File puptcrit/puptcrit.0802, message 883


From: DRAMA711-AT-aol.com
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:45:27 EST
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] busking


I have to echo steve's comment about busking being a great training ground.  
>From 1974 to 1980 we operated primarily as a street theatre here in washington 
 dc, working in the financial district and capital hill Monday through Friday 
 10-2 (lunch) and Georgetown at night. We did political satire exclusively. 
One  show "The Puppet President" was a big favorite that kept evolving over the 
 years. The set up was each puppet got a minute to tell campaign jokes and a  
minute to sing a campaign song and the audience would elect the new president 
 from by the volume of their approval or disapproval. ''76 and '80 were 
obviously  big years. The cast ran from Jimmy Carter, Amy Carter, Henry Kissinger, 
Nelson  Rockefeller, Jerry Brown, Ted Kennedy, Bella Abzug to the Bananaman 
("the All  Night Party" "put a REAL puppet in the white house!" and a big crowd 
favorite)  Sonny Jurgenson and the Cold Duck and of course Richard Nixon who 
always  got booed off the stage (except at the University of Scranton where he 
won... I  still haven't quite figured out if they had more irony than we did) 
but it gave  us a great line as he lost and hissed at the audience " I'll 
remember your  faces!"
 
We went out there because we believed that was the root of the art form but  
also because we didn't have a clue how to make a living as puppeteers. I  was 
never too much into deferred gratification and didn't have the business  
acumen to get booked in the traditional ways of clubs and theatres but also  hadn't 
figured out how great the elementary school audience was much  less libraries 
etc. The street defined our style, interactive,  fast paced, surprises and 
particularly LISTEN TOTHE AUDIENCE. IF there was  a dead spot they'd walk away. 
Keep eliminating dead spots, give them what they  wanted to see... here in dc 
politics was a natural, daily hone the script. It  made us feel rich having a 
big wad of cash, an orange and an occasional joint  from our efforts. Of 
course the big wad of cash was $75 split two ways after 6  shows, but it was $75 we 
wouldn't have had. Today we'd be a lot better at the  money having seem so 
many street performers since then and seen how they worked  the crowds but back 
then we were about the only game in town... PACS would have  to raise there 
ugly puppet heads now.
 
Another important part for me was the power to alter moods and  attitude. The 
first puppet show I ever saw was by the San Francisco Street  Puppet Theatre 
performing on the Berkley campus summer of ''73. If anyone knows  anything 
about them I'd love to hear off or on list. Anyway, someone, like me,  could be 
walking down the street sour or lonely or whatever, stumble on us  and start 
laughing and appreciate it enough to leave a fist full of coins. Mood  altering 
without a hangover! It's been fun also to see the dawn of  recognition on so
meone's face 20 years later and have someone talk about seeing  us in their 
foggy past. I also appreciated not having a clue who was seeing us.  It lead to us 
performing at the Carter Inauguration at the Kennedy Center, but  that's 
another story. 
 
Once we had families and got established in the schools and were making 10  
times as much we let it slip away. Also after Reagan was elected it just didn't 
 seem funny anymore, although he seems like a pretty decent guy in comparison 
to  what we have now. But one beautiful spring day about two years ago I was  
walking by Dupont Circle and I felt a serious pull back. Cheney had just shot 
 that lawyer and mirth was in the air. Alas, a little too fat, bald and lazy  
now.
 
michael cotter
director 
blue sky puppet theatre
_www.blueskypuppets.com_ (http://www.blueskypuppets.com) 
_drama711-AT-aol.com_ (mailto:drama711-AT-aol.com)    
 
 
In a message dated 2/24/2008 11:11:02 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
alangregorycook-AT-msn.com writes:

Steve W.  mentions Steve Hansen a most gifted street performer. One day I 
happened to be  on the UCLA campus, and saw Steve crossing the campus with his 
puppet  equipment packed on his  back at the same time a photographer was doing 
a  fashion shoot. By happenstance, Steve ended up in the background of the  
fashion shoot for PAY.

Being in the right place at the right time seems  an important aspect of good 
busking.

ALAN COOK


-----Original  Message-----
From: Widerman-AT-aol.com
Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2008 3:01  PM
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] busking

I  performed a marionette act in New York City during the late 1970's and   
early 1980's. I was inspired to do it by Steve Hanson, the Puppetman, a  
talented  
busker whom I met during the time he was working in New  York. This was 
during 
the Koch administration, and enforcement of vagrancy  laws and other  
street-related free enterprise was rather lax. It is  now virtually 
impossible to  
perform outdoors in New York City  without being stopped by the authorities. 
It  
is remarkable how much  the atmosphere of the city has changed.

Busking is a great way to hone  your skills. Income is directly related to  
entertainment value, and  you can fix things or try new things out on the 
next  
audience in a  few minutes. Skilled street performers are very engaging--by   
necessity. However, you are also at the mercy of the weather, the  local  
enforcement, and other street vendors and  vagrants.

Although people would forget me, they always remembered the  puppet. Once,  
while performing in Athens I was recognized by someone  who had seen my act 
at  
Fanuil Hall in Boston! The South Street  Seaport would schedule street  
performers, but I found their  scheduling to be too restrictive. My regular 
spots  were 
in Central  Park near the entrance to the zoo during the day, and in  
Greenwich  Village on 6th or 7th Avenues near 8th Street in the evening. I 
recall   
busking in Georgetown during the 1980 World Puppetry Festival in  Washington, 
 DC, 
helping to pay for my attendance to that  Festival.

Having a good spot is key to income, so territoriality is a  big issue. I  
would often work a lucrative spot as long as possible,  meaning until  I 
required 
use of a restroom. I met many other buskers  and street vendors,  and 
sometimes 
notables could be found in my  audience on the  sidewalks.

It was very hard work that at times  seemed hopeless, and at other times was  
very gratifying. Later I  opened a puppet theater, ending my street 
performance 
days, but that's  another story.

-Steven->






One thing about busking is that the  income is directly related to drawing  
the audience and putting on a  good show. 


In a message dated 2/23/2008 11:57:22 A.M. Eastern  Standard Time,  
grego-AT-gregoland.com writes:

On Feb  23,  2008, at 9:30 PM, Rolande Duprey wrote:

> Busking is   hard.
>
> I did it on South St. Seaport once (NYC) -- made  enough  for the ride
> home.
>
> Anyone else busk  with  puppets?
>
>   Rolande
>





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