|
|
Zed New user 9 Posts |
Greetings,
I'm upgrading from doing the flea market to being a pitchman at the flea market. I'll be doing demos of kitchen gadgets under my EZ up. My setup time for the flea is quite long, so by the time I'm set up I'm drenched with sweat and look the part. Being a pitchman I need to improve the way I dress and look. Living way down south and having fair skin dictates that I wear long pants and long sleeve shirts.... My question is on a hot day, which fabrics are or seem to be cooler. 100% Cotton or Polyester or a mix or what? I know 100% cotton is a pain and unless it is pulled out of the dryer quickly and hung up it gets wrinkled. I have several shirts and have worn out my favorites. This may sound silly, but I have never been in the position of being under my EZ up for 6 hours wanting to look sharp! Along with looking Kuhl, I want to be cool.... I'm thinking blue shirt (heard someplace that blue is the best color to wear when your selling)and white pants. I want to look the same at each show so I can be recognized as the "demo guy". Been thinking of suspenders with the "stars and stripes flag theme" or just stars. I've ordered the DVD's SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS AT THE SENIOR PITCHMAN'S REUNION and am waiting on that. Working on my patter and getting ready to start practicing my demoing. Need a few more props. Some of the demo guys always stay low to demo (I'm talking of street vendors), their point being as the crowd forms you can't see what is going on which they say attracts more of a crowd... from my extensive reading here, seems doing magic is better done elevated.. seen some mention of a "chefs mirror".... have wondered about a unique "hat". Girlfriend suggested big oversize "bow tie", I noticed the "gimmick" for a regular tie, which I think might attract some attention, but might detract from my demoing... OH, I'm very persistant, willing to test out each idea and see what works, but hopefully I can cut down my learning curve time somewhat with your help... Here are some EZ up tips...I looked all over the Café and could not figure out where to post them... so here they are. Got mine at Sam's Club for around $200, before I got mine and after people are reporting that the $60 to $100 tents aren't made as good and they are having problems, mechanical, wearing out after one season, etc. I see some of them removing the tent part before they take it down??? Since it's just me, I spread the tent out by waking around until it is about a 5' square, then I tip it back and go under, grasp the middle and push up in the air, then the tent is almost open, then corner to corner to finish. I took 4" PVC pipe and made 4 five foot weights. Rounded pipe cap on top and threaded fitting on the bottom, filled them with sand and put the pipe cap on upside down.... they weigh 52 lbs each... Went by "Harbor Freight" and got 8 cheapie straps and strap them two on each leg... Did a 4 day flea show ( I stayed a week ) watched many EZ up users take down their tent each night (strong winds about a hour before dark), I left mine up, no side curtains, it would wiggle some but never got off the ground <grin>. I do realize that with enough wind it will lift off, but so far so good. It cost about $100 to make the weights. Thanks for your help... Zed |
thegreatnippulini Inner circle of Hell because I've made 2582 Posts |
Zed, post this question in the "Believe it Or Not" section of the Café (in the "Carnival of Fun" part). Most folk who hang out there are sideshow, carnival, fair workers that might be able to help.
When I was doing the World of Wonders tent in Philly I was performing my pierced weightlifting routine, so my shirt was off most of the time anyway. That fair used to run through the end of May to the first week of June. Not TOO hot, but hot enough.
The Great Nippulini: body piercer, Guinness World Record holder, blacksmith and man with The World's Strongest Nipples! Does the WORLD care? We shall see...
http://www.greatnippulini.com |
David Bilan Special user Clarksville, TN 714 Posts |
Zed,
From a survivor of hot summers in Alabama, Florida, Kuwaitt and Afghanistan: Cotton is cool, but it wrinkles like the devil. You might want to try a micro fiber such as supplex. it wicks/dries well, breathes, and wrinkes fall out fairly well if you wash the shirt and let it line dry. They usually aren't cheap. Best place to look would be at a sports store (fishing shirts and pants). You could create the character of a Big Game Safari Guide. Solid colors show wrinkles more than patterns and light colors show sweat. If covering your scalp, a Panama Hat will serve you better than a baseball cap (looks better, too). To avoid the dreaded wet arm pit look, set up in grubby clothes. Then, use wet wipes, dry off and use a liberal doe of antiperspirant (not deorderant). Other sweat-combatting ideas: If electricty is available, get a fan. If behind a table, you can have the fan out of sight but providing a much needed breeze. Drinking cold water (lots of it) will help. If you don't need to pee every twenty minutes, you probably are dehydrated. A cold cloth on the back of the neck will help keep your core body temp down. Being elevated means more people see you. It also means you need to lug araound a platform. Will you use volunteers? Need a bigger stage. Hope this helps. Dave
Yes, I am a magician. No I did not make my hare (hair) disappear... it just took early retirement.
|
Zed New user 9 Posts |
Thanks Dave for all the good suggestions....
Never heard of supplex, but I'll find some, I've got a Panama hat. I really like the idea of the Big Game Safari Guide.... look.... Ran some errands today in a polyester shirt, white pants and suspenders...(the outfit I was thinking of demoing with) the suspenders scrunched up the shirt and made the whole outfit look very unkempt. Thanks for the other suggestions also, for now its a one man show... After I get the patter where I know it forward and backward then I can experiment with a platform.... I know you know it works, I just have to convince "me" that it does... <grin>. Thanks, Zed |
sethb Inner circle The Jersey Shore 2719 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-03-31 Zed wrote: I have had the opposite experience with tents. I got a Quest 10x10 tent on sale at a sporting goods store for about $95. I've been very happy with it, mainly because it has a second inner reflective layer under the top that cuts way down on the UV rays. The EZ-Ups I've seen have nice tops, but they are still only canvas or nylon and are not UV-resistant. I've seen some vendors sitting under their EZ-Ups with umbrellas, in order to prevent getting a sunburn! My Quest tent lasted the entire season last year without a problem, and I'm hoping it lasts another season this year. But since it's half the price of an EZ-Up, I really have no complaints. As far as getting above the crowd, look into one or two of those plastic steps that they sell in sporting goods stores for step aerobics. They are cheap, light, and sturdy enough for this purpose. I have looked into putting up a chef's mirror (I do Svengali Pitches) and saw a nice 5-foot long lightweight "closet door mirror" made of plastic at Home Depot for about $20. But I have never gotten around to figuring out how to hang it from the tent. I guess a couple of bungee cords would do the trick, but I'm not sure it would be stable enough. One of these days . . . . Coleman makes a pretty nice little battery-powered tent fan that you can hang from the top of the tent. It directs air downward, is pretty quiet, and helps a little. I used to use a rear wall and sidewalls, but gave them up because they cut off lots of air circulation, also made the tent look closed and uninviting. The tent was a lot cooler without them. SETH
"Watch the Professor!!" -- Al Flosso (1895-1976)
"The better you are, the closer they watch" -- Darwin Ortiz, STRONG MAGIC |
Zed New user 9 Posts |
Greetings SETH,
Thanks for the input on the tents, in my area the arts and crafts people seem to anchor them down pretty good, while the flea market people mostly do not...not a windy day goes by that I do not see several people holding theirs down or chasing it or part of the top torn loose flapping in the breeze. Mine just sits there and wiggles... and I wonder what kind of wind it is going to take put in airborne <grin> I just checked out Sam's Club as I did not know to check uv protection before I got the tent. The main reason I got the tent to do markets was to keep me out of the sun... Last year I almost passed out from the heat, so now I put up the tent and do my best to stay in the shade of it... Tent and weights are much cheaper than trip to hospital... Here is the link to Sam's tent. Thanks again for your input, but fortunately my tent from Sam's Club Provides 99% UV protection. Had in not, I would be looking for a new tent or a replacement top ASAP. Thanks for the info on the plastic steps, home depot mirror and tent fan... When I do a market I have a 300 watt inverter that may or may not run one of my fans. I used the inverter to run a pump to pump up inflatable beds and pool floats and boats... sometimes it worked just fine and sometimes I had to start the van to get it to work... need to check it out, might get further with the Coleman fan... Thanks to postings here, I got the 4' X 2' table with adjustable legs at Sam's today, so I can practice my pitch while doing my demo.. Thanks to everyone for your input and help, C'ya, Zed |
sethb Inner circle The Jersey Shore 2719 Posts |
Zed, you're smart to anchor that tent. I've seen a few blowdowns and they aren't pretty. Fortunately, nobody got hurt but I did see a tent leg go through a car windshield. That cost somebody a few hundred bucks!!
Your Sam's EZ-Up tent looks nice, glad it has the UV protection, that's great. I anchor my tent with four cinder blocks, one on each leg. And when I'm on grass, I also run guy ropes from each corner to a ground stake, it's cheap insurance. You can't be too careful about this. I also try to get to the shows as early as possible, and then set up before it starts to get really hot. I am also a one-man operation, so I just take my time, try not to rush, and get the joint up and running. I need to save my energy for the pitch, not for pitching the tent! Welcome to the Café', and BTW, if you haven't already done so, come over to the "Step Right Up" section of the Café', there are plenty of pitchmen there with good experience on setting up a joint. That is, once you decide what to wear . . . . . <grin> SETH
"Watch the Professor!!" -- Al Flosso (1895-1976)
"The better you are, the closer they watch" -- Darwin Ortiz, STRONG MAGIC |
Thom Bliss Loyal user Southern California 271 Posts |
I've seen people set-up easy-ups or similar with two legs shorter than the other two, to provide more shade when the sun is low to the ground.
Thom |
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The clothes we wear » » It's hot under that EZ up tent..... EZ question on clothes (0 Likes) |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.04 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |