Tweet
We've never heard of it either. And it wasn't in any of our guidebooks. But it was delightful! Near Puebla and an easy drive from Mexico City.
This is a total locals town - no tourists of any color or nationality. Major evening action from 5:30-9:30PM, tapering off until 10PM. Don't bother after 10. We didn't see it in the daytime.
The zocolo - public square - is small for the size of the town, but very happening.
The Pitch - in the main area of the zocolo, on the church side of the cafe in the middle. There are benches all around, and people will move closer if firmly encouraged. There is a LOW walk-off ratio. Many people stayed through both shows. Dim lighting. We held fire torches through a lot of the show.
The Show - the audience is expecting to be personally bottled for hat, one by one, before the finale. And they think the finale comes after the hat pass, so they won't leave until they've seen another trick. They do not walk, even if they don't give. At 9PM, it's mostly under-21's, and the average tip is 5-10 pesos. It would have been better earlier, and it was a lot busier earlier with more families. We did two 15-minute shows, without our aerial rig, and made two dinners-for-two worth of hat. It was a VERY easy gather, and they were attentive, even with very little Spanish. We used a Crate amp and kept the volume reasonable, though there is a lot of ambient noise. We were approached by club owners to do additional shows, but clubs are only open Fri-Sat and we couldn't stay.
The Deal - we asked permission from one friendly cop. We had pictures of what we do, and spoke some Spanish. He told us that if we stayed more than tonight, we should go get a permit, especially as the next day was major festivities in the zocolo, but they wouldn't bother us tonight. Multiple cops watched our show and laughed. Permits sounded easy to get, but we left early the next morning.
Lodging - we stayed at Hotel Imperial opposite the Domino's Pizza, one block from the zocolo. US$35/MEX$400/night for a double. There is likely much cheaper lodging in town, this was a nice hotel with secure parking, concierge, etc.
This is a total locals town - no tourists of any color or nationality. Major evening action from 5:30-9:30PM, tapering off until 10PM. Don't bother after 10. We didn't see it in the daytime.
The zocolo - public square - is small for the size of the town, but very happening.
The Pitch - in the main area of the zocolo, on the church side of the cafe in the middle. There are benches all around, and people will move closer if firmly encouraged. There is a LOW walk-off ratio. Many people stayed through both shows. Dim lighting. We held fire torches through a lot of the show.
The Show - the audience is expecting to be personally bottled for hat, one by one, before the finale. And they think the finale comes after the hat pass, so they won't leave until they've seen another trick. They do not walk, even if they don't give. At 9PM, it's mostly under-21's, and the average tip is 5-10 pesos. It would have been better earlier, and it was a lot busier earlier with more families. We did two 15-minute shows, without our aerial rig, and made two dinners-for-two worth of hat. It was a VERY easy gather, and they were attentive, even with very little Spanish. We used a Crate amp and kept the volume reasonable, though there is a lot of ambient noise. We were approached by club owners to do additional shows, but clubs are only open Fri-Sat and we couldn't stay.
The Deal - we asked permission from one friendly cop. We had pictures of what we do, and spoke some Spanish. He told us that if we stayed more than tonight, we should go get a permit, especially as the next day was major festivities in the zocolo, but they wouldn't bother us tonight. Multiple cops watched our show and laughed. Permits sounded easy to get, but we left early the next morning.
Lodging - we stayed at Hotel Imperial opposite the Domino's Pizza, one block from the zocolo. US$35/MEX$400/night for a double. There is likely much cheaper lodging in town, this was a nice hotel with secure parking, concierge, etc.
Comment