The question I got was "How do you put together a theatre show?"
I've done a lot of theatre shows. I have a love/hate relationship with them.
They are super creative, fun and feel great when you're done. On the other hand, they are expensive, stressful and financially not worth it.
So put making money away. This is the place you get to be an artist.
Years and years ago, my friend Nick (who runs a very successful theatre company. And is a great director) asked me. "What can you do in a theatre that you can't do anywhere else?"
And that's the great question. I see a lot of clowns, magicians do shows that they could do for birthday, a corporate function or a library. There's a prestige, there's a cool factor to be in a theatre but what makes theatre is the risk of failing and failing badly. It's what makes theatre and clowning so interesting to me. To be on the edge.
I do a theatrical kids show every year in December. I do it for the challenge of trying to put together something for myself. I spend the whole year making shows that please people. I do a theatre show because it's all about me. I want to make people laugh and that's it.
In a library or birthday party, I can't do a clown skit. In a theatre I have things dangling from the ceiling. Things just out of my reach. I love strings and ropes and pulleys hanging down. Getting them down is crazy, it just makes me laugh.
A theatre show should have a through line. It can be very light but there needs to be a small theme that holds together. I will think of things like "balance" So my whole show will be about bringing balance to the clown.
Last year, my theme was water. I tried to douse myself in water in as many ways as I could. It's slippery and I wish I could have done the show 30 more times to figure out the comedy but it's a challenge. I tried color changing water magic (yawn). What worked was just lifting a bowl and letting it pour over my head.
When you rent your theatre. Get a theatre people have heard of and where they feel safe. This will be more expensive but you'll actually get audience. I tried for years to do my shows in these awful neighborhoods because it seemed sort of cool to me. It's cool if your 26 and on an adventure. It's not so cool if you have a five year old with you.
You need to make the stage look fun. This is tough because you have to do it in 2 hours. Most theaters won't let you leave props.
I always use a dresser that's painted bright red, a table painted and my yellow ladder. I sometimes use an old TV painted to look funny. And I like a good chair that I can fall off. Sometimes I'll use a plastic Christmas tree and decorate it with whoopie cushions. I can get all these props into my mini van.
I do my shows in the theatre district in San Francisco. I pay a lot more and don't get free rehearsal time but I get more audience.
I do my shows at 11 in the morning. This seems to be a good time to get people in and then they can have lunch after. Theaters like me because this is free money to them. Other than me, no one is renting a theatre at 11 in the morning.
I spend a lot of time getting my shows listed on as many web sites as I can find. There are lots of places when you search "what to do with children" that will come up. I list my show there. It helps a bit but also gives me a web presence and keeps my web site coming to the top. That's good for my making a living.
I do fundraising with schools. I offer a door split for everyone that mentions their name. This usually brings me about 30 or 40 people. They're a bit hard because I need to have people there excited about coming to see me. So I have to recruit someone to talk a lot about the show.
I forgot to mention, I usually will do 4 to 6 shows over a 4 day period. I want to work on the show. That's my personal challenge. The first show I do will not be great. I'm never happy with it. Good energy but I'm thinking of the order of the show and where props are. I find the comedy as the show progresses.
I list my show on Goldstar which is a half price theatre service. It gets me 10 or so.
My audience mostly comes from former customers. I send two emails to everyone that has hired me in the past two years. I offer half price tickets.
You will need to get into the theatre at some point and move lights around.
I use my sons to run lights, run sound effects and music. One of my sons is box office. and will sometimes throw things onto the stage for me.
I pay my sons. They like this.
I've just scratched the surface. It's a challenge to put on a theatre show. I spend about $1500 and over 6 shows. The theatre is about $200 to $250 per show. They generally are nice about giving me free rehearsal time. I pay for parking, which is expensive. I pay my crew (my sons) $50 to $75 a show. I try to not buy too many new props but I usually do. I always make less than what I pay the crew.
I charge about $18 a ticket. I sell most for half price.
There's so much to be written here. If you want more. Please ask. I can get really specific on things like press releases and the writing of the show.
I've done a lot of theatre shows. I have a love/hate relationship with them.
They are super creative, fun and feel great when you're done. On the other hand, they are expensive, stressful and financially not worth it.
So put making money away. This is the place you get to be an artist.
Years and years ago, my friend Nick (who runs a very successful theatre company. And is a great director) asked me. "What can you do in a theatre that you can't do anywhere else?"
And that's the great question. I see a lot of clowns, magicians do shows that they could do for birthday, a corporate function or a library. There's a prestige, there's a cool factor to be in a theatre but what makes theatre is the risk of failing and failing badly. It's what makes theatre and clowning so interesting to me. To be on the edge.
I do a theatrical kids show every year in December. I do it for the challenge of trying to put together something for myself. I spend the whole year making shows that please people. I do a theatre show because it's all about me. I want to make people laugh and that's it.
In a library or birthday party, I can't do a clown skit. In a theatre I have things dangling from the ceiling. Things just out of my reach. I love strings and ropes and pulleys hanging down. Getting them down is crazy, it just makes me laugh.
A theatre show should have a through line. It can be very light but there needs to be a small theme that holds together. I will think of things like "balance" So my whole show will be about bringing balance to the clown.
Last year, my theme was water. I tried to douse myself in water in as many ways as I could. It's slippery and I wish I could have done the show 30 more times to figure out the comedy but it's a challenge. I tried color changing water magic (yawn). What worked was just lifting a bowl and letting it pour over my head.
When you rent your theatre. Get a theatre people have heard of and where they feel safe. This will be more expensive but you'll actually get audience. I tried for years to do my shows in these awful neighborhoods because it seemed sort of cool to me. It's cool if your 26 and on an adventure. It's not so cool if you have a five year old with you.
You need to make the stage look fun. This is tough because you have to do it in 2 hours. Most theaters won't let you leave props.
I always use a dresser that's painted bright red, a table painted and my yellow ladder. I sometimes use an old TV painted to look funny. And I like a good chair that I can fall off. Sometimes I'll use a plastic Christmas tree and decorate it with whoopie cushions. I can get all these props into my mini van.
I do my shows in the theatre district in San Francisco. I pay a lot more and don't get free rehearsal time but I get more audience.
I do my shows at 11 in the morning. This seems to be a good time to get people in and then they can have lunch after. Theaters like me because this is free money to them. Other than me, no one is renting a theatre at 11 in the morning.
I spend a lot of time getting my shows listed on as many web sites as I can find. There are lots of places when you search "what to do with children" that will come up. I list my show there. It helps a bit but also gives me a web presence and keeps my web site coming to the top. That's good for my making a living.
I do fundraising with schools. I offer a door split for everyone that mentions their name. This usually brings me about 30 or 40 people. They're a bit hard because I need to have people there excited about coming to see me. So I have to recruit someone to talk a lot about the show.
I forgot to mention, I usually will do 4 to 6 shows over a 4 day period. I want to work on the show. That's my personal challenge. The first show I do will not be great. I'm never happy with it. Good energy but I'm thinking of the order of the show and where props are. I find the comedy as the show progresses.
I list my show on Goldstar which is a half price theatre service. It gets me 10 or so.
My audience mostly comes from former customers. I send two emails to everyone that has hired me in the past two years. I offer half price tickets.
You will need to get into the theatre at some point and move lights around.
I use my sons to run lights, run sound effects and music. One of my sons is box office. and will sometimes throw things onto the stage for me.
I pay my sons. They like this.
I've just scratched the surface. It's a challenge to put on a theatre show. I spend about $1500 and over 6 shows. The theatre is about $200 to $250 per show. They generally are nice about giving me free rehearsal time. I pay for parking, which is expensive. I pay my crew (my sons) $50 to $75 a show. I try to not buy too many new props but I usually do. I always make less than what I pay the crew.
I charge about $18 a ticket. I sell most for half price.
There's so much to be written here. If you want more. Please ask. I can get really specific on things like press releases and the writing of the show.
