while enjoying the salary and benefits of his or her current elected position) and over a hundred million dollars of others peoples’ money in pursuit of a job that pays only 480 thousand. Then, after we vote them in to office, we have the nerve to be surprised and angry when they don’t balance the budget. Wake up people! These people don’t represent the working class. They represent the corporations and special interest lobbyists who line each candidates’ pockets.
I think I became a performer because the only group I can truly relate to is the audience. Their collective honesty is inspiring. My favorite performances feel like a conversation with the audience. We seem to be of one mind. The audience is not merely reacting to what I have just said or done, but, also anticipating my next word or action. Whether I’m performing as an opening act, a master of ceremonies, or the feature comic, I find the synergy with an intelligent audience both inspiring and exhilarating.
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