street or stage?

[silver]

Bizarre or indeed not so Bizarre question.......

Why do we work on the street? (as opposed to stage stuff)

Peoples justifications, rationalisations and philosophies will all be read avidly and with interest.

I might even post my own eventually!

Silver

[ben woodling]

Ok, here goes... We have a "captive" audience when we perform on the stage. Therefore we only get feedback through applause(good[keep going]) or booing (bad[Run off crying]). So we have time to develop the audience and create longer buildups to the finaly.
Heres the point.....
On the street we have to gain the audience and keep them intrested. on the stage if people would rather be somewhere else they cannot move and would need to really dislike it to give feedback, ie booing. But on the street if they are not hooked on your everyword they can just walk off( showing that your act is not quite there yet). It is harder but when you got it you know that your stage act should also be perfect.(although both are not nessecerily the same).
{hmmmm....it worked in my head}
[img]confused.gif[/img]

[Brian Wilson]

A nice little look at the audience "captivity rate" for both venues Ben. But your post doesn't look at the ever looming question of "WHY?"

Why Indeed? Why would a performer talented enough to work the stage instead prefer to work a busy street corner, full of passerbys, homeless bums, tourists, and whonot. Why would said performer put flaming torches in their mouths, endanger their limbs, or climb up on something tall and unstable like a giraffe unicycle and juggle dangerous items? Well we all have our own reasons.

For the street. Many street performers prefer to never have anyone tell them what to do. Performing on the street allows them to exist without a "day job" and to essentially do their own thing (their own act - sometimes someone elses act.) It's the ultimate "do my own thing" and it can be done in almost any city setting.

The street is also an amazing testing ground for new material. Getting a captive audience at a corporate event, or getting a theatre show together is beyond the reach of many performers. Gathering a crowd of strangers around you in the street is considerably easier.

Many performers also do shows as a sort of therapy. Their need to be the centre of attention results in developing 30-40 minutes of "Ma look at me! Look at what I'm doing!" Afterwards a few hundred people will come up to the act, give them money and tell them how good a job they did.

All that, and the money can be good. (When it's not raining.)

More later...

Check out my online journal at

http://briguy.diary-x.com/

Bri's online journal

[ 06-04-2002: Message edited by: Brian Wilson ]</p>

[Rich Potter]

The excitement. The instant gratification. Not having to wait for a paycheck.

No phone calls/mailings/other bullshit. Just show up and do your thing.

See the world. Meet interesting people. (many of them drunk)

The hecklers, the drunks, the lunatics. All part of the flavor. Yeah; they're a pain in the ass. But sometimes they're worth their weight in copper. (I wouldn't know about gold. Copper's all I ever get in my hat!)

When the show's over, I don't have to hide behind a curtain. People come up, one-on-one to tell me how much they liked ME.
And then they pay me for being a nice person.

All of it is a rush.

Stage shows I've done have been too easy. I don't feel I'm really earning the response I get from them. The street is more satisfying. One very successful busker once told me he was worried when he started doing big corporate gigs that he was losing his "street edge".

On the stage: I really like the idea of 100-500 people deciding that they want to see me. They pay in advance, and they already have decided that they like the sort of thing I do and my worth. The winning them over part is already mostly done. The initial tension of persuading them to stay is taken out of the equation, allowing more subtlety and allowing that energy to go into other channnels.

--Rich (Unlucky Cubic Zirconian)

[Butterfly Man]

Not having to say you're sorry.

[Evan Young]

I like how I can get tons of experience in a short amount of time. I can get up to 10 shows a day in some places. Stage shows don't come along nearly as often for most people, unless your in a circus or vegas doing two shows a day.
Also, I'm too damn lazy and disorganized to get my promo material together.
I agree with everything said by the others as well.

[DEBBIE ROBINSON]

The street keeps me alive!
I agree with Rich Potter - corproate gigs one after the other, the tread mill you can lose the street edge. They can be well paid, but its too easy to switch off and go through the motions. My band gigs are great, but give me a street corner, just me and my guitar any day, and pavement drawing days make me feel like no one can touch me - I'm on top of the world . Its a feeling hard to explain. My equivalent to that imaginary place called heaven.

[Little Willie - Travlin Road Show]

There Is No Drug Out There Like Street Addrenaline.
We're Not Trapped, The Response Is A Trip.
It Is On The Street In Your Face Insane Lunacy.
And For Me A Touch Of Back Alley Philosophy.
People Walking By Saying It Sucks Turn It Off.
At The Same Time Someones Grooving By Smiling At You Getting Into It.
Others Walk By With There Fingers In Ears Saying Were Calling The Police.Cars Pulling Up With A Hand Out The Window Handing You A $5.
While Someones Flashing A Photo Or Getting It On Video.
Mayhem, Madness, Chaos, All This Spiritual Energy.
While Were Calmly In The Middle Of It.
Yes Heaven !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!