motivation to go out tomorow

[ben woodling]

I am meant to be performing tomorow at a festival but cant really be arsed to go out in this weird autumn chill.

i need some help getting motivated. ...

[stickman]

Think of the funniest/wierdest that ever happened during your show, and realise tommorow you might just find something to beat it!

Wear a new costume in preporation of halloween, and use the show as market research.

Show up in a pair of pajamas, with a cup of coffee and a newspaper. Pretend you actually didn't get up to do the show, untill the moment you discover your surrounded by people. Come to think of it, I miss that crowd build.

Or most important remember the reason you started doing this "job" in the first place. If the reason still applies, then you won't have a choice, but to go out and "play" once again.

Stickman

[NYSB_Craig]

the answer...

Drink a bottle of cheap whiskey. Try to do your show without looking drunk. You'll stay warm and either have a crowd watching a fun show or watching the rummy dance.

[Peter]

I am very mercenary about it. I think of the money I'll make, or the money I'll lose if I don't go out and do a show.

Peter

[le pire]

Ash Circle and I were talking about what it takes to be a good street performer. Loki put it this way: "You do it because you love it. You've got to be willing to do the BEST show of your life for a $10 hat. If you can get past that, then you're on your way to the $1000 hat."

Street peforming is not easy, and weather will ALWAYS be an adversary. If you "can't be arsed" to perform, what ever the reason, then maybe you should take a good hard look in the mirror and ask yourself "is this for me?" Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to discourage you from being a performer. It is a career that has many rewards, but there are also many many obstacles to overcome.

For me, the mark of a true professional is someone who can pull off a great show at 3:00 in the afternoon, on a dreary tuesday with a no microphone and three fractured ribs. Anyone can pull off a great show under ideal conditions (ok, almost anyone. Ashlee Simpson can even cue up the right track she to lipsynch).

Jacque Lecoq said "Creation happens when desire overcomes apprehension." If you want to be a performer than you must WANT it. There will always be something to get you down (like the weather... or worse) and it is your job as a performer to overcome that apprehension and pull off a fantastic show. So go for it.


etienne

[Daniel Craig]

Etienne nailed it head on.

Sometimes you just have to suck it up and get out there. It's a tough thing to do, but you wouldn't be a performer if you wanted the easy way out now, would you?

I know, believe me, I *know* that it's easy to get down and feel unmotivated or downright depressed about it sometimes, when it feels like it's you versus the world or it feels like a certain festival doesn't give a shit about you, or it feels like a pitch is just going to be too damn hard to make it worthwhile at the moment...

But the motivation can come from so many places. The sense of accomplishment in doing what you love and succeeding, the fact that you can make something great happen where there was nothing exceptional before you, the people who watch you, relying on you to take them away from normalcy, the people who need you to let them know it's okay to laugh or many many many other reasons.

Don't lose the light, performing is a wonderful thing, ask yourself the question "Why?" and try and remember and recreate the excitement that happened the first time you got on stage.

Good luck.

[GlassHarper]

Motivation?

It's the guy who stands thru two shows and buys a CD to share with his boss, my banjo hero Bela Fleck, who's appearing that night at the House of Blues.

It's the three drunken college kids who say, before staggering away, "You're the coolest thing we've seen in New Orleans!"

It's the probability that one day a junior producer for "A Prairie Home Companion" will say to herself, "This is just the kind of act Garrison Keilor would love to present on his show."

It's the possibility that if I don't go out I'll miss those connections.

And then, of course, there is the rent.

[scot]

ditto remember why you started

My favourite is convince yourself that you really need money. You don't need to love the job to do it well, but it helps to love the audience, and to hate minimum wage.

Set it up as a regular thing, go every day no matter what.

Karney used to drive across the Bay Bridge every day in his Edsel with no money. He knew that he'd have to buy gas to get home. He did shows every day. A lot of them sucked at first, but he'd do one that paid off per day.

If you can be as tough on yourself as Chris Karney, you'll be at least half as good as him. And that's better than 80% of street performers.

I agree there are many rewards to performing, and if you don't snatch them, we'll divvy them up.

[martin ewen]

Do it...for the children.

.

[ben woodling]

good good! just got back from an average show, small hat but it was cool, some guy who i used ta go to college noticed me and he stayed for the end of the show didnt put money in the hat but bought me a much needed coffee.

so the moral is;
If its cold your bound to meet an old college buddy to buy you a coffee half way through your act.

[Evan Young]

"work hard while the work is good"... work hard while the work is possible.
"work hard to play hard"

[pablo]

On your mark, get set...

Go out and find a nice girl, marry her, have kids, buy a house, get a dog, let your wife go shopping at one of those "big box" stores like Wal-Mart or Target where she'll buy carloads of expensive stuff you don't need, wait for the mailman to bring you bills from the mortgage company, credit cards, utilities, internet service, vet, pediatrician, dentist and IRS.

Trust me, you'll have plenty of reasons to get your ass off the couch and perform.

Or just do it.

[Woofnah]

Hit the nail on the head ...

I went to the IJA then to Manhattan for a few days. When I got home the husband had spent the mortgage money on god only knows what. I went to the Portland International Fest. When I got home the husband had bought a digital camera for $600.

... and he's not even young and pretty!

[le pire]

Spent all the $$$ on ??? and now buys a digital camera... all this when you're gone. Hmmmm... sounds like a kinky scandal in the works if you ask me.

etienne

[Daniel Craig]

Good job Ben, that's what it's all about.

If you want a lesson in hardcoreoscity street performing, check out the USA Breakdancers. Man, that parkade show in Waterloo was un-fucking-believable. I can't believe they pulled it off so well.

But yeah man, keep your head up. The street is a beast you and you alone can tame.

...

Yeah.