Your Pitch

[Sam X]

Hello Chaps.

What do you look for in a pitch? How long into your time there do you normally know if you have picked the right spot and are there any obvious signs?

[charlatan_mudo]

"the basics of pitchology"

Letīs see now.. Oh yes, in order to give you a clue or three here are the things I look for in a pitch. Spots I use are either in pedestrian shopping areas, near touristic "hotspots" like basically any old building with a more or less interesting history (a performance permit I obtained a few years ago marked my act as a "tourist attraction"), wide sidewalks on major avenues so as not to obstruct the flow. Or any square available in the center of the city/town/village I happen to find myself in should all else fail. Details. Cover my back at all times; Stand exactly in front of a wall. Or something. For some reason pictures get taken of what I do, so I try to use a "backdrop" that looks more or less decent in the image(s) certain people carry off with them. Thatīs all for the moment; in case something else occurs to me Iīll get back to you okay

[GlassHarper]

Obvious Signs of a Good Pitch

Obvious signs? How about: "Have other performers successfully used the pitch? Do I accumulate an audience here? Does that crowd hapily contribute at the end of the show? Do the police refrain from running me off the pitch?"

But don't let obviosity (is that a word?) be your vademecum -- try it! If it doesn't work try somewhere else. Some pitches work well for one type of act, but not for others. My hurdy gurdy act works in places that my glass harmonica flops and vice versa.

(a little preachy, do you suppose?)

[Sam X]

No, not preachy at all.
Good advice.

[jugglermatt1]

Lots of space , people being relaxed in it . No other nasty performers using it . Not too much sun , wind or rain .Look around you , If your not American then theres loads of pitches all over the place

[grOmmet]

I always have a good look at patterns of pedestrian flow, density and direction
.
Places of convergence can be good.

A word with local people, shopkeepers, market traders, bar owners, cafe people, etc,. usually gives some indication of what else happens , and where.

Another thing to look out for is whether the spot you are contemplating has people SOLEY passing through [en route to something/somewhere else].. or whether folk are less rushed, and prepared to stop awhile....

Then of course there's the TIME of day/night to consider...as some locations come alive /peak at the most unexpected times......

Good Luck!

[Niels Duinker]

Stefan Paridaen and I played last summer in Antwerpen, Belgium. We did a duo juggling show.

To play in Antwerpen you need a licence, but we found that the places were we where not allowed to do the show were better than the places were we were allowed to play. Before the bank it was much easier to build your crowd and let it grow. It was the first season Stefan and I performed together, I think next year if we are going to play there again, we can handle the other spots as well.

Niels

https://www.nielsduinker.com