Weekend busking recap
Okay: so here it goes:
(Photo: Tomas Apodaca)
Friday, I just kept getting delayed. First off: I was unable to get to bed before 5 am, and then I had trouble falling asleep due to nerves. I got up, and was continually delayed with last minute preparation. The ride to work was rather enjoyable, though I'm not thrilled to have to wait at most stoplights due to the lack of maneuverability, as my bike is so encumbered. I got to the pitch around 2:30 if I remember correctly. This means that I wasn't really ready to go until 3:30. Tomas met me there and hung out and documented it on video and in stills He took these pics. I chose this spot, mainly because the silver guys dominate the main pitch during the day. There is a secondary pitch that is basically as good as the main one, which has marimba players that blast the shit out of the place with an über sound system. When they take a break, the breakdancers set up, and they're quite loud as well. At 6PM, all of these day people vacate the premises for the performers who do more structured shows. Those folks have a lottery, and they then take turns.
My chosen spot is right across from all of this, and is far enough away from all of the crazy amplification, that I can actually be focused on.
(Photo: Tomas Apodaca)
It gets much less in the way of traffic, but it gets a fairly steady stream.
(Photo: Tomas Apodaca)
One thing I discovered straight away: I sure can build a crowd by assembling my rig (especially making beautiful faces like this!). The problem is that I haven't figured out how to structure a show to hold the crowd. In many ways, it's like my shows back in the day were, because I realized that the only way to keep them going is to just keep rolling. This means that I perform for about an hour at a time. The good thing is that it isn't exhausting the same my old shows were. As with every new show, it's an issue of finding the right material for the situation, so I am only at the very beginning regarding that. The money sucked ass, and has continued the ass sucking all the way through.
Back to friday:
Tomas and I were joined by a seventeen year old gentleman (who was a bit ahead of his years) by the name of Walter. He was in town for the day, because the cruise ship that he was on had pulled into port. While he waited to meet up with friends who had moved here from Philly he offered upsome helpful, constructive criticism. He also was gracious in helping me out with a magic marker when I had the sudden need for one.
(Photo: Tomas Apodaca)
At a certain point, Dave showed up to witness some of the froots of his labor, and he hung out with me until I left.
I ended up doing about three shows or so before calling it quits. When i was packing up, I was approached my a man who goes by the name of Jim Dogman. He is what he terms a "picture guy". The silver guys are picture guys as well. They make the bulk of their money from people who take pictures with them, and some of them do extremely well for themselves, or so rumor has it. I could be a picture guy, if making money was my primary focus. I am toying with it as a supplementary thing, if things get too stupid with the finances...
It was actually one of these picture guys (a man who wears a giant skeleton costume) who clued me into the silver guys dominating the main pitch. In Jim's case, he makes money by taking people's pictures with his dogs. He has a Dalmatian, a chihuahua, and a Boston terrier that he dresses up in people outfits. He in turn, dresses up in a dog outfit, and charges five bucks a pop to snap a Polaroid with you and the pooches. He has done this for seven years if I recall correctly. Jim introduced me to Joe, who is by all accounts, the nicest of all the silver guys.
This is Joe.
He has been a silver guy off and on for sixteen years, and is sick of it. He is attempting to start an online store through ebay I believe. As I rode my bike home, i started to think about what a fucking amazing documentary all of this thing would make. Laura had made mention of the fact that she was thinking of documenting it, but for various reasons, that didn't happen. I have started to bring my video camera down there, and am hoping at the very least to make a short out of it. It's just that street performers are just such great characters, and the politics combined with the personalities would just be a winning combo- especially put into the context of getting this show off the ground.
So-with day number one in the bag, I headed to Dave's to get the charger that he recently acquired. We hung out while he wired it up, and then I headed home. I was beat, and not in the greatest of moods. I can't help it- I want to be perfect straight out of the shoot. Instead, I felt as though I was straight out of the poop shoot- though I did feel good about finally getting underway. Again, I was up until about 4:30. My sleep was plagued by anxiety, and crappy dreams. I woke up at one point to pee, and never got fully back into a restful sleep. Upon starting my day, I recorded a handful of new samples, and then headed back out. I got a chunk of time on the main pitch, due to the fact that the silver guys where inexplicably M.I.A.. That definitely went better, due to the fact that it has really heavy foot traffic, though I did have to stop the show at one point to repair poor smutter.
during a bout of over-exuberant puppet spazziness, I nearly ripped his head off.
I think that the only way to have a regular presence in that spot, is to get there really early, which I am less than pleased with. I just may do it, though. Put in a full day on that spot. stop for about 15 minutes at a time, in order to continue to reassert my presence there.
I became aware that my music is a great crowd builder if I do it right. I never get huge crowds, because they often have to be assembled actively , by addressing them en masse. I might be able to find another way to do it, but I'd need to have variable speed walk cycles in order to move around quickly enough to keep people focused. That is something that I would like to implement. As it stands, I get groups of a reasonable size by doing a bit of music, stopping it- making come sort of mimed contact (through the puppet) with an audience member or two, and then starting it again. When I get enough of a crowd that I can choose a couple to interact with, I launch into my primary bit. It is a derivative of a bit that i did years ago with My old partner, mitchell- which was in turn, derivative of a bit that my friend Lee used to do. My thing involves the puppet falling for a woman in the crowd who has a boyfriend. It is narrated in a nature documentary fashion through a collection of samples that the puppet triggers. He tries to pick a fight with the boyfriend, but ends up falling in love with him, and tries to marry him. I'm not doing it justice here, but that'll give you an idea. Then I go back into music, and l riff off the audience again. I have other small bits in which he tries to care for the children in order to fit in with the community, and other such things. Now- keep in mind that he never speaks. All of the dialogue is triggered from the computer, by him. I'm getting better at filling the dead spaces that occur when I switch between sample banks (there are roughly 50 samples to a bank), by having him pilot me around (which makes quite a racket). Another thing to keep in mind is that, due to the nature of my show, there are dead spots. The first two days out, I loathed them. They are when the self doubt and anxiety can whip up, since performing to dead space gives one ample opportunity to mull over the phrase "What the fuck am I doing?!". This is also the time when societal imprinting that typically keeps people in their place kicks in. Though I am not at all immune to it, I am good at throwing up rigid barrier against it (for better or for worse).
At the end of the day,I got in a conversation with a couple of the evening performers. I got some very helpful feedback from them. So far, the most consistent input that I have gotten consists of the fact that my costume is too different from the rig. It's not cohesive enough to make the quick sell that is needed to grab people. If they can't parse it quickly, you lose them. This, I understand. I'm going to make a concerted effort to experiment with both the content and structure of my show, as well as the costume, and puppet. I already have a secondary puppet that is waiting for paint and hair, and I think that he will be much more successful as a crowd pleaser. As of tomorrow, I begin a push to fabricate white body armor to match the rig. I'm going for an android-ish type of thing to see how much more successful that is. I'm actually pretty excited to work with all of the variables to see what comes out. I'm getting lots of positive feedback though, which is helpful.
Yesterday was a bit of a repeat of Saturday, with the exception of not working the main pitch. I tried setting up next to it, in this sidewalk, but I had an experience that harkened me aback to childhood. The experience went something like this:
When I was in the first grade, we had an assignment to go home and make a musical instrument, and bring it to class the next day. All resulting instruments would be judged according to various criteria, and the winners of each category would win a prize. The next day, as I walked to school, I remembered that I had completely forgotten to make my instrument. I remembered that I had spent some time banging rocks together in a tunnel or a brick hallway or something, and that it had sounded pretty cool. I grabbed a couple of rocks , and continued to class. I ended up winning first prize in the "creativity" category. The kids who had labored for hours, making little banjos out of cigar boxes, with rubber bands for strings were miffed, to be sure. I had begun my path of finding the back door into the places that I wanted to go...
Well..today, when I set up in my new spot, I was across from this homeless guy.
Here's his shtick. I think it's pretty self-explanatory. He's a picture guy as well.
At first, I was wondering if he would pick issue with me for stepping on his spot, but he was very friendly- hospitable even. I still hoped that he wouldn't be bummed as things got under way. Little did I know that I would be on the other end of that. Here's how the average tourist works:
Get a guy in a costume and a puppet and a wearable computer, that he and a dear friend have put months into bringing about. Now, take a homeless guy in a trash can with a cardboard sign shooting out zingers like "I'm from canada! Get it? CAN-ada?", and you will soon have a crowd gathered around a trash can. From the conversation that I had with him earlier, I'm absolutely certain that that guy walked with three times the amount of money than I did today. (Needless to say, I soon relocated back to my previous spot.
Slice off a big hunk o' dat humble pie fer me, 'cuz I'm famished!
I felt better when I left though, as I've pulled my focus off of making money, and more on troubleshooting this thing until it's slick- however long that takes and however desperately poor I have to get. I know that I am on to something here, and am determined to make it work. One thing that has already been a success has been meeting new, interesting people. Yesterday, it was a man named Dennis. He is a gentleman who looks to be in his late forties to early fifties, who has lived in the bay area all his life. He is younger than his years, in a good way. He offered up more in the way of support and helpful advice (more corroborating the costume theory). I had a pleasant discussion with him about my show, and a bit regarding his musical endeavors. Honestly, I must say that that is one of the greatest parts about this job: the people opportunities. Through my street performing, I met Merritt, Sacto Seanno and Birdy (who even though I had a falling out with him, is still a person of significance to my life). The changes introduced into my life due to these connections was profound, on the deepest of levels.
Another thing that is great about this job is that I'm performing right next to the bay- like 20 yard from it, with a perfect view of Alcatraz. The downside of this is that if there be any splosions in the bay from them nasty terrists, I'll be instantly vaporized. Well- that's actually a fine way to go! Maybe that's an upside....
So- there you have it. Big changes. Lots to contend with. It's a roller coaster, but I trust that it'll be worth it.
Oh- and one final thing: If you notice, didn't mention anything about the hardware or the software. All worked superbly for the most part. There are a few issues that arose, but given all of the elements in ply just on the computer end of things, it went fantastically! Thanks Dave!
The big, fat words of eeno at June 21, 2004 03:18 AM