Someone recently asked for some ideas on getting exposure in their community. Several years ago, when JET was just getting started as a maker, she asked herself the same question.
The answer she came up with was completely different, and in all honesty she had slightly different reasons for doing this. She wanted to improve her vent skills, but at the time more importantly she wanted to learn the effects of different puppets on people and get a better feel for the types of puppets people most wanted to see.
Another major plus to this method is that instead of just getting to perform for 20 or 30 minutes, she got to perform for 8 hours straight for three days in a row. To top it off, JET did this 26 times in one year. (Talk about paying your dues.)
Now you ask, “What in the world did she do?” Look around your community or in nearby towns. Almost every municipality has one or more big “Craft Shows”. Contact the promoter for the show and ask how much it would cost you to rent a booth at their show. Might cost you $75.00 to $100.00 . Don’t think of it as an expense. Think of it as “tuition” in one of the most valuable education courses you will ever take.
You will spend an entire 2 or 3 day weekend getting to fine tune your art with an audience that comes just for a good time. Make sure that you have a huge supply of your cards on hand. Make sure that you make a sign that says “Jack Smith – Ventriloquist I do parties, groups and gatherings” Expect to get some bookings.
You will have the opportunity to interface with children of all ages. It will not just be a monologue. IT WILL be in many cases a dialogue. You will have as good a time doing the event as the strolling audience will have getting to talk to you. You will be exhausted at the end of each day. It is in fact hard work.
If you explain to the promoter what you are doing, you might even be given a free space since you will be providing entertainment for their paying public. In the course of the year when JET did this, she was in 7 local newspapers, photographed for many different TV (human interest) spots, and was even asked to come and lecture at a local university. You cannot beat the publicity.
Just think of the opportunities. Put your own spin on how you do it. Make it your event. You will be tired, but you will not be sorry. If you are trying to break into the biz. this is one more way to go about it.
That’s all for now, we’ll talk more next week.
Steve & JET