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Winnipeg: half-time report
Jul. 21st, 2009 07:05 pmOn Sunday, I wrote the following update on my experience here at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival:
Winnipeg Day 6:
Even with small houses, quiet audiences, mixed reviews, and swarms of rage-infected mosquitos, the atmosphere here...
I've never been to a Fringe that just glows with positive energy like Winnipeg does.
This place does not let me stay down for long. It's amazing.
The next day, I had a meltdown with a friend, a mono scare (I'm fairly certain I'm fine, but can afford the the $200+ to get tested), and I missed a pretty ladyfriend's show because I thought my car got stolen, which happens a LOT in Winnipeg. Turns out, it was just towed. So that just sucks rather than fucking sucks.
Say it with me, folks: How Hefnerian!
The towing fee, coupled with the parking ticket (which I will contest, for what good it'll do) have clinched the understanding that I won't break even at Winnipeg. All my first times at Fringe fests are money losses, but still, I hoped for better after all the hype I heard about Winnipeg being a money-maker. Hell, that's why I'm not performing at CapFringe, my home base, along with most of my pallies and pallettes! Well, that, and I don't have a new show yet.
I'm working on that, though, rest assured. But first, I need to give the Monologues an overhaul, now that I know what they're really about. Idly, I wonder if this new emphasis might bring in a bit more mass appeal, but at heart, I know I'll always be a niche, a cult artist at most. I'm still a Rude Mechanical at heart. We're the outsiders among outsiders, the fringe of the fringe. That's the kind of artist I'll always be, trying to explore things that... well, just aren't universal mainstream topics.
There are some shows here which pack houses, get rave reviews, standing ovations, deservedly. I've seen some goddamn brilliant shows, and they deserve all the buzz and praise they get. And yet... they don't quite speak for me. Oh, they move me, they inspire me, but they don't quite hit the Heffie sweet spot. Those shows are few and far between. But then, that's probably one reason I want to create these shows, because no one else is! I just don't know if I ever could create something for mass audiences. I just don't think that way. All I can do is keep working, keep learning and improving as I try to find my audience. My New Rudes around the world.
I still have three more shows, so who knows what can happen? Today, I had a noon show, five people, my smallest audience yet. I decided, "Fukkit!" and just relaxed, threw in new stuff, played with the show on the fly, and ended up with my best show yet! Winnipeg isn't over yet. This is a magical festival, bumps and all, and I anxiously look forward to the day I can come back and truly conquer this town.
Maybe by then, I'll actually know what to say to people to don't believe that I'm really Hugh Hefner's cousin. Today, I spent ten minutes with a woman who REFUSED to believe it. It's because I'm an actor, you see, we make this stuff up. I don't know why it even gets under my skin this much! I just hate this mindset that I'm capitalizing on Hugh Hefner's name or something. If they think I do it to get attention and rake in the cash, I gotta say, it ain't working!
Ah well. They're probably not my audience anyway. All I can do is keep at it and find them. Three more shows, then two more cities after that. I'm a long way from done, folks.
In the meantime, fellow acting types, I highly suggest you think about Winnipeg. Also Edmonton, that's the biggest in North America, just under Edinburgh. There's no life like Fringe life, and the ups make all the downs well worthwhile!
Winnipeg Day 6:
Even with small houses, quiet audiences, mixed reviews, and swarms of rage-infected mosquitos, the atmosphere here...
I've never been to a Fringe that just glows with positive energy like Winnipeg does.
This place does not let me stay down for long. It's amazing.
The next day, I had a meltdown with a friend, a mono scare (I'm fairly certain I'm fine, but can afford the the $200+ to get tested), and I missed a pretty ladyfriend's show because I thought my car got stolen, which happens a LOT in Winnipeg. Turns out, it was just towed. So that just sucks rather than fucking sucks.
Say it with me, folks: How Hefnerian!
The towing fee, coupled with the parking ticket (which I will contest, for what good it'll do) have clinched the understanding that I won't break even at Winnipeg. All my first times at Fringe fests are money losses, but still, I hoped for better after all the hype I heard about Winnipeg being a money-maker. Hell, that's why I'm not performing at CapFringe, my home base, along with most of my pallies and pallettes! Well, that, and I don't have a new show yet.
I'm working on that, though, rest assured. But first, I need to give the Monologues an overhaul, now that I know what they're really about. Idly, I wonder if this new emphasis might bring in a bit more mass appeal, but at heart, I know I'll always be a niche, a cult artist at most. I'm still a Rude Mechanical at heart. We're the outsiders among outsiders, the fringe of the fringe. That's the kind of artist I'll always be, trying to explore things that... well, just aren't universal mainstream topics.
There are some shows here which pack houses, get rave reviews, standing ovations, deservedly. I've seen some goddamn brilliant shows, and they deserve all the buzz and praise they get. And yet... they don't quite speak for me. Oh, they move me, they inspire me, but they don't quite hit the Heffie sweet spot. Those shows are few and far between. But then, that's probably one reason I want to create these shows, because no one else is! I just don't know if I ever could create something for mass audiences. I just don't think that way. All I can do is keep working, keep learning and improving as I try to find my audience. My New Rudes around the world.
I still have three more shows, so who knows what can happen? Today, I had a noon show, five people, my smallest audience yet. I decided, "Fukkit!" and just relaxed, threw in new stuff, played with the show on the fly, and ended up with my best show yet! Winnipeg isn't over yet. This is a magical festival, bumps and all, and I anxiously look forward to the day I can come back and truly conquer this town.
Maybe by then, I'll actually know what to say to people to don't believe that I'm really Hugh Hefner's cousin. Today, I spent ten minutes with a woman who REFUSED to believe it. It's because I'm an actor, you see, we make this stuff up. I don't know why it even gets under my skin this much! I just hate this mindset that I'm capitalizing on Hugh Hefner's name or something. If they think I do it to get attention and rake in the cash, I gotta say, it ain't working!
Ah well. They're probably not my audience anyway. All I can do is keep at it and find them. Three more shows, then two more cities after that. I'm a long way from done, folks.
In the meantime, fellow acting types, I highly suggest you think about Winnipeg. Also Edmonton, that's the biggest in North America, just under Edinburgh. There's no life like Fringe life, and the ups make all the downs well worthwhile!
