Generic or Genius

[Julz]

Has anyone been here before?

It's like there is two roads: One is a highway, fringed with palms. You drive your Cadillac to the beach, there's wine, women, excess - 'success'...The other is a dusty long forgotten track and if your really lucky you'll have some old grey nag to drag your sorry carcass round the potholes toward some distant vision...

So my old show worked - it was generic, it had all the lines the formula - but it worked. I could eat, drink, travel and generally live it up. Struggling to find ways to spend the cash...but I was a hack.

The day I debuted my new show I met a young American backpacker with a handful of juggling tricks under his belt, "I'm gonna go to that festival with a notepad. I'm gonna watch all the best acts, take the best of their lines, mix 'em all up and make a show" I was never that blatant. It's just a place I found myself. It's so suductive. Sometime's I wish I didn't have a conscience.

So my new show is onto it's third day. I think I've become the joke of Wellington. That crazy Aussie who is "really not that funny"...but I'm determined and really quite stubborn. Even if it means I have to eat two minute noodles, leave the internet cafe early in case I dip into the money I saved for my bus fare.

I don't really know why I wrote this, I think it's to hear of similar experiences you guys might have had. I thaught it might ring a bell with some people. Perhaps if I could have read this four years ago...I don't wan't to go back to my old job - selling old jokes to your kids...

Julz
Down and out in Wellington, New Zealand

[Rob Torres]

Cadillacs, Palms and the old Nag

Jules,

BRAVO !!!!!! for the leap of faith into the world of discovering your true potential. Whizzing down the road in a Cadillac enjoying the fruits of others labors is one way to live. I prefer the nag. the journey might be slower but the experience is richer. You can whiz by the palms in a car or you can trot by and see the history scored in the trunks of those palms. I have performed countless shows seeing the blank stares of audiences I didn't connect with, delivering jokes that were responded to with a defeaning silence. It is when the silence stops being scary that the magic begins. Savour your journey. Best wishes

-Rob

[Steven Ragatz]

Aw, we are all hacks. That's why we are here!

Of course you should have faith that your new show is really great, but in reality, there is always the possibility that it actually does suck. Even if it does it is OK, because you can always change it. Fun thing about street work is that the first rule is that there are no rules. As long as you are doing the sort of show that you would like to do, I wouldn't concern yourself about finding some higher ground to watch the other acts. Everyone is different, and we all have different value systems. If we are kind and supportive, we can accept that fact and just work on our own priority lists and our own shows.

But, if you are feeling down about your work, and the "newness" of it is showing in your hat, why not post some rehearsal videos here and let people tell you what they see? A sort of online Motionfest critique session? Make use of the resources that you have that the guy who is just going to copy down lines in hopes of building a show doesn't have access to!

I know that if you post something - even a rough video - I would watch it and tell you what I see.

Steven Ragatz

[Peter Voice]

Hey Julz,

If it was easy, every-one would be doing it.

Stick to it and remember the "100 Shows Rule" that is often quoted here when new performers ask advice.

As a pavement artist, I'm 5 experiments into a 'new thing', what some would call a 'real' show.
I've spent about $2000, 4 months stuffing around and haven't made a cent yet. I'm not actually hatting at all and am enjoying doing it anonymously.

However, I did get a round of applause, from an audience of 17, and an invitation to a party when I got caught out on NYE.

Turn this into an advantage by doing the killer generic show every second time and, as you finish, tell your audience that your next show will be a very different experimental show and you'd love their opinion as you work it out. Thus you'll make some money and prime your audience for your new show.

Having 2 shows at a festival can have a distinct advantage. If they are truly different, then you have double the interested audience.

If you stick to the generic show, sooner or later your tattooist is going to make more money than you.

I think Lou Reed says it better but, go for it, walk the path less taken.

Good luck Julz

[Schuyler]

I originally found this board trying to find information on juggling acts so that I could put one together. It's quickly become apparent that juggling acts are generic and sort of similar to eachother, so I've stopped trying to watch other jugglers and just build something from scratch. Hopefully it will be new and interesting. I don't even own a unicycle or anything.

So, um...let me know how YOU do.

[Julz]

I thaught this would get a response...

Stephen it's funny that you mention "Higher ground" - the first track in my new show...I'm not looking for anything to hold over other performers. I wish I could stick to my old show but there is some little leprechaun character inside me that insists I aim for something new...Which is where I'm at...I've invested thousands and I am struggling to meet the bills...But that is OK I know of a few tricks to pay the bills...It is the step down from "success" that is hard. IT's OK as I said Im bloody determined... Stephen I'll send you a few minutes of still camera video in a few weeks...Feedback would be great.

I wish I could use both shows but that would require a small truck.

Thanks for the inspiration.

[Peter Voice]

Whatever it takes, Julz.

Listen to your Leprechaun, you're lucky enough to have one.

[Mr.Taxi Trix]

Rock On!

I've been in two-hour-a-day rehearsals this winter for a bit that will require at least 15 minutes of set up time, a full case of gear, extra electricity, and adds about a minute and 30 seconds to the act.

Nobody else on the planet is doing anything like it; I made it up.

It is part of a new act I've been doing since last winter, and though it lacks the polish and sure-fire laughs of the old high uni show, I am loving performing it. Sometimes, it SUCKS. Once in awhile, it works.

More than my old show, it engages me as a performer.

Don't look back, you're onto it.

[gav]

'Nobody else on the planet is doing anything like it'

how can you be sure about that ?

[Mr.Taxi Trix]

When I say "Nobody else on the planet is doing anything like it", what I mean is "Every living soul performs this trick constantly", Gav. Thanks for your contribution to the thread, and the opportunity to clear that up for the folks.

[gav]

No problem, thought it a good idea to define the boundries of originality a little. I do suspect you're be a little sarcastic though.
See now Julz knows that you can take something that everyones doing and with only subtle changes turn it into something completely different.
For instance I've seen people making a sandwich, eating an apple, eating a banana, taking a piss, doing a dump, brushing their teeth, getting dressed, getting undressed, having sex, making food, having a hair cut, shaving, making a stool,vacuuming, washing their clothes. All pretty mundane every day things, but I've seen them all turned into entertainment.
One thing I can say to Julz is don't go back to Sydney and work 4 shows a day at the key.
It's not a place that breeds original shows. Just look at the bike boy clone Bruce.

[Julz]

Hey Gav

Your right: There is no way I can go back to the Quay and perform four shows a day with Bruce and Sean. Remove myself from my familiar environment was step one of my 12? step program...Warfe 2 is a street theatre factory.

One thing that has worked so far is doing a couple of "safe" money making shows before I experiment with my new one. That way I can relax and know that everything goes pear shaped I will still eat dinner.

I think "Bike Boy clone Bruce" is a bit harsh Gav. I know he has gained this reputation over the years and perhaps a few years ago he was a clone. I think I've seen more Bruce shows than anyone else on the planet and He has far more original material than Sean these days... (sorry Sean)

But...

as you say it is not the most original show around - Sydney doesn't encourage it. Thats why I'll be riding my nag to some pitch near you pretty soon.

[Peter Voice]

Getting out of your home town (city, state, country) is also one of the first thing I tell promising performers who ask advice.

Getting out of the norm is the ONLY way to innovate, Julz.

Go for it.

[gav]

It's true I haven't seen Bruce perform for about 4 years, but when I did see him he was wearing bikeboys old costume, using bikeboys old sound system, and various other props as well as using all the same lines as bikeboy, later I believe he got a pole not long after bikeboy did.
Time has past.
Hopefully I'm wrong about him being a bikeboy clone.

[Julz]

I think Bruce soon realised he was becoming a Bike Boy clone and made a conscious decision to change that.

Apart from the pole and the slowness of delivery they are quite different. Sean is now learning a thing or two off Bruce.
Enough about those two.

I am deliberately avoiding the Quay and If I turn up at a pitch near you and appear to be failing dismally...maybe you will find me weeping in a corner...that means Im up to step two of my program...breaking habits and avoiding patterns
this one might hurt!