Bitter-sweet. First taste of chocolate in Ivory Coast

Winter Soldier

Social injustice causes depression too.

The western worlds stage managed death march masquerading as heartfelt pantomime is maintained by advertising and marketing, etherial spells have been cast this last century in which ‘charisma’ was first amplified and projected conceptually across media to initially the worlds first mass market and then transubstantiated onto inanimate objects and politicians. This theatre is a mind numbing veneer that is the most advanced collective hypnotic state ever attempted and realized. A diversionary post natal full spectrum mental cocoon.

A credit to us all.

Subterranean-ality will always be arguable in cultural or sociological matters.

What lies beneath is debated in times of flux and it’s been a while, the Hindenburg trials and the International Military Tribunal for the Far East were the last time our current civilization held court in any sort of hard core moral broadcast. That’s the subtext of show trials after all.

I would argue it’s hardly subterranean to compile public information enough to conclude that the last centuries major profitable industries are irrefutably those connected with blowing shit and people up and doing shitty repairs afterwards. Those are the heavy industries, the light industries being variants of banking warlockery in which financial instruments are manifest via competitive cynicism and thrown like grenades, each over insured against damage, out into society.

Variety...OKIDOK

Collated Street Theatre advice.

YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO.
Forward:
The following are a collection of tips from various threads on P.net (performers.net) in response to questions posed by first timers/ newbies/beginners.
These are some of the responses and are a good collection of simple guidelines given by performers with many years experience from all over the world. You have to start somewhere and this is as good a place as any.
 
martinewen.com

So You Want To Be a Street Performer.
Advice I give everyone starting out is that your first hundred (or so) shows are going to SUCK. So just get through them and take notes on what worked and what didn't. After 100 bad shows, you'll still probably have learned something new in each show. With 100 lessons learned, something is bound to click in that 101st show and you'll be off and running. 

Start a notebook of ANY idea you have (tricks, lines, promo ideas, etc). No matter how strange or ridiculous they may seem. Then at the end of each week/month/etc review your ideas and breakdown the ones you might work and pursue them. 

Don't lose heart when a day crashes around you ..

Be respectful.. of the people you share the space with.. performers , other street workers, close by shops.... and any reoccurring fans you might have... 

Work as many different spots as you can [all over the country] this will help you to be adaptable to any situation and not get used to only working one spot. 

Travel,watch street performers with reputations you've heard of,ask them questions about your show,these people know what they are talking about. 

The 3 s's.......Smile,Shave and Slow down [you have to relax when you perform,if you are too high energy,people just leave] 

Good ideas can come anywhere, so be sure to keep your notebook handy. I used to think I would remember it, but I usually forget... 

NOTHING can replace the experience of watching an experienced street performer as she/he (wow, does that phrase sound like the good laugh it ought to be!) builds an audience, entertains that audience and then, after suitable hat lines, garner the rewards from his/her years (or hours) of study and preparation. 

You create a stage in public create an audience
do a show with a
beginning
middle
and end
and ask for money afterwards.

  By placing stuff on the ground (clubs, knives, torches, babies etc.) you get the interest of passerby's. Contact them. Tell them a show is to start. Grab a child and place him or her where you want her. Make a stage out of a rope. Ask the child to hold onto the rope. Her family will stay (hopefully) Run around and get the audience around the rope. Start the show. It helps if you have some really crazy things placed at the ground. A chainsaw do all the talking. Knives work. The best is personality, but few are blessed with that.
Making your tricks flow into routines is also very important. Finding a way to connect them together and connect you with the audience. 

Give it a fair chance to see if you really want to do it..
watch other performances and learn from them.. the good .. and
especially the bad... but be your own show... if you copy another performance then you are just a copy ...
Getting out and seeing how the other guys do it, asking questions, and just doing it yourself is really the only way to learn. 

Develop a character,
1/ Get one article of clothing that ‘is’ you, some playful/interesting piece of clothing, hat, jacket,pants doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are comfortable and playful about pushing a stage to just outside your body..
2/ grab a prop, juggling ball, babies rattle, small/big doesn’t matter, any object that gives you some deep playful impulse (resist yourself you double entendre fuckers)
Something that, in any given moment where you feel you’re losing it, you can grab that thing and focus on it and remember that the idea is to enjoy yourself. Choose wisely and personally.
3/ THEN on the pitch
create a stage
Put your props out with focus and intention (builds possible anticipation, its a tension device)
and/or mark out an area with string/rope whatever
and or pace the intended stage
and or (others can put suggestions under numbers ie this is 3) (then we could put it in the library under ‘collective’)
4/
Create an audience

beckon interested people to the edge of what you have defined as your stage.
Use the ‘curious ape’ technique.
(Deeply rooted in the human psyche is a curiosity borne from self preservation. From the time we came down from the trees onward unusual things had the ability to kill. If a person sees an action or a series of actions that make no sense it is a universal human principal that they will halt and focus until they have perceived meaning. If you for example take 5 actions and unusually stop each to continue another nothing will make sense for round two thirds of the process when the objectives become more apparent. In this time a good proportion of people passing will stop to try and make out what you are doing. 

I was lucky enough to have the silly people comedians do a piece I wrote that demonstrated this principle, I was able to stretch ‘making no sense at all but obviously doing something focused’ to a grand total of round 15minutes--before they realised that the dead fish were there to attract flies that each performer was competitively catching.

Promise them a show Create eye contact 

Instigate relationships, be happy, if you try too hard go back to (2-above) then resume. 

I think the first thing any solo performer needs to find out is HOW OTHERS PERCEIVE YOU ...
The only way I know to do that is to take whatever skills you have and present them to an audience ... don't write material (for gawds sake don't steal) just put the things you do in a kind of order on the ground in front of you ... then pick them up (even if they are alive) and see what happens ... THEY (the audience) will tell you what they want from you ... and THEY will write your show for you.
Once you know who you ARE ...you will know your CHARACTER ... your clown.

It might be a little frightening at first ... but you will get it pretty quick ... especially if you are hungry.
Once you know what they want to see ... then it's pretty easy ... just write down everything that you see or hear that is funny ... if you wanna get real good, record your shows on tape ... that's about it. 

There is no failure, just success and not trying. Set your goal and do it. There are tons of business people that are very successful because they're stupid. They don't think about stuff, they just start and figure it will all work out. Hard work is better than hard thinking. This is what I tell myself once a week. 

Do shows and suck and go home rejoicing in your suckness knowing that at least you did shows. The most valuable thing I have been told and what seems to be the recurring theme through all these posts is that the only way to get good at the street is to do the street.
While personal perseverance is a major part of anything creative I think those of us who for various reasons are still performing on the streets after a decade or so could quite easily bring to mind individuals who have taken us under their wing showed us some techniques and probably more importantly given us permission to make our own rules.
Its scary to get out there with your own content and risk failure. That's why generic shows are so plentiful.
  How to create a stage in public, how to create an audience, how to create a show with a beginning a middle and an end, how to ask for money.
There's heaps of ways to do each of these things . It helps to know what some of them are. 

Go to festivals. Catch all the street at the Fringe that you can. Plan your holidays to coincide with streetfests in other cities. Try. Rehearse. Ask quality questions. Fail. Succeed. Laugh at yourself. Don't let the odd cranky reply or brush-off dissuade you. Read. Research all kinds of comedy, of performance, of style, of tempo, of era, of mood. 

Find the skin that fits like a glove.
Beginning, middle, end dude. It's not rocket science.
Beginning: (For a street show) Make some sort of spectacle of your self until you've drawn enough attention from passers by that they are no longer passers by, they are a crowd. (For a stage show) Make an entrance.
Middle: Do something to keep every body interested and entertained enough so they don't want to walk away. That works for both street and stage.
End: It's called a finale', or perhaps a grand finale', your biggest trick, or most visual or funny routine. Also if it is a street show and you want your audience to tip you for the performance, you should communicate that to them at some time during the show. It's called a hat line.
And finally the best way to put together a street show is to do it. Find a pitch somewhere and do at least 100 shows. Paying attention to your audience at all times. The stuff they like, keep. The stuff they don't like, either fix or discard. Have fun and try not to hurt anyone or get arrested.
Just think outside of yourself a little. If you were just a spectator on the sidewalk, what would surprise you, make you laugh, and endear you towards a performer (i.e. want to give him some of your hard earned money). Thinking like an audience member is a huge help towards writing original material, and avoiding being overly masturbatory. And never just deliver, always tease at least a little bit first, otherwise they won't appreciate it, you've got to make people WANT what you've got before you give it to them.

Personally, I tend to try and create a progression that tells some kind of simple story in my show (ex: inept chef struggles to cook a wily lobster) rather than just string tricks together.
But if you do string tricks together, here are some things to think about:
1) transitions between tricks are where you will lose your crowd. Try and link your tricks together some way so people will stay to watch.
2) the arc of your show should be straight up -- build suspense, work the crowd, make 'em want to see your big finish, whatever it is. Don't give your best away at the top of the show.
3) Don't even start your show until you get at least a solid front row of people actively watching you. Before you start your show, you need to do things to attract people's attention, and make them understand that they need to stick around for the show.
More talk, less walk. More show, less stuff.
Work on your patter, your verbal skills, your dialogue and interaction with the audience.
Don't keep on talking about it , do it .
Rehearse. Go to a neutral space, set up a video camera and just jam in front of it. Improvise. Throw out ideas. Create. Even if it's awful. Especially if it's awful. Then watch the tape. Watch it again and then a third time. Note which ideas you liked and chuck everything else.

Go back and rehearse again this time go back to your 'good ideas' and try and take them further. Try new stuff. Watch the tape three times and take notes. Then go back and do it again and again and again and again...
1.THE RIGHT STUFF- combine all your skills.
a) physical...what you can do ... be like Murph.
b) mental ......what you think about ...positive attitude. c) emotional ..how you feel about it ...care about them. d) theatrical...who you are ...impersonations / dialects.
2. MATERIAL- what works for you.
a) “street” is not “stage”...break the 4th wall.
b) the family show....appeal to the masses.
c) the Pizza Hut mentality... everybody gets the joke.
d) the “L” factor...”Likability”...how much they like you. *
e) character & personal style...be unique... you are: who?
f) technique...master your craft.
g) K.I.S.S....keep it simple stupid.
h) standard lines, tired bits....mistakes are stepping stones to
failure.
i) ripping off... give credit where credit is due.
j) Houdini’s Rule: involve the senses...sight and sound together,
+ smell, + touch
k) the hat line...unique to the street...they pay you because
they like you.*
3. DESIGN - your choice.
a) set...the look of your stage...banner / showtime sign. b) props...and proud of it! ...your prop case display.
c) costume....neat & clean & durable ...“nice vest”.
d) sound systems....Mouse vs. Peavey, Anchor Audio.
4.SAFETY - think!
a) personal...if it hurts, don’t do it!
b) audience... “...ever hit a little boy in the face with a knife?”...
... “our client has...”

c) fire... shake those torches! OSHA approved fuel container...to ask or not to ask?
d) security....out of sight..out of mind!
e) travel...don’t fly with fuel, carry-on restrictions... (check those machetes!)... I.N.S.
5. THE SHOW - made up of bits.
a) packing...prop case + casters...two check-in, one carry-on, weight & size limitations.
b) structure....put it all together.
1. set-up, warm up...pre show.
2. crowd gathering...whistles, bells, yells...make a spectacle of
yourself.
3. intro., hat line ...who you are...mention money, be funny. 4. bit...usually one prop or skit about 2-3 minutes long.
5. transition...segué...time between bits.
6. etc....create tension...relax tension.
7. Big Trick set up....what I’m gonna do for you...
8. hat line...what you’re gonna do for me....$
9. Big Trick...wow... “louder” ...WoW!
10. hat pass...laughter turns their money into yours.
11. benediction....thank you..thank you...both of you.
12. cool down, reset...turn around time.
6. CONDITIONAL PROBLEMS - beyond your control.
a) site selection... high traffic flow (people)...sight lines.
b) surfaces & sun... “the sun was in my eyes!...I stepped on a
rock! ...it was the wind!”
c) pollutants: fumes, noise...construction, cars, children. (& the
occasional fountain)
d) legality...Stephen Baird...learn the rules then break some. e) weather... it affects the audience.
Butterfly’s Rule: 92-62.. over 92?... too hot... under 52?...too
cold ......duh.
f) safety first again... re-read #4. ... this time, everything’s wet.
7. HECKLERS - friend or foe?
a) analysis ... listen to what they say.
b) action ...use what they say ... comeback lines. c) resolution...it’s part of the act!

8. FOREIGN LANDS - your backyard.

a) people...loving the differences.
b) places...Waldo says: ”buy a ticket.”
c) things...border crossings, money woes, the best spots, Visa’s
9. SHOW BUSINESS - these days, it’s 1/2 show and all business a) professionalism ...presentation is 90 percent of your act.
b) corporate identity...you, on paper ... your video!
c) public relations ...give them more than they expect...make
those calls!
d) moneymoneymoneymoney...satisfy yourself, make a lot then
use it to help others ... save for the future... don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
Keep a diary for the first month or so at least as you'll find it useful and entertaining later on, audience sizes, particular interactions, problems, hat sizes and shows per day.
Remember, you can do anything, go anywhere, earn as you go. All you need is one unit of performance.
Good luck. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Talk Dirty Cover (Auto Tunes w/Flula)

Rumple transcript.

I'm getting some old stuff finished, clearing the decks. Here's a transcript of a taped conversation I had while driving Rumple/ Jolly goodfellow where I simply ask him "What's it all about?"

Martin; So Rumple? What’s it all about?

Rumple; Yeah..there's too much out there for anyone to know,

Martin.."so your answer to what's it all about is a question mark."

Rumple; Yeah I think that sort of sums it up [laughs]
I mean…pretty simply…but what's behind the question mark? [laughs]
I mean..yeah..there's so many words that you can come up with that you can try to define it, to sculpture meaning out of it all, but uh yeah the human mind's a fascinating thing you know, there's just so much out there, my mind's wide open, I don't claim to know the meaning of it all, I don't think there's any human alive that can fully encapsulate everything with words, there's so many different levels, you know, there's so many different ways to look at things, or even the same things,so many realities and cultures…space-beings, yeah, planets,[laughs]

I mean [laughs] it’s just so cosmic, you know, it’s just..goes on forever and people claim that they know it, you know, but people on this planet you know they go to universities and read books you know but a lot of our things, initially come from the imagination of the human mind, human perception, human imagery, so we can comprehend you know, in a human context so we can relate to it..but there’s more than meets the eye. 

But I think it is quite fascinating that humans out of all species can modify the environment to such an extent to be able to control it but ah, yeah there’s just a lot going on and when you break it down, the science of everything, there’s just a, Its mind boggling, overwhelming.
Yeah you could read all you like but ah, it’s always going to be a mystery. I mean I think thats the beauty of it you know? keeps us guessing. I mean how can one living entity claim to know everything when you look at the scale of the universe, the stars and everything. Scientifically how could scientists understand everything, but ah, yeah I’m just keeping an open mind, I’m just a fool you know [laughs]

yeah…yeah, you just got to do what you can, enjoy life, make the most of it, you know it’s an array of, a palette of life you've gotta make the most of what there is to offer. I mean it’s quite interesting too, you know, I think, you know like Buddhist monks, you know, can have a completely different outlook but also being an artist is magical too you you can marry the best of both worlds, like you know I think it’s quite beautiful to play music, to juggle, a bit of all, everything. Yeah, I’ve gotta meditate more, I mean oneness, the ultraverse, the alt averse, the universe, yeah it’s all so cosmic and I’m just a goose in inverted commas, I’m on my ‘L’ plates, yeah, how do you figure it out? Through art, through entertainment, through philosophy, meditation, dreams, sometimes you just gotta look at the big picture but you get lost in all the details, [Laughs]

or you break it down to a science. Fuck how detailed is it? Because dillions of mere atoms spinning around in a, you know, like, some strange glue of atoms that binds it all together, all this stuff in the universe, like fuck, what the hell is going on? does anyone really know what’s going on? Yeah it’s all happening, crikey, yeah you know I just think, universe, culture and spirituality, everything has it’s pro’s and cons, but I think love transcends all politics, you know there’s so many barriers, with politics, the people, you know, forget, religions have a different path but they all have a similar goal about Love, but it’s completely different. yeah love is the greatest power of all, I mean it’s just like, if there is God, God must have a pretty strong point [laughs] it’s just a big sex bomb [laughs] love is the bomb. The plan, everything, masculine, feminine, even the french language, I mean, or german they have ah, like you can have a female chair and a male table, [laughs] That’s pretty funny.[garble +Laugh] I’m a androgynous hermaphrodite, I’m a lesbian transvestite, no I’m an asexual, jesters don’t have sex.

Martin : They reproduce through the laughter of others.

Rumple; Yeah, [Laughs chokes] Yeah there’s a species that.. [changes subject] but what I do is just try and ah set things off, spread multiple giggleasms, so things just ah, you know, get creative, laughter of ah..[changes subject]
God this is awesome! check this out, [picks up camera] this is so incredibly beautiful.
[changes subject back]
I mean ah, maybe I mean God is.. Where everything is God I guess, I mean whatever you call God, you know where all a part of..we’re all in this together. It’s good to be a part of it all, our life force, the energies, it’s about energy too, so much energy out there and in a way I think everyone effects each other with all the energy that goes on in the world across the planet you know, the vibrations,of even of you know, Gods or archetypes, yeah I mean there’s many different different levels, ah, cos I guess to a certain extent you know, I mean there’s so many beliefs that, just, just you could go on and talk about it forever, it’s just

Martin; So it would appear.

Rumple; Huh?

Martin: I said so it would appear.

Rumple; Yeah I mean like, I mean people think, some people think that animals don’t even have a soul. But ah, I think animals, [pats chest] oh shit, sorry, I’m just, my heart just jumped then, caught an irregular beat,
Yeah [uninteligible] spirit

Martin; Don’t die in my car Rumple

Rumple, No I know, my dad had a heart attack, yeah and he was only 2 years and a few weeks older than me.
Yeah , I mean sometimes I’m amazed but other times, you know, when you just think about things, your mind can, you know,, it’s much more of a, I don’t have to talk forever, you have a sense of feeling like your feelings, emotional intelligence. I must meditate a bit more though, be a good thing to do, the inner journey, the outer journey, sometimes I get lost in the kingdom of grammatical sense.
I find it interesting too, words you know, to sculpt someones expression or meaning and I think that’s why a lot of people too, in the world, have conflicts, because of ,um,you know, communication, and expression. There’s a lot of beautiful people out there who can’t express themselves, they get lost in translation. 
But ah, yeah, emotions are a really incredible thing you know, to be a human being, to be alive, it’s just so fascinating, people come and go and you think in the past and the present and future. If only time travel was possible you could hang out in the past and present and future at the same time. What’s the meaning of life? Yeah, ah, pretty out there. I mean you think of a brain and it’s just..I mean if you stretched out all the ah, all the connections in the brain, probably extend to the moon they say..
I don’t know, I’m just a goose inverted commas, I don’t know what’s going on, it’s beyond me,my words, what are they [laughs], I’ve gotta, I’ve gotta go and learn english properly. I still don’t even speak english properly. It is pretty interesting when you think of English the language too because all the blend you know because there’s a bit of french there and Scottish I mean, I don’t know, you could just go on forever, yeah. 
Who am I? Who are you? What are we? We think we know it all, us people, it’s very people based isn’t it, People, it’s all about people, we are it, yeah. I put my faith in people. Nothing else. The universe is only planet earth, the universe, there’s no other life forms, we’re the only life form…naah

There are... I believe there are many other life forms.

Martin; I think you are one.

Rumple; Yeah,..Do you think there’s a higher intelligence than us?

Martin, Well I know I’m not the brightest person in the world.

Rumple, Do you think that you’re not bright? You read a lot of books.

Martin; I’m above average but that’s meaningless.

Rumple, But you read a lot of books, you must know it all Martin.

Martin, They’re not mutually inclusive statements, I read a lot of books, there’s a lot of books I haven’t read.

Rumple; Yeah I mean you can just get lost in the world of information.
Yes, it’s interesting isn’t it, I mean when you speak about the concept of God, no matter what religion, you know, I mean some people are closed minded, they don’t like to talk about new age topics or anything outside of the philosophy of christianity or the bible or whatever but everything has a bit of truth in it, beautiful art, philosophical art, ideas, but ah, yeah, I can’t believe in any one particular thing, of religion, I think it’s total integration of everything put together, all the elements, you can’t divide anything fully or separate, it has to be a complete oneness, even though it’s hard, like, something like, it’s not good to have any enemies at all, anyone in the world but ah, it’s not easy sometimes in this world .
 I mean, you know It’d be so wonderful if everyone could love each other and there was no begrudgement , but I guess, it’s kind of bizarre when you think, I mean you think of a John Lennon song ‘imagine’ but in a way it probably would be a bit boring if every country was the same country and there was no France, no Italy, no Spain, because you know it gives a bit of character, but, I don’t know if it’d be ideal or I mean it would be very beautiful if everyone could live together in peace and harmony and you know, just share the love and laughter and..but it’s hard to imagine what the world would be like if it were all the same because then there wouldn’t be different languages would there? I don’t know, Yeah, there’s..every subject, you know is, [Laughs]

Martin, Come on! Only 47 hours to go!

Rumple; Oh no! geez, help. I need help I need to see a psychologist to tell me who I am, I need professional help, I’m only a fool, don’t listen to me. I don’t know what’s going on. You know, go in, go to church or if you haven’t time have a personality test with scientology, they’ll tell you what the real deal of, what the universe is I mean sitting in an office under a fluorescent light, all day, on a busy urban street I mean they must know what’s going on, I mean, I could believe in nature too, I mean, it's good, and love, I mean I think love is the true meaning of life. 
Oh fuck, look at this, Jesus christ [grabs camera and shoots out window] fuck, my camera, could’t get it. Jesus, fuck a duck, That was, that was, if only I could have shown you what I just missed, then you would understand, [laughs] ah criky. I’m back to square one. I think martins knows what it all is, what it’s all about. I think martin ewen is God,I mean, I’m sorry to disappoint everyone [laughs] [laughs a lot] yeah,