How did you break into the 'festival circuit'?

Off-topic
1

My son and I had a chance to do a mall opening this weekend, -mostly juggling.
There were a couple of “pro” performers, stilt walkers, magician, and jugglers, who seemed to have a good time as well as supplimenting their income.

Once you develop a killer routine, how do pro’s get the word out to festival organizers, craft shows and the like?
It can’t all be word of mouth, -can it?

Any working/ retired pros willing to offer some advice?

We’re looking for something different than the balloon animal/ birthday party.

2

You send a promotional package to every event organizer and talent scout you can find.
A promo pack would contain a resume, bio and a 8 X 10 B&W photo and video of your act.

Sometimes you can just show up at some festivals and do your act for tips that come from passing your hat. People will ask for your card and then will hire you from what they have seen.

Contact Hotel banquet services, comedy booking agents, party organizers, event organizers, talk with other performers and buskers, attend open mic shows.

There’s some good info on the juggler sites.

It’s not easy and takes a few years to develop a name for yourself. Good luck.

3

We just got home this weekend after attending the Rocky Mountain Asc. of Fairs convention in Billings MT (www.rmaf.net). It’s basically a 4 day convention were you set up and show off your ‘act’ through promotional material and the like. The fair board members from across the Midwest come through and decide which acts they want to hire for their fair.

Most “pros” go to events like this to showcase their act. I don’t know what country you’re in, but in the US there are regional conventions in most states, as well as larger trade shows and so on.

I do a series of 1/2 hour shows, mostly uni trials but also some juggling and stuff, mainly at fairs.

The first time I did a fair, we just contacted the manager, told him what we would do, asked him if he would like to hire our show and it just happened to work out.

My advice to you is first make sure you have good content in your show, some variety, and make up some good promo material. Flyers, brochures, business cards, a dvd with a short action packed sample video, something like that, and get it in the hands of would-be employers. You’ll probably need to do a few free shows starting out, but once you get going you should expect them to pay you good money for a good show. They don’t want to just hire some unkown off the street, so let them know what your show will be like and that you know what you’re doing,

I’m by no means a pro performer, and I didn’t spend all that much money on making promo material so it didn’t look the best, but I still (hopefully) marketed it to them in such a way that it didn’t look completely like a 17 year old boy trying to get paid to ride his unicycle (which it was). I was among big time magicians, hypnotists, jugglers and all kinds of acts with much more professional looking promo then mine, but I was able to sign a few contracts for next summer.

4

If you are a good street performer

That’s all you need. Work on your act, not your promo.

I would crash festivals. County fairs, street festivals. My rule was never to ask permission (most places have never seen a street performer, and many will say no by default). I would do 2 shows quickly. For some reason, if the powers that be want to throw me out, it was rarely in the middle of a show. So after 2 shows I had 100 $ or so. If they left me alone (50-50 chance) I would do 2 or three more. If they told me to stop, I still had made money. Asking permission first risks the big zero.

When they did tell me to leave, they always said the same thing. “Why didn’t you ask permission?”. “If you contacted us earlier we might have hired you for 100$ !” "Apply for next year"etc. Total crap. They want me to work non stop and not pass the hat, like a clown. I was used to making 200 to 400 $/day, passing the hat. With no boss or BS. At the Ann Arbour, Mich and the Atlanta, GA art festivals, 1000$ a weekend was typical. All by passing the hat. None of it booked ahead. This was in the 80’s and 90’s. I would crash odd county fairs, or even busy street corners to have something to do as I traveled between known good events.

In short, work on your act. It’s a lie that show bizz is all about who you know. If you are funny and entertaining (talent is almost a crutch, I am not talking skills here), you can invite yourself anywhere. :slight_smile:

5

Good advice, It is always easier to say you’re sorry than ask permission in the first place. Most fairs will ask you back for next year because street performers really make the festival a lot more fun.

Street performing is a great way to build your act. Tips can be pretty good. But in a few years you will want to get into the college/convention/comedy circuits as they pay even more money for a lot less work.

Get cards made, video the street shows, ask for letters of reccomendation, and get a headshot. Then you will be in prime postion to start working better and better venues.

6

The next step up

I never got there LOL! I had a couple of friends, Ed Jackman, and Tim Setimi (separate acts) that were both elected “performer of the year”, or something like that, on the collage circuit. This was in the 80’s. There was a a convention, that I never went to, something like NAC something ( maybe not the right name). You could go there and showcase your act. Booking agents from collages were there (the whole point of the event).

I never did this. Honestly, it was a notch or two above my act in several ways. They were looking for 45 minute stage acts. I was a street juggler with a solid 20 minutes, it wasn’t really the place for me. I didn’t feel at home on a stage.

Eddy told me he was getting 800$/show and had done 130 last year, this was in '83. I have been to Tim Setimi’s (comic mime) houses, both in Atlanta and here in the Keys. He has done quite well. If you are ready to work at that level, the collage circuit would pay even better now.

My best memory of Ed Jackman was in the summer of '84. I bumped into Ed in Washington Square park in NYC, where I was doing street shows. I knew him from the jugglers convention. He was in the city for a couple days doing some gig. He asked me where he could do a show. I suggested in front of the arch, but he said he was sick of hassling with other performers in this park. He wanted to try something different.

So I followed Ed over to 6th Ave. An odd little island in the middle of the street. Not many people going by. No one ever performs there, not enough flow, just a steady trickle of people going by, most not tourists.

But Ed seemed to catch them all. A half bat shit crazy aggressive comic, and an excellent juggler, he had the entire space filled with 150 people in 20 minutes. His show was about 30 minutes long. He collected at least 100 $. Then when I declined his offer to share the spot, he did it again. Such was his love of performing, and level of talent, he would do shows anywhere he went. It was a pure love of people loving him, he had no thought of the money.:slight_smile:

I have several other friends that book work on cruise ships. I have never done that either. A lot less money, and more hassles, drug tests :astonished: etc.
However cruise ship work is pretty easy to get from what I hear.

I would still advise anyone that really loves their art and act to work the streets. A crowd’s a crowd. Once you are great on the street, you will have learned what the public can teach you. It’s almost like learning to be a Shaolin Monk." Once you can snatch the C note from a crowd you built on 6th Ave., it will be time for you to leave." :sunglasses: -

7

So I just happened along this thread at a time when my “act” is building.

There are five of us here in CT who are just starting to perform. A few of the members of our group (Odd Child Uprising) are also members of another family friendly circus, but thwey were interested in branching off and doing a more edgy act, which is why OCU formed.

Our first gig was actually sceduled for tomorow in brooklyn with a few other ssideshow style acts, but in the process of getting that together we got two other bookings. The first show we performed was opening for World Inferno Friendship Society (one of my favorite bands) on haloween in NYC. This was one of the best days of my life, and we got paid.

We were also hired to rove at a masquerade ball where we pretty much got paid to hang out and juggle.

So my advice is to put together an amazing act and then luck into getting booked.

Hopefully our act tomorow goes well, I’m sure it will.

Assuming I ever get some promotional type stuff together, I’ll post it here. We’ve got two excelent jugglers (5 club, 9 ball, contact) the rest of us are mediocre jugglers. I unicycle, spin things, and do a straitjacket escape. A contortionist, and a “clown / dancer”. We all do glass walking, bed of glass, fire breathing, counter balancing, acrobatics, and stacking. Good show.

8

LOL, I wish I was 23 again!

I’d have just finished performing at the Italian festival in Hartford, in late Oct. Ah, those were the days… I grew up in Avon, CT. All 12 years at Avon schools. So the Italian fest was a huge ego boost for me.Almost all my friends from high school got to see me cheered on by the adoring masses. Good times indeed. I did my record then. Eleven shows in one day!, all solo. I couldn’t speak above a course whisper by show 8, but I just couldn’t stop myself. Showing off in front of my old friends was so cool!:slight_smile: Sadly, I think they stopped that festival in the late 80’s. Me, and a few friends that I spilled the beans to were the only acts there. 100,000 rich Conneticutions walking up and down 15 blocks, and I was the biggest act there, besides the bars and bands etc. I had a crowd as soon as I could catch my breath, and with my friends wanting to see my act, I ended up doing 11 shows in one day! :astonished:

Nick, it sounds like you are having a good time, and that’s great. I have known a few large acts (the flying Karamotsov’s) that could make a go of it with several people. Lot’s of duo’s that also have done very well.

I guess what I am trying to say is that it really helps a lot if I can keep all the money. Especially in a street show, I would travel with other friends, or we would meet up at festivals, help each other out with van repairs etc, but we had our own acts. It can be a bit lonely on the road. Friends are a super important part. But I made friends with other acts, and so all the money in the hat was mine.:smiley:

It helps to have an insane towering ego and wish to grab the spotlight for yourself. Making a go of an act where you get only a cut of the income is, well… great if it’s fun. I hope you are having the time of your life.

I have worked with maybe 20+ people over the years. At least. I did a show with Sem Abrams (famous uni maker) at Fanual Hall, Boston in '82 , because our friend Cyrus Cosky had the spot that Sat.( street spots are often booked at great locations, we weren’t paid to work there). This makes great memories, stories etc. But after splitting the hat 3 ways, I have just the memory. Not enough money to remember LOL!:slight_smile:

So IMHO, make sure you are proud and confident of your solo act. The better you are solo, the more people will want to work with you, and the less you will want to work with them. Or at least, you will never feel that you need them.:smiley:

9

College tour

The NCAC has their college show every year as mentionerd above. It is very expensive to enter, but it is great exposure. College shows pay a grand or two per show.

I did the college circuit a bit and learned you could by-pass the whole NCAC thing by just contacting the colleges themselves. ( I was nominated as "entertainer of the year 1989) Yes they are looking for a headliner who can do 1 1/2 hour shows but sometimes they are looking for walk-around acts and emcee’s.

Great thing with college shows is that they are run by a student entertainment association that use studentds to hire the talent. They are usually new at it and don’t know a lot. If you just call them up they will give you work pretty easy without alot of hassle and they pay big, don’t be afraid to ask for $1000, as they have huge budgets and are required to spend it all every year!