From: "Brett Roberts" <bdr1020-AT-hotmail.com>
To: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org
Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2006 09:38:06 -0600
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Making a Living


>I came out of a theatre background into puppetry.  I'm very interested in
>learning more about what goes into birthday party shows and developing this
>arm of the market.

Hey Sandy and anyone else interested in B- Days,

I bought a book at the P of A store that I go back to all the time, Birthday 
Party Business. The more I read it, the more I get out of it.

Most people sell a thirty minute show and thirty minutes of making balloon 
animals as a package. Personally I do a 45 minute show with a fifteen minute 
balloon twisting class. In the balloon twisting class, the children all 
learn how to make a balloon dog. This keeps me from making balloon animals, 
which really don't enjoy. I can make the balloon class really entertaining 
so it's a lot of fun. If you just hate the idea of doing balloon animals 
it's still important to have some kind of add on. I do some magic in my show 
so sometimes I teach a magic class as an add on instead.

Giving the birthday child a lot of attention is important. It's a good 
selling point and it almost always guarantees a good tip.

A birthday party show has to be very portable and it can't have any set up. 
As I put a puppet or a magic trick away it's ready for the next show. I also 
wear a walkabout sound system and carry a small jam box. I can carry 
everything I need into someone's house in one trip.

I originally thought I was "above" birthday parties, but now I actually 
enjoy them. And, if I do three birthday parties on a Saturday, I make more 
money than I did working all week at the "real" job I used to have.

The best place to run an add is in your local Child magazine. Toys R Us or a 
library will have one. When you are just getting into the field, other 
entertainers can act as agents. They can get a small cut for offering the 
jobs to you that they can't do. Some agents are good and some are bad. You 
have to just find out which ones you want to work with. The Child magazine 
will list these entertainers.

Hope this helps,
Brett

Brett Roberts Productions
http://dfwentertainer.com

Brett's school and library shows
http://educationalmagician.com






>From: sandbar-AT-wowway.com
>Reply-To: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org
>To: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org
>Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Making a Living
>Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2006 08:44:21 -0600
>
>On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 07:01:44 -0500, Mark S. Segal wrote
>
> > In my beginning I hated to do BD shows (truth be told I wasn't too
> > good at them (for me)). Not until I recognized the dynamic of the
> > audience that I was dealing with did I start to develop. It was a
> > phenomenal training ground!
>
>I came out of a theatre background into puppetry.  I'm very interested in
>learning more about what goes into birthday party shows and developing this
>arm of the market.
>
>--
>Sandy
>
>SDG
>
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