Target audience?

well I hope I didn't scare any of my four readers off with that weird over-population post. I've been watching a slew of those episodes and they are so entertaining and educational. fun stuff.

I'm slowly feeling better about my excercising as it feels a little easier each day and the mild soreness is a good thing. Now I just need to get my eating in better order. A trip out to an Indian restaurant with my dad has thrown me a bit of a curveball and I think there is some part of my diet (cheese? cookies? roasted pepper chicken sausage?) that may not be sitting too well. One good thing at a time, I guess.

On the circusy-front, I've been contemplating the whole target audience subject my friend Emily brought up in her comment on one of my previous blogs. The type of performance I work to bring to life can very well be quite limited in its 'accessibility' and appeal. How much of a role should I let that play in this entire process? Having a wider customer base would increase the feasibility of a project. I neither see myself with enough savings nor believe any others who may join the project would be particularly happy with the 'struggling artist' track. The experience in Oakland with A Different Spin showed me that a more 'variety act' fire show coupled with workshops and street-show daytime performances create the opportunity to make a living (pay for rent, food, medical bills, car payments) with as little as two gigs a month. That was very encouraging and also extremely frustrating as we did not pursue it in earnest even once the truth was experienced. But in any case, maybe it makes sense to do that kind of a thing all over again---create a kick-ass fire variety show that can help pay the bills as it is more accessible and appealing to a larger scope of customers while a larger visionary show is worked on. And that larger show could be the more narrative piece as I've mentioned before or a band/electronic music producer collaborative show. But it also could just be a more kick-ass fire show. All three options require what any entertainment venture require---time to build a fan base/get recognition; you've gotta struggle through some rough times of being rejected, not being paid as much, etc. to get to the level you deserve. Depending on the success of the 'start-up'/pay-the-bills shows this might be a shorter time period than usual but I have a feeling recognition will take time regardless. The benefit to doing a more straight-up kick-ass fire show with the larger project is that I feel it would be more accessible to different groups of people. A large part of that is even if it is a unique take on variety-type shows, it comes from a foundation of familiar entertainment form: show up, pay a fee, see some display of skill, applaud, go home. It's also easier from a creation standpoint as the foundation doesn't need to be created from scratch (as I mentioned a few posts ago). I think I could be very happy working to create an amazingly impressive fire variety show even though it wouldn't be as cool and 'ground-breaking' as the other narrative/band ideas.

There is also the flexibility to create shorter or longer shows based on which acts are included/which performers can make a performance. But could this also create disinterest and allow some performers to coast and put in minimal effort? I guess these are very farsighted questions as well as very theoretical. After all, wouldn't I be involved only with people I felt were committed? And that doesn't preclude performers from having a minor time commitment as long as their results are of the proper quality. Bah, this is getting way too far ahead of things...I'm going to go gather my thoughts a little better and post again today or tomorrow about this.