Busking in Drunken Clubland

[tony]

Well, has anybody any advice for successfully playing to crowds of drunken fratboys shuffling to and fro noisily from club to club? One concern is having them turn violent when I comment on their clothes or their girls or whatever. How do you get them to stop and listen? It may be that I just can't relate to my audience(although I like to party as much as anyone).

[stickman]

Laff I used to do this before the circle show came together.
I suggest 10-15 min sets max, the attention span isn't any longer then that. Don't hang on to your crowd from the last show, let them leave and gather a new one. Swap around your material, great for trying new stuff out. (also to seeing how the material travels from place to place) Not a big time loss if it fails either, since you've only invested 10 mins. Course I was doing manipulation. Of objects, people, attitudes, etc.. As for violence in a show, you'll learn to get around it, and get good at dodging untill you do. Most of my shows mostly involve what most people consider weapons. (Baseball bats, etc..) Involve them in some way, without letting them or anyone else get hurt or have the oppertunitly to steal your props. (Drunks favorite game, is to ridicule you after they had to many) Let the worst think he/she has, but let his friends and the rest of the crowd in on the joke he/she is to sloshed to understand. Not everybody will be at the same drunken state, so keep your material multi-leveled so everybody gets something out of it. Most importantly "never" work the final rush, when the clubs close! Might seem like fun, but in my opinion I've never found it worth the money. Also the easiest time to encounter true violence.

Eventually you'll get bored with it, as most people do. If your a musicain however, I might be the wrong person to take advice from. Shurgh

Stickman

http://www.weeble.org

[ 06-18-2002: Message edited by: stickman ]

[ 06-18-2002: Message edited by: stickman ]</p>

[scot]

The best show I saw for this purpose was my friend Mike Menace on Bourbon St during Mardi Gras. He stripped down to tiger print hot pants with a tail and juggled fire while a member of the audience flogged him with a cat-o-nine-tails. Really fast. People were walking through the show the whole time. He couldn't pay attention to them. Just kept on going. Great for that scene.
scot

[jugglermatt1]

Playing to drunken crowds , well well . At Spanish fiestas we sometimes make a huge amount of balloon flowers , and basically accost people , shove them in their faces , beat them . It helps to be slightly drunk and dressed as a clown . Im not sure it would work in America ( law suits etc .. ) , but in Spain its priceless .

[jugglermatt1]

Playing to drunken crowds , well well . At Spanish fiestas we sometimes make a huge amount of balloon flowers , and basically accost people , shove them in their faces , beat them . It helps to be slightly drunk and dressed as a clown . Im not sure it would work in America ( law suits etc .. ) , but in Spain its priceless .