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Baz94 New user Kent/Eng 91 Posts |
The other day I did a christening party.
The mother of the christened child was from equadore and it turned out that many of her family couldn't speak english. I know a tiny bit of spanish (and I mean tiny) but I thought that perhaps it was time to learn spanish properly as it is one of the larges spoken languages in te world along wirth English and French. I also think this could even open up more work so will see how it goes :o) |
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Jestnjoker Elite user 440 Posts |
I have a BA in Spanish when do you want to start tutoring?
Honestly though, it would be pretty tough. Jokes aren't going to translate, magic vocabulary is very specialized, your current advertising will be targeting 0% of that niche market (how big is that market anyhow?), ethnic families that haven't even learned the local language may not be in the same price range as your current clients. I'm all for learning another language though. In high school and college I studied Latin, Spanish, French, and Chinese. Now retaining those languages, that's another story. Oh, and French isn't even in the top ten list (native speakers): Mandarin, Spanish, English, Hindi, Arabic, Bengali, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Punjabi.
Jeff Wright
www.WrightEntertainment.biz Voted Best Party Entertainer in Cleveland, Nickelodeon Parents' Picks Awards |
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wbzwolinski Loyal user 232 Posts |
It might be best to study 'non-verbal' communication...look what Harpo accomplished in entertainment without speaking a word.
Wolly
Keep it Simple...Play it BIG!!!
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Jestnjoker Elite user 440 Posts |
Yeah, teach yourself to be a virtuoso harpist. With incorrect technique and a tuning you made up yourself!
Jeff Wright
www.WrightEntertainment.biz Voted Best Party Entertainer in Cleveland, Nickelodeon Parents' Picks Awards |
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wbzwolinski Loyal user 232 Posts |
???
Keep it Simple...Play it BIG!!!
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Jestnjoker Elite user 440 Posts |
The Brother's were incredible musicians. As I have it, Harpo taught himself to play harp by ear, so he had it tuned incorrectly, and thus his technique was off as well. My favorite bit of theirs (it's not a harp piece) is "Mama Yo Quiero" from "Big Store." I believe it's actually been posted on this forum before. Check it out!
Jeff Wright
www.WrightEntertainment.biz Voted Best Party Entertainer in Cleveland, Nickelodeon Parents' Picks Awards |
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wbzwolinski Loyal user 232 Posts |
Wow, I knew Harpo played the Harp but did not know that he was self taught or that his harp was not tuned correctly...I love that! I will have to look up the harp piece you mentioned as well.
Thanks! Were the other Marx brothers self taught musicians as well?
Keep it Simple...Play it BIG!!!
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Baz94 New user Kent/Eng 91 Posts |
Cheers for the replies guys.
The learning Spanish thing isn't quite for me to do the childrens parties but moreover, to somply communicate with the Adults. I'm choosing spanish simply as I love the language and of the places I visit, "Spanish" would be the language in use more than the others. I have no desire to do french as I wont be visiting any french speaking countries (Even though France is the closest!). Most of the people I know have Spanish as their other language. If I use Spanish when performing, It wil be when I do table/close up magic. My "waky funny guy" act will always be performed in English :o) |
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Baz94 New user Kent/Eng 91 Posts |
Jestnjoker....
I realy wished I kept with languages at school. Alas, I didn't, 25 years LATER... Im starting! I do think that as English...we are pretty ignorant to other languages. Another reason I wanna make the effort(Albeit a bit late in the day!) I have a friend at work from the dominican republic that will help me along and have a few spanish courses on the pc (Listening to one as I type!) but I really must KEEP at it! |
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Jestnjoker Elite user 440 Posts |
Wolly- The one I mentioned isn't a harp piece, it's a piano piece. Just amazing entertainment!
Baz- You've already got Brian beat: http://comedians.jokes.com/brian-regan/v......ilingual
Jeff Wright
www.WrightEntertainment.biz Voted Best Party Entertainer in Cleveland, Nickelodeon Parents' Picks Awards |
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wbzwolinski Loyal user 232 Posts |
Thanks Jestnjoker,
I misread your intial reply regarding the piece. I will definitely look that up. Baz, I speak both German and Polish fluently and actually use it on occasion in my acts. I too used to speak some French and Spanish but unfortunately have lost most of may ability speak them due lack of use. Wolly
Keep it Simple...Play it BIG!!!
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Ed_Millis Inner circle Yuma, AZ 2292 Posts |
In the SW corner of AZ, 10 miles from the border, Spanish is on my list of things to accomplish!!
Ed |
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dearwiseone Inner circle Portland, OR 1143 Posts |
Speaking Spanish is a great plus, if anything just to communicate with the parents. If you can slip in some Spanish jokes during the show, it scores huge with the Spanish-speaking community. While most of the shows I do aren't for Spanish speakers, and I haven't had success marketing to that demographic, I still think it has great value.
One entertainer asked me why I bothered advertising that I speak Spanish, when most kids speak English. It is, of course, for the benefit of those who call to book me...the parents. I highly suggest if there are a large population of Spanish speakers in your market, or you often get called for this group, I suggest investing in a few meetings with a professional Spanish tutor, or another entertainer who performs in Spanish. Of course it doesn't just have to be Spanish, although that's the #2 language in the U.S. right now! Baz, best wishes learning Spanish! |
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windrunner New user 86 Posts |
I have done table hopping at a Mexican restaurant. This gig got me a lot of birthday parties with Mexican families. Mexican families make a big deal about birthday parties. There is an entire market out there if you want to learn a little Spanish.
Bryan Blankenship
"the alter ego of" VanDoren the Magician |
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Alan Munro Inner circle Kentwood, Michigan, USA 5952 Posts |
I'm tempted to learn Mexican Spanish, because of the large population in my area who speak it. There are also populations from other Central American countries, especially Guatemala.
I'm thankful that Hindus speak English. It makes it easier to work their parties. |
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curtgunz Special user Only 99% of users have more than 784 Posts |
This is from the other end of the spectrum.
I taught a college class on clowning and one of the students was a lady who spoke very broken English. She was a natural talent and turned into a great clown. She joined our COAI alley and is very active. We were in an area south of Houston and there were a lot of people who spoke Spanish but at the time there was not a single clown that I know of who did. This lady had all the gigs she could handle very quickly. What was great, however, was that she was so naturally funny that even the clown skits, magic, and other bits of business she did in English were very funny because she used her heavy accent as just one more comedy tool. She didn't play dumb. The lady had advanced degrees and lived all over the world prior to moving to our community. It is hard to explain, she didn't play it as a "dumb foreigner" but she was able to use language barriers for comedic effect. It was never "Meesiter, I done unnerstan jew" type of humor. I know I'm not explaining this well, but the audiences were made to laugh and realize that just because someone does not speak English does not mean they are dumb.
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Leland Inner circle St Louis 1180 Posts |
I’m fluent in Spanish. I was asked to do a magic show in Spanish and I thought no problem.
Well it doesn’t work that way. The jokes and gags and the funny bit just don’t work the way you would think in the other language. The magic worked but part of the magic is setting it up so that when it does happen there is the wow element. I won’t be taking any other Spanish jobs for a while. Anyone know what the correct word for magic wand is?
Life of Magic!
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Baz94 New user Kent/Eng 91 Posts |
Thanks again for the replies folks.
I wouldnt incorperate the spanish into my childrens shows. My humour and gags are english and will stay that way, simply because I am well rehursed with it :o) The Spanish will come in handy for close up and as mentioned before on the thread... handy for communicating with the adults. On the whole, I think learning a new language even just to chat is a great thing :o) Have done a couple of hours today.... I think I willl try for a few hours every day if poss! |
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wbzwolinski Loyal user 232 Posts |
Learning a new language is also a great brain exercise.
Keep it Simple...Play it BIG!!!
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Jestnjoker Elite user 440 Posts |
Leland: varita magica (the first "a" in magica is accented)
Jeff Wright
www.WrightEntertainment.biz Voted Best Party Entertainer in Cleveland, Nickelodeon Parents' Picks Awards |
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