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senoj derfla New user Australia 31 Posts |
I have a friend who is not a magician, but she is an excellent face painter,and a stilt walker. I have taught her some simple self working effects for when she does birthday parties. She is anxious to get more work with festivals as a stilt walker I told her to get onto the organisers but, like many of us she doesn't have the "bottle" to actually talk to them. She much prefers to send them a letter. I have written a couple of lines for her that I use as a first approach. I thought maybe a few ideas from you festival experienced guys could help. I have suggested, pictures and a few lines about herself and contact details. Short and to the point. Waddya think??
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Bill Nuvo Inner circle 3094 Posts or 2742 Posts |
I say, great! Send letters and promotional material to festivals. That will just get them to hopefully read your material. She will still have to make a call, or at least email them. You have to follow up on things. Festivals get bombarded with advertisements all the time. The ones who call a week or two after sending the materials are the ones who are more likely to get the work.
I'll be truly honest in saying that I would have doubts of her ability to perform if she couldn't talk to the organizers. Crowds/audiences are tougher than organizers. When pitching a stilt-walking act, you have to be unique. Not only in your costuming and performance (interaction with audience) but also with what the festival percieves you as. If you can offer more than just stilt-walking than you can have an edge over other performers who just stilt-walk. Answer this question. Why should this festival hire you over another? Answer it without mentioning price. Make them want you without wondering about price. It works. If they want you, they will find a way. |
Robert Kohler Special user Fayetteville, Arkansas 520 Posts |
Most of that is true, but it is also true that often when a performer is in character a very different ability to interact comes through. That is, it may not be fair to judge ones ability with the public based on their inability to negotiate with organizers. I have seen performers with horrible interpersonal skills compensate for this in their stage characters - and they have better or more developed stage characters than the people who can relate well to the organizers.................
We judge ourselves by our intentions - others judge us by our actions.....
<BR> <BR>B. Wilson |
senoj derfla New user Australia 31 Posts |
Thank you for your comments and positive waves guys! (Sorry, I've just been watching Kelly's Heroes and the character of "Oddball" has stayed with me)
I will pass this on to my friend I am sure this encouragement will spur her on to great things. |
Bill Nuvo Inner circle 3094 Posts or 2742 Posts |
Quote:
On 2007-04-10 16:21, Robert Kohler wrote: I only say this because I am by nature very shy and don't do a lot of intereacting with people I don't know. My persona when performing is quite the opposite. However, when I am contacting prospects and clients, I put myself in performing mode, otherwise I would not call people. As I mentioned before in other posts, I help out by bringing acts to a few festivals in my province and also give my valued opinions on performers to festivals that want it. For me, the people that have approached me (they don't have to have the best interaction skills, but they do have to approach me or I don't know they exist) get the gigs. There are a few performers that I reccommend that I personally do not like as people. But, because they contacted me and have a good show, I hire them out. This is why it's important to have a script of some sorts to use when making calls. You are in a character, whether it be your performing persona or your businessperson persona. |
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