As a stagehand for an international vacation company, I see a lot of travelling acts that come to our ship to perform for our guests. Some stay for a month, some stay for a few voyages and a few leave after a single show. Over the last few months I have seen a variety of acts and performers, not all of them on the same caliber. I decided to take some time to reflect on some of the acts I’ve seen and what makes the act successful.
THE GOOD
These guys have been in the circuit for a long time, and are
VERY good at what they do. They know their material back and forth and practice
constantly for better results. Their act has variety in it, but still works as
a cohesive whole or under one theme. They might slip up every now and again but
that just comes with performing live. They have material that their audience
likes, or are able to connect with their audience if it’s something they’ve
never seen before. They’re prepared for every rehearsal and are courteous to
the orchestra and staff. Probably the best example I can think of is an act
called Goucho Del Plata. He and his partner Valentina were a long-time
South-American Cowboy act on our ship, and they got along famously with
everyone. If he dropped something or slipped up in a show he would play it off
and keep going, and occasionally would change up parts of his act to keep it
interesting for himself or try something new. I loved watching them every
cruise and it taught me a lot about how travelling acts work.
THE BAD
Maybe they’re new to the industry. Maybe they lost their
luggage in the airport. Maybe they don’t have an act that resonates with their
audience. Maybe they’re just bad. Whatever it is, these guys are rarely invited
back for a second show. They tend to have poor or disconnected material that
can confuse the audience and leave them scratching their heads thinking “what
just happened?”. Sometimes they flat-out can’t perform the material they’re
trying to do, or use material that is obviously beginner level. Their props are
unwieldy and multiple, and require frequent and frustrated aid from the stage
staff to sort out. (Not to say many props are a bad thing; I’ve seen an
excellent comedy act with a ton of props, but most of them could fit in a few
boxes.) Sometimes they’re just really, really bad at what they’re trying to do.
And rarely, but it does happen, we get an act who manages to incur the wrath of
the PM. Whatever happens, the audience tends to end up smaller than it started
out.
THE GOOD WITH BAD MATERIAL
This group is the middle ground. They could be really good,
or have the potential to be good. But they don’t have a good act. Sometimes It’s
poor material, material that doesn’t fit the audience, or they just had a
string of bad luck. We have a Motown act called Sonz of Soul currently
performing, and their first couple of shows fell flat-the first because the drummer
threw his back out and they had to use canned music, and both shows because
they were an English-speaking group performing for a Mandarin-speaking
audience. Once they got in front of an English crowd, however-BOY did they
bring the house down. They got one of the only encores I’ve EVER heard on this
ship.* Sometimes a point in the right direction is all they need.
THE VERDICT
I’ve seen a lot of really good acts. I’ve seen acts that I
didn’t think would be good and ended up surprising me, like the world-famous
harmonica players. And sometimes I see someone that is supposedly really good,
but their act is flat, like a magician who used beginner tricks and logic
puzzles rather than anything really dazzling. And some we just hate because
while the audience loved them, they were hard to work with backstage. In the
end it just depends on the performer as a person and how good they are at their
act. I’m going to leave you all with some tips for the budding travelling acts
out there:
-Practice, practice, Practice! (This really should go
without saying)
-Know your audience: If your audience mainly speaks
Mandarin, you should probably learn some Mandarin. Know the demographic (Or at
least ask for an estimate) and prepare for it. I know one guy showed up
prepared for a mandarin-speaking audience and got an English-speaking one instead.
The two require very different types of music because of cultural differences.
-Be prepared. Keep the most essential parts of your show in
your backpack rather than your luggage in case it gets lost on the way. (this
includes your flash-drive back-up) Ask ahead of time if you can have the
dimensions of the stage if your act needs certain needs or has a lot of props
and moving around. Know what charts you need for the orchestra. Find out what
the audience demographics are. If you don’t speak English and the crew do, make
sure you have someone that CAN speak English. Or, you know, learn English.
-Be flexible. Sometimes crap just happens. A light could blow;
an orchestra member could injure themselves or Another act went down with the
flu. Have some-back up material if you need to change your show after you
arrive at the venue. Don’t be scared, just be aware that something could
change.
-Be reasonable. If the Production Manager tells you that you
can’t do something, it’s probably for a good reason. (like not going barefoot
onstage. We’ve seen that one, and it violates a safety rule.)
-Be Nice. The orchestra and stage staff, especially on
ships, are often busy doing other sets or setting up other shows. They work
really hard to learn the music and cues you’ve prepared for your act in an hour
or two. Be aware that we have needs to.
-Pack your Act. This goes double on a ship where we have
VERY limited space. We don’t want to get left holding that one drum you left
behind “just in case” you come back in the future. Make sure your act is packed
up and ready to move when it’s time to go. If you do have a lot of props, work
it in such a way that those props can store other boxes. Like that comedy act I
mentioned earlier; Most of their props fit in a few boxes or bags, but it didn’t
look that way when they were onstage.
Well, that’s all from the Tinker this time! I’ll try to
write more about my travel experiences in the future, but I wanted to get this
out there for fun.
Until next time, Travellers!
*If there WAS another encore, it was in Mandarin and I
couldn’t understand it.
