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Newbies..collected wisdom
OK
Researched, "Newbie" "Advice" "Beginner"
and a few others and spent a little time over the last day cutting and pasteing and the following is the result.
I'd noticed from time to time the same topic came up and people applied themselves to answering and each time the knowledge got a little more comprehensive.
I think it deserves to be put in the library.
Additionally I ran it through a self publishing service. I had the idea that I'd make it into a booklet (11pages) sell it for $10 ($4.20 profit) and split that between Jim and I.
My questions are.
Is this cool or not?
Does everybody who's advice is included want their name and website referenced?
Given that the info's free here and hopefully in the library also I would say that the demand for an 11 page booklet would be more or less sentimental.
But it was an exercise.
It exists but I'm the only one with the URL and its private until I decide otherwise.
so let me know what you think and any editing ideas or additions and alterations.
(I'm going to chop it in two as theres a word limit on posts)
----------------------
YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO.
Forward:
The following are a collection of tips from various threads on P.net (performers.net) in response to questions posed by first timers/ newbies/beginners.
These are some of the responses and are a good collection of simple guidelines given by performers with many years experience from all over the world. You have to start somewhere and this is as good a place as any.
If you have further questions post them on p.net.
So You Want To Be a Street Performer.
Advice I give everyone starting out is that your first hundred (or so) shows are going to SUCK. So just get through them and take notes on what worked and what didn't. After 100 bad shows, you'll still probably have learned something new in each show. With 100 lessons learned, something is bound to click in that 101st show and you'll be off and running.
Start a notebook of ANY idea you have (tricks, lines, promo ideas, etc). No matter how strange or ridiculous they may seem. Then at the end of each week/month/etc review your ideas and breakdown the ones you might work and pursue them.
Don't lose heart when a day crashes around you ..
Be respectful.. of the people you share the space with.. performers , other street workers, close by shops.... and any reoccurring fans you might have...
Work as many different spots as you can [all over the country] this will help you to be adaptable to any situation and not get used to only working one spot.
Travel,watch street performers with reputations you've heard of,ask them questions about your show,these people know what they are talking about.
The 3 s's.......Smile,Shave and Slow down [you have to relax when you perform,if you are too high energy,people just leave]
Look good,you will get paid what you look like,if you look like a clown you'll get paid like a clown,if you look like a hippy,same.But if you look like a professional,clean props,clean clothes/costume,well groomed,It'll help people relate to you.
Good ideas can come anywhere, so be sure to keep your notebook handy. I used to think I would remember it, but I usually forget…
NOTHING can replace the experience of watching an experienced street performer as she/he (wow, does that phrase sound like the good laugh it ought to be!) builds an audience, entertains that audience and then, after suitable hat lines, garner the rewards from his/her years (or hours) of study and preparation.
You create a stage in public
create an audience
do a show with a
beginning
middle
and end
and ask for money afterwards.
You should somehow look like a bit of a goof out on the streets so that people understand that you are a performer. By placing stuff on the ground (clubs, knives, torches, babies etc.) you get the interest of passerby's. Contact them. Tell them a show is to start. Grab a child and place him or her where you want her. Make a stage out of a rope. Ask the child to hold onto the rope. Her family will stay (hopefully) Run around and get the audience around the rope. Start the show. It helps if you have some really crazy things placed at the ground. A chainsaw do all the talking. Knives work. The best is personality, but few are blessed with that.
Making your tricks flow into routines is also very important. Finding a way to connect them together and connect you with the audience.
Give it a fair chance to see if you really want to do it..
watch other performances and learn from them.. the good .. and especially the bad... but be your own show... if you copy another performance then you are just a copy ...
Getting out and seeing how the other guys do it, asking questions, and just doing it yourself is really the only way to learn.
Develop a character,
1/ Get one article of clothing that ‘is’ you, some playful/interesting piece of clothing, hat, jacket,pants doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are comfortable and playful about pushing a stage to just outside your body..
2/ grab a prop, juggling ball, babies rattle, small/big doesn’t matter, any object that gives you some deep playful impulse (resist yourself you double entendre fuckers)
Something that, in any given moment where you feel you’re losing it, you can grab that thing and focus on it and remember that the idea is to enjoy yourself. Choose wisely and personally.
3/ THEN on the pitch
create a stage
Put your props out with focus and intention (builds possible anticipation, its a tension device)
and/or mark out an area with string/rope whatever
and or pace the intended stage
and or (others can put suggestions under numbers ie this is 3) (then we could put it in the library under ‘collective’)
4/
Create an audience
beckon interested people to the edge of what you have defined as your stage.
Use the ‘curious ape’ technique.
(Deeply rooted in the human psyche is a curiosity borne from self preservation. From the time we came down from the trees onward unusual things had the ability to kill. If a person sees an action or a series of actions that make no sense it is a universal human principal that they will halt and focus until they have perceived meaning. If you for example take 5 actions and unusually stop each to continue another nothing will make sense for round two thirds of the process when the objectives become more apparent. In this time a good proportion of people passing will stop to try and make out what you are doing.
I was lucky enough to have the silly people comedians do a piece I wrote that demonstrated this principle, I was able to stretch ‘making no sense at all but obviously doing something focused’ to a grand total of round 15minutes--before they realised that the dead fish were there to attract flies that each performer was competitively catching)
Promise them a show
Create eye contact
Instigate relationships, be happy, if you try too hard go back to (2) then resume.
I think the first thing any solo performer needs to find out is HOW OTHERS PERCEIVE YOU ...
The only way I know to do that is to take whatever skills you have and present them to an audience ... don't write material (for gawds sake don't steal) just put the things you do in a kind of order on the ground in front of you ... then pick them up (even if they are alive) and see what happens ... THEY (the audience) will tell you what they want from you ... and THEY will write your show for you.
Once you know who you ARE ...you will know your CHARACTER ... your clown.
It might be a little frightening at first ... but you will get it pretty quick ... especially if you are hungry.
Once you know what they want to see ... then it's pretty easy ... just write down everything that you see or hear that is funny ... if you wanna get real good, record your shows on tape ... that's about it.
There is no failure, just success and not trying. Set your goal and do it. There are tons of business people that are very successful because they're stupid. They don't think about stuff, they just start and figure it will all work out. Hard work is better than hard thinking. This is what I tell myself once a week.
Do shows and suck and go home rejoicing in your suckness knowing that at least you did shows. The most valuable thing I have been told and what seems to be the recurring theme through all these posts is that the only way to get good at the street is to do the street.
While personal perseverance is a major part of anything creative I think those of us who for various reasons are still performing on the streets after a decade or so could quite easily bring to mind individuals who have taken us under their wing showed us some techniques and probably more importantly given us permission to make our own rules.
Its scary to get out there with your own content and risk failure.
That's why generic shows are so plentiful.
I was very lucky to have a teacher, ( and a soft hearted probation officer) How to create a stage in public, how to create an audience, how to create a show with a beginning a middle and an end, how to ask for money.
There's heaps of ways to do each of these things .
It helps to know what some of them are.
Go to festivals and learn at the feet of your elders, betters and wisers (and those are mutually exclusive terms in many cases). Catch all the street at the Fringe that you can. Plan your holidays to coincide with streetfests in other cities. Try. Rehearse. Ask quality questions. Fail. Succeed. Laugh at yourself. Don't let the odd cranky reply or brush-off dissuade you. Read. Research all kinds of comedy, of performance, of style, of tempo, of era, of mood.
----cont next post
Researched, "Newbie" "Advice" "Beginner"
and a few others and spent a little time over the last day cutting and pasteing and the following is the result.
I'd noticed from time to time the same topic came up and people applied themselves to answering and each time the knowledge got a little more comprehensive.
I think it deserves to be put in the library.
Additionally I ran it through a self publishing service. I had the idea that I'd make it into a booklet (11pages) sell it for $10 ($4.20 profit) and split that between Jim and I.
My questions are.
Is this cool or not?
Does everybody who's advice is included want their name and website referenced?
Given that the info's free here and hopefully in the library also I would say that the demand for an 11 page booklet would be more or less sentimental.
But it was an exercise.
It exists but I'm the only one with the URL and its private until I decide otherwise.
so let me know what you think and any editing ideas or additions and alterations.
(I'm going to chop it in two as theres a word limit on posts)
----------------------
YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO.
Forward:
The following are a collection of tips from various threads on P.net (performers.net) in response to questions posed by first timers/ newbies/beginners.
These are some of the responses and are a good collection of simple guidelines given by performers with many years experience from all over the world. You have to start somewhere and this is as good a place as any.
If you have further questions post them on p.net.
So You Want To Be a Street Performer.
Advice I give everyone starting out is that your first hundred (or so) shows are going to SUCK. So just get through them and take notes on what worked and what didn't. After 100 bad shows, you'll still probably have learned something new in each show. With 100 lessons learned, something is bound to click in that 101st show and you'll be off and running.
Start a notebook of ANY idea you have (tricks, lines, promo ideas, etc). No matter how strange or ridiculous they may seem. Then at the end of each week/month/etc review your ideas and breakdown the ones you might work and pursue them.
Don't lose heart when a day crashes around you ..
Be respectful.. of the people you share the space with.. performers , other street workers, close by shops.... and any reoccurring fans you might have...
Work as many different spots as you can [all over the country] this will help you to be adaptable to any situation and not get used to only working one spot.
Travel,watch street performers with reputations you've heard of,ask them questions about your show,these people know what they are talking about.
The 3 s's.......Smile,Shave and Slow down [you have to relax when you perform,if you are too high energy,people just leave]
Look good,you will get paid what you look like,if you look like a clown you'll get paid like a clown,if you look like a hippy,same.But if you look like a professional,clean props,clean clothes/costume,well groomed,It'll help people relate to you.
Good ideas can come anywhere, so be sure to keep your notebook handy. I used to think I would remember it, but I usually forget…
NOTHING can replace the experience of watching an experienced street performer as she/he (wow, does that phrase sound like the good laugh it ought to be!) builds an audience, entertains that audience and then, after suitable hat lines, garner the rewards from his/her years (or hours) of study and preparation.
You create a stage in public
create an audience
do a show with a
beginning
middle
and end
and ask for money afterwards.
You should somehow look like a bit of a goof out on the streets so that people understand that you are a performer. By placing stuff on the ground (clubs, knives, torches, babies etc.) you get the interest of passerby's. Contact them. Tell them a show is to start. Grab a child and place him or her where you want her. Make a stage out of a rope. Ask the child to hold onto the rope. Her family will stay (hopefully) Run around and get the audience around the rope. Start the show. It helps if you have some really crazy things placed at the ground. A chainsaw do all the talking. Knives work. The best is personality, but few are blessed with that.
Making your tricks flow into routines is also very important. Finding a way to connect them together and connect you with the audience.
Give it a fair chance to see if you really want to do it..
watch other performances and learn from them.. the good .. and especially the bad... but be your own show... if you copy another performance then you are just a copy ...
Getting out and seeing how the other guys do it, asking questions, and just doing it yourself is really the only way to learn.
Develop a character,
1/ Get one article of clothing that ‘is’ you, some playful/interesting piece of clothing, hat, jacket,pants doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are comfortable and playful about pushing a stage to just outside your body..
2/ grab a prop, juggling ball, babies rattle, small/big doesn’t matter, any object that gives you some deep playful impulse (resist yourself you double entendre fuckers)
Something that, in any given moment where you feel you’re losing it, you can grab that thing and focus on it and remember that the idea is to enjoy yourself. Choose wisely and personally.
3/ THEN on the pitch
create a stage
Put your props out with focus and intention (builds possible anticipation, its a tension device)
and/or mark out an area with string/rope whatever
and or pace the intended stage
and or (others can put suggestions under numbers ie this is 3) (then we could put it in the library under ‘collective’)
4/
Create an audience
beckon interested people to the edge of what you have defined as your stage.
Use the ‘curious ape’ technique.
(Deeply rooted in the human psyche is a curiosity borne from self preservation. From the time we came down from the trees onward unusual things had the ability to kill. If a person sees an action or a series of actions that make no sense it is a universal human principal that they will halt and focus until they have perceived meaning. If you for example take 5 actions and unusually stop each to continue another nothing will make sense for round two thirds of the process when the objectives become more apparent. In this time a good proportion of people passing will stop to try and make out what you are doing.
I was lucky enough to have the silly people comedians do a piece I wrote that demonstrated this principle, I was able to stretch ‘making no sense at all but obviously doing something focused’ to a grand total of round 15minutes--before they realised that the dead fish were there to attract flies that each performer was competitively catching)
Promise them a show
Create eye contact
Instigate relationships, be happy, if you try too hard go back to (2) then resume.
I think the first thing any solo performer needs to find out is HOW OTHERS PERCEIVE YOU ...
The only way I know to do that is to take whatever skills you have and present them to an audience ... don't write material (for gawds sake don't steal) just put the things you do in a kind of order on the ground in front of you ... then pick them up (even if they are alive) and see what happens ... THEY (the audience) will tell you what they want from you ... and THEY will write your show for you.
Once you know who you ARE ...you will know your CHARACTER ... your clown.
It might be a little frightening at first ... but you will get it pretty quick ... especially if you are hungry.
Once you know what they want to see ... then it's pretty easy ... just write down everything that you see or hear that is funny ... if you wanna get real good, record your shows on tape ... that's about it.
There is no failure, just success and not trying. Set your goal and do it. There are tons of business people that are very successful because they're stupid. They don't think about stuff, they just start and figure it will all work out. Hard work is better than hard thinking. This is what I tell myself once a week.
Do shows and suck and go home rejoicing in your suckness knowing that at least you did shows. The most valuable thing I have been told and what seems to be the recurring theme through all these posts is that the only way to get good at the street is to do the street.
While personal perseverance is a major part of anything creative I think those of us who for various reasons are still performing on the streets after a decade or so could quite easily bring to mind individuals who have taken us under their wing showed us some techniques and probably more importantly given us permission to make our own rules.
Its scary to get out there with your own content and risk failure.
That's why generic shows are so plentiful.
I was very lucky to have a teacher, ( and a soft hearted probation officer) How to create a stage in public, how to create an audience, how to create a show with a beginning a middle and an end, how to ask for money.
There's heaps of ways to do each of these things .
It helps to know what some of them are.
Go to festivals and learn at the feet of your elders, betters and wisers (and those are mutually exclusive terms in many cases). Catch all the street at the Fringe that you can. Plan your holidays to coincide with streetfests in other cities. Try. Rehearse. Ask quality questions. Fail. Succeed. Laugh at yourself. Don't let the odd cranky reply or brush-off dissuade you. Read. Research all kinds of comedy, of performance, of style, of tempo, of era, of mood.
----cont next post
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