Street Performer World Championship

[USA BREAK DANCERS]

We were invited to the Street Performer World Championship in Dublin this summer. Has anyone worked this festival, could you share your experiences with us?

[Dan Holzman]

My partner and I were there a couple of years ago. I enjoyed the experience very much. The pitches inside the park are much better then the one's on the street, so get as many of those as you can.

The performing area is close to Grafton Street, and I'm sure you could get extra shows in over there if you wanted to. One day was rained out during our visit, but the rest of the time the weather was perfect for performing.

The lodging we had was pretty nice, and the venue for the night time show is fantastic.

Good luck,
Dan

[Frisbee]

I performed this festival the first year it happened and it was wicked!

some of the biggest and nicest crowds I have ever had and the people who organize this festival are both really great guys and they go out of their way to make sure the artists are happy.

[USA BREAK DANCERS]

Thanks for the feed back guys...

[jeep caillouet]

Greg,It makes very happy to see you getting around like you do. I see where you travel a lot. I've always traveled a lot. But it seems I'm just stranded here in Key West for what ever reason for a while. So come on down We'll have a good time and I'll take you sailing.Oh way to go USA break dancers, good luck.

[USA BREAK DANCERS]

Jeep, can we go sailing with you?

[jeep caillouet]

You guys come on down I'll do what I can do to see that you get a good spot, which ain't much these days,But it's better'n freezing your ass off up north. Besides we haven't seen you guys for a whole now. Politics are about the same as all ways. And then we'll go sailing.Hey "pull in that jib sheet" ''grab that main sheet'' ''Can you get me another beer?''My boat can take 5 of ya,we'll have a great time.call me if you like 305 923 9885.

[Frisbee]

Hey Jeep,

I would love to take you up on your offer, it would be great fun.

I would like to get down your way, maybe in the fall we can make it happen...

Thanks mucho,
Greg

[jeep caillouet]

Greg could bring Rachel? She could ride in my side car on my bicycle!:)

[Frisbee]

and maybe in our sailing we can bump into Ray Jason.

Didnt he retire down that way on his boat, writing his novels.

[USA BREAK DANCERS]

Did you say Beer? Jeep i'll bring a 40 ounce of Old english 800 or as we call it here in da hood Old gold just tap the bottle and twist the cap. Maybe after we can do some drive by's get ride of some of the old performers in Mallory square and bring some new talent in, we'll start with Dr. Juice...

[jeep caillouet]

Greg,I use to see Ray around a little, but haven't seem him in a couple of years. He for years worked at the foot of Duval ST. Some how he lost that space, he came over to Mallory for a while, but I don't think he did real good money wise.Next time I saw he he was driving a cab and living on his boat. He might of left town.Will Soto would know.

[jeep caillouet]

Man I ain't had a 40 sense I got out of O.P.P. in New Orleans! There ain't nothing but red necks down here and they don't drink nothing but budweiser.We could go down in the village though,I'll get my man to hook us up. Then we could just go and have little talk with Juice. Then we go and take my sailboat down by Mallory and wait for Will to get up on the wire, take a few shots see who can pluck him off da wire. With any luck we can get Mark off that 10 ft. unicycle in one shot. He's just another juggler any way and we already got 'nuff of them. And that just leaves ... Oh shit. I'm outta here,I'm going back down in the village!:laugh:

[Isabella]

Julio - Go to Dublin! Aerial Angels did it last year and it was wonderful. Great money and warm, welcoming and wonderful crowds.

It gets icky with weather, but the crowds still stay.

One caveat - while the organizers, volunteers, and helpers are super nice, there was a distinct old-boys, "we're the street performers who the hell are you?" vibe from about half the guys who all knew each other and didn't know us. We got a sense that it was something we run into occasionally but hadn't experienced recently, which is being girls and not getting taken seriously. However, this was definitely not the tone of the festival as a whole, and of course it's different people each year. But as far as socializing, it took us longer here to make friends than anywhere else, and it was a weird combination of guys hitting on us and guys acting like we weren't worthwhile because they didn't know us and we were girls.

[Butterfly Man]

It's nice to read about this event. I think it's great that the organizers treat everyone so well and it's all good, as far as I'm concerned.

But I was just wondering (and I always thought this way about Shizuoku also) where do they get the right to say it's a "Street Performer World Championship" (or in Shizuoku's case "The World Cup")... that all seems kinda bogus in a way.

I mean, do you really think Space Cowboy is a 5 time "World Champion" (sorry but this just makes me giggle)? Over the years, I've been lucky enough to see genius on the street but in all my years I've never seen any way to compare one act equitably to another.

I think they should change the name to "Northern Ireland's Best Performer Who Showed Up Here Because He Couldn't Actually Book A Gig Anywhere Else At The Time Championships" ... that would be more accurate ... and it has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

[Isabella]

Mark and Conor (organizers) were pretty straight up about that - and I quote (more or less) - "We all know it's not really a contest and it's just an audience choice award for this festival, but it gets us a lot of press so that's why we call it that, and it's nice for you to put on your websites."

[Butterfly Man]

Fair enough.

[Isabella]

And don't forget Christchurch :)

[Butterfly Man]

Thank you Isabella,
I have no problem with organizers using the word "world” for their respective events ... there is no contest at the Jodifest in ChCh.

But I take umbrage when festival organizers advertise a “worldwide competition” (a la Dublin & Shizuoku)… just because some performers live in different places on the earth doesn’t make any contest between them a world-class event.

But what really pisses me off (other than asinine expressions like "when you've seen one juggler, you've seen them all") is when one individual art form is compared and rated with another… such one-dimensional comparisons annoy me.


P.S. I don't test well either.




How could a man be satisfied with a decision between such alternatives and under such circumstances? No more than he can be satisfied with his hat, which he's chosen from among such shapes as the resources of the age offer him, wearing it at best with a resignation, which is chiefly supported by comparison.
- George Eliot

[Rachel Peters]

I think the Olympics should follow suit and have every sport compete against each other. Long Jump against Figure Skating, against Skeet Shoot.
See who's the best...thing.

agreed.

[Dan Holzman]

I understand why Mark and Conner call their festival "The World Championships" Like Isabella said they found that by having a contest format it was easier to get sponsership. The idea of performers coming from all over the world to decide who is best sounds better then the idea of them just getting together to provide entertainment and make some money in the hat.

That being said, the contest is pretty unfair. Since the audience gets to vote a lot depends on how many people get to see you perform. Having the larger pitches in prime time someone like "Space Cowboy"(who I thought was a very nice guy and a great street performer) has a huge advantage over someone working a street spot getting 5 times less people to see their show.

Shizuoko has a different, and I think more fair approach. All the performers have a show on the main stage where they are judged by a selected panel, of course they are still judging different types of acts against each other, but at least it is a more level playing field.

Dan

[Butterfly Man]

True, so true ... sponsorship dollars are the key to any festival's success but when I watch some performers go to any lengths to win these prizes it makes me quite ill (e.g. Halifax '88).

Peoples Choice Awards are just as bad as panel judges ... they are both doing the same thing ... exploiting not enjoying the various talents.

There are no such comparisons in nature.

Still, hats off to organizers who give people work to make people laugh ... like I said, it's all good.

[charliekarl]

Hey USA Breakers.

Lovely to get to know you guys in Toronto.

The Dublin festival is amazing, and the only drawback is that the rain potential is high (while the hidden sunbeam is that the crowds will show up anyway and appear, watch and cheer for full shows in pretty serious downpour).

It would not be a surprise to me if you end up doing your favourite festival show of your life there. In fact, I'll bet you a beer right now that will happen.

Mark and Conor are sweet guys with a rare combination of smarts and an ability to listen to performers.

Have fun, I'm looking forward to next time I can do it.

Cheers
--
Charlie
www.catchmagic.com

[Juggalicious]

I have to agree with Dan on this one... people getting different sized pitches isn't fair at all as far as the voting goes.

I have heard great and wonderful things about the festival itself - but as far as voting goes - everyone should at least get the opportunity to perform on the same pitch - which still won't guarantee the same size crowd depending on the time of day.

a panel of judges does seem like the fairest method of picking.

Alex