financial crisis vs money in the hat

[gav]

Thought this could be a good topic to keep an eye on over the next season.
I just did my first busking show for the season (finally).
I started 4 days later than i did last year due to weather.
I made almost exactly the same amount of money, 1900 kuna. (look it up)
Seems to me that when it comes to the street, people still have that small amount of money you're asking for at the end of the show.

How's everyone else doing on the busking front ?

[Evan Young]

I think it's gonna be fewer tourists from far out of town, but yeah, I agree. The shop that sells $25 t-shirts that say stupid stuff is gonna go under. The shop that sells tasty lemonade for a decent price will stay in business. Anything that offers a real value will hopefully stay on top. The family from the other side of the country might not be there as much. The family from Michigan will probably be an endangered species.
Street performers who don't act like turds will be rewarded. I recommend not acting like the world owes you something.

[jesus]

My street season dosent start until I go up to Canada but I just finished the ren fair in Arizona, and I know they are a different beast than the street but here is my two cents:
The festival runs eight weekends and the first weekend was lost to weather, but the over all attendance was only down 7%.
My experience was that the hats where just as good as ever.
However the crafters at the festival (potters, jewlers etc) suffered greatly.
So the people still came out to have fun, but when it came to spending money, they werent buying things they didnt need.
We are fun, we help them have a good time and feel good. On top of that we only cost a buck or five, maybe ten.
I think we'll be just fine and of course in the end; what ever money we make we are making doing something we enjoy and it dosent keep us in a cubicle all day.
We are lucky people.

[Storm Surge]

glass boxes are cubicles

and it dosent keep us in a cubicle all day.

unless of coarse you're a mime.

[gav]

I'm basically at the end of my season and I'd have to say that the hat average was up on last year. In fact, every year it goes up.
Same show, mostly same places.

[Lee Nelson]

i have to agree with Gav.
its nice to know that our hats get positively affected by inflation

[Rachel Peters]

It's hard to say with accuracy, but this summer I found I made better hats in small town fests than I did in big cities.

Gav -- Maybe your show's just getting better each year.

[gav]

It would be nice to think that Rachel, but in reality it's probably my inclusion of more languages and the fact that i eased off on making jokes about Slovenians.
Still, those things alone shouldn't be able to counter act a world wide financial crisis. Could they ?
The show may have got better but it's hard to see from the inside.

[Rachel Peters]

It's my observation that in times of financial crisis people turn to entertainment as an escape. Vaudeville, movies... The great depression was full of entertainment.
And this is purely speculative, but I wonder if people who know your living depends on their donations feel more empathy and a stronger desire to help out a fellow man in a struggling time. ...possible.
But I guess it's all speculation.

[gav]

Sounds more like sympathy, i don't like to think so.
I think it's more value for money evaluation. Particularly where I mostly work, guys sell sponge bob balloons for 5.5 euros !!!! A show seems a bargain in comparison. I only ask for the price of a beer, which is between 2 and 3 euros.

[Lee Nelson]

yep me too. I am beer guy. I run on the principle of "if you saw me in a pub doing this youd buy me a beer"
in general beer costs what people can afford. And it rises with inflation.
Like our hats.