I got a very interesting email today. A fair we had included in a mass emailing this past week sent me an email informing me that they can't use us because they have booked a similar act as ours. I was flabbergasted! I will explain why in a minute.
First some background. Choosing the name "Kent Family Magic Circus" has turned out to be a curse in many ways. I found this out slowly over time. You see people see things differently and read things differently. Some people are headline readers, others just glance at pictures, while others take in the whole story, if you don't mind me using a newspaper as an example. The first will only get a quick splash of an idea of what the story is all about. The second will get a visual idea of what it is all about. The third will know the whole story.
In regards to the first person there is still an even greater danger. Depending on a number of reaons they may emphasize one word in the headline over the others. Benny Hill used to use a joke, "What's this thing called love?" making it funny by saying, "What is this thing called? Love."
There is one more thing that comes into play that I must mention before I get to the point. There seems to be a schism between magicians and other arts, most particularly circus. Because anyone who picks up a trick deck of cards or a self working trick can call themselves a magician and the rest of the arts world knows this magicians are often considered to be on the lowest rung of the arts ladder. This is unfair because there are so many great peformers who have such skill and showmanship that they would equal any other artist in those areas. In my own experience I have had circus people, when introducing us or talking about us as, "The Kent Family Magic Show" (changing cirsus to show) Even though magic is becoming less and less in the show. Because of the "magic" they can't include us in the close-knit world of circus.
On the other hand most magicians, perhaps because there are so many, have real complexes about just about everything that they will leave the "magic" part off and call us, "The Kent Family Circus". It's hilarious to experience all of this because it happens almost always when a magician is introducing or talking about us. This includes some pretty awful performers as well as some pretty good ones.
OK, so here we are. I started off as a magician and it plays a big, though diminishing, part of the show. Most of the "tricks" I have, over time, relegated to my kids. But there is so much that falls into other categories. The tight-wire, juggling, and trapeze are without a doubt circus. Though juggling crosses over into vaudeville as well. The bullwhip stunts and lasso tricks are rodeo and western thrill show fare. The fire-eating, walking on broken glass, nail bed, human block head, etc are from the side-show. The Foy routine we do is 100% pure early vaudeville. Cynthia's singing is pure universal. Belle the wonder dog and her tricks are circus and vaudeville. While Bobbi the Cockatoo is circus, magic and vaudeville. Victor's escapes fall into magic, even though he doesn't rely on "tricks" or "gimmicks" very often. Amelia's mind reading is from magic but her clowning and contortionism is from circus and side-show. The comedy is universal. But Olivia and her snake Buttercup are right out of the side show with a magical twist. Miles' new stunt of zip-lining onto the stage for his opening of his whip routine is from the stunt show world. Where his fire-whip comes into play is any one's guess.
My point is I doubt seriously if that fair manager had booked a show anything like ours so when she said she had booked a similar show I was flabbergasted. So I wrote back and, very respectfully, told her so. She wrote back and I discovered she was a "headline reader" and thought that by booking a circus she had booked a similar show.
That leads me to a challenge, perhaps even a contest. Name our show. If you could name our show what would you call it?
No comments:
Post a Comment