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Same ol' Same ol'
Well....this might get ugly folks.
Anyone that has ever sat down with me knows what I think of "stock shows" and the over use of "stock lines".
In Shrewsbury this past summer I was talking/drinking with Byron, Gav and Jim and jokingly asked Jim how he felt about P-Net helping to homogenize so many shows.
He was offended (rightly so, and I again apologize), and said if I felt so strongly about stock standard crap I should post up about it. And so I am.
This past weekend I meet someone doing the most standard of juggling/straight jacket shows. I introduced myself and commenced to make small talk, where have you worked & who do you know kind of stuff.
Very quickly I was told "you swallow swords, I have a friend that does it too, he uses this line and I am sure you do too.”Down the hatch without a scratch""
"Ah nope don’t use it."
The chat went on and began to cover bits that this person does that all his friends use as well. (One example was to give a boy a dollar and then tell him to give it to a girl and then tell him to get used to it.)
So here is my real question, why?
Why do people do such standard stuff?
Why doesn’t it phase them at all?
Has doing a street show come to be just an alternative way to make money for people that don’t want a “real” job?
Do the people doing shows this way consider themselves artists?
Years ago I heard a performer say “I don’t have any problem with stealing material, I know it works.” So maybe I already have my answer and in reality this practice has little to no effect on me, I will continue to be hired by festivals because I am different and I will be appreciated on the street for the same reason, but I would like to understand.
Before the poop really hits the fan let me be clear that I understand there are damned few original ideas in the world. I am far from the first person to swallow a sword and yes lots of people do the balloon swallow. However that is not the same as doing a complete routine in an almost identical way to someone else.
Help me understand.
Anyone that has ever sat down with me knows what I think of "stock shows" and the over use of "stock lines".
In Shrewsbury this past summer I was talking/drinking with Byron, Gav and Jim and jokingly asked Jim how he felt about P-Net helping to homogenize so many shows.
He was offended (rightly so, and I again apologize), and said if I felt so strongly about stock standard crap I should post up about it. And so I am.
This past weekend I meet someone doing the most standard of juggling/straight jacket shows. I introduced myself and commenced to make small talk, where have you worked & who do you know kind of stuff.
Very quickly I was told "you swallow swords, I have a friend that does it too, he uses this line and I am sure you do too.”Down the hatch without a scratch""
"Ah nope don’t use it."
The chat went on and began to cover bits that this person does that all his friends use as well. (One example was to give a boy a dollar and then tell him to give it to a girl and then tell him to get used to it.)
So here is my real question, why?
Why do people do such standard stuff?
Why doesn’t it phase them at all?
Has doing a street show come to be just an alternative way to make money for people that don’t want a “real” job?
Do the people doing shows this way consider themselves artists?
Years ago I heard a performer say “I don’t have any problem with stealing material, I know it works.” So maybe I already have my answer and in reality this practice has little to no effect on me, I will continue to be hired by festivals because I am different and I will be appreciated on the street for the same reason, but I would like to understand.
Before the poop really hits the fan let me be clear that I understand there are damned few original ideas in the world. I am far from the first person to swallow a sword and yes lots of people do the balloon swallow. However that is not the same as doing a complete routine in an almost identical way to someone else.
Help me understand.
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