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augiemagic Regular user Overland Park, KS 162 Posts |
Today was alright. I didn't make as much as yesterday, but that's really my fault because I got lazy and stupidly agreed to meet someone earlier than I should have to head back to out hotel. Oh well.
Right after I set up, I got a bloody nose out of nowhere. That took about fifteen minutes to get over and get cleaned up and sanitized. Than, when I got back to my hotel, I noticed a giant splotch of dried blood on the tip of my nose. 3 hours of shows, and nobody bothered to tell me. I'm getting sick of performing for audiences that don't speak much English (Yes, I realize this is an incredibly pretentious thing to say. Oh Well.), it makes me feel like my show is falling flat, and its more difficult to keep a crowd. I think I either need to learn to be funny in another 3 languages, learn mime/clown style comedy, do a silent show to music, or some combination of all of the above. I can tell I'm getting better, my crowds are getting larger and better organized and I'm losing fewer people overall than I was even yesterday. Part of it is remembering to make the commitment to make each show excellent, instead of just half-@**ing it. I frequently get the urge to skip my middle trick if I have a decent crowd, but recent experience has shown that my hats are much larger if I do it. I think part of the problem is the fact that my middle trick is massively based on language humor. My gut (and all the reactions from native-english-speaking tourists) tells me that it will play incredibly well in the US/UK. I also need to connect with my audience more. My biggest hats and fewest walk-aways are when I remember to talk to each individual person and make eye contact with the whole crowd during the show. Where I've been performing, just outside the Pompidou center, is an excellent pitch for a few hours, then all the loud, amplified dance acts move in, and it's impossible to draw a crowd, so it's necessary to move to an adjacent plaza. Works for me, I'm a relatively small show, I can work anywhere. Tomorrow I'm heading to Munich. I've heard a lot of horror stories about the regulations. From what I've read it doesn't seem worth the hassle to try performing there. Anybody have any recommendations for places to go afterwards or smaller towns nearby to check out? |
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The Great Zoobini Elite user Boulder, Colorado 443 Posts |
There weren't any regulations when I busked Munich years ago but things can change real quick. Probably best to give City Hall/police a phone call. Germans & the Dutch probably speak the best english in Europe.
Meet you in Busker Alley
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augiemagic Regular user Overland Park, KS 162 Posts |
We stopped and asked the local LEOs about the rules, they said you had to get a permit and that they were pretty strict about ticketing performers without permits. Every other performer I asked (All musicians, and a lot of them) said basically the same thing. I went to Salzburg for a few days and had a bit of success, but the weather has been pretty meh (rainy). The artists showed me an official looking document that showed where in the city it was allowed to set up (not on the shopping street, even though the human statue of mozart was there). Unfortunately, a good third of the spots were blocked by some ongoing construction and nobody seemed to be following the "an hour per performer per spot" rule (Not that I blame them, there just didn't seem to be that many good spots where busking is allowed in Salzburg).
Now I am back in Munich for a day or possible a bit longer and trying to decide where to go from here. Under consideration are Amsterdam, Bern, Cologne, back to Paris, Prague, Zurich and any helpful suggestions anyone decides to throw out. Once I pick a place, I'm going to try to break my journey up into a couple legs and try to stop in smaller/medium-sized cities and see if they're worth working for a couple days. Also, I'm trying to hunt down an English version of "The Royal Touch" so if anybody knows of any good shops to check out, let me know. Thanks! |
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