Our first circle busk

I count today as our first true circle busk (gathering an audience, then putting a show on for them, often inside a chalk circle to demarcate the performance space - we just used a circular area and set our sign and hat in the middle). We ran our full show from stilts to stories (...and juggling) every half hour, and between shows we wandered the market hollering out our next showtime and the where and what. After our first show a few kids loved us so much, they wanted to join our troupe. They gladly canvassed for us, asking all the adults and other kids they knew to come see our next show. They were playing some disturbing game in which the bigger kid declared the smaller his hostage, and ordered him about. No one seemed upset, though, so no harm no foul.

West Bend Farmers' Market -  it's been said before, and I know it's true, but knowing your audience is essential. Our first show was too much something. A good half of our audience either wandered away, or made an audible choice to leave about half-way through. It was in the midst of our fight scene, so it's possible we upset people with our violence... or it's possible that it was dull to watch, so people lost interest and wandered away. In any case, we performed thrice today. After the first performance, we reevaluated our show. By cutting the fight and tango, we were able to retain our full audience through the show. We need a bigger finale, though... something flashy. Currently, we end on a story... It's good... it's the (soy)meat and potatoes of our show. It's what we've had the most success with when sidewalk busking, and in our circle busk, people seem to like it (though I think the gimmick is not enough, and we've gotta tell better stories than we have been telling), but it's not a good finale. Maybe a good acrobatic something would be nice to end on... Stina standing on my shoulders...and juggling, perhaps?

Aside to Nikki: everyone everywhere loves the leprechaun joke. Thank you for it.

In other exciting news, our business cards have come. I've never had business cards before, and I really like these. It makes me feel legit.

Also, signs make us seem legit. Putting out not only a hat, but a sign seems to draw fewer looks of pity and more interest and impressedness.