Change or Not? Entertainment at Faire

[Auryn]

This is very interesting to read.
My very first time at faire I was all by my lonesome, so shows allowed me to walk around and see as much as I wanted.

Unfortunately my beloved and I don't have many friends to begin with- we are ones to partake in the "lets go out and spend our paycheck to get hammered till 2 in the morning" so in south florida that makes for limited aquaintances- and absolutely no friends that are rennies.
So for us shows are a way to give us something new to look forward to.
Don't get me wrong we would both love to have rennie friends that we could go and hang out at the pub with- but alas for now that isn't the case
so for me- it drives me crazy when the shows are repeated verbatim by the acts.

A couple of years ago we saw this awesome comedy/swordfight act at a new little pirate fest on the west coast of florida- had us rolling on the benches in laughter.
We found them again a year later at BARF and their show was identical verbatim. We figured- no sweat its a new venue for them- but the next year- the show was identical- they played 3 times a day and each one didn't deviate at all from the others.
Needless to say we don't look for them anymore.

Part of the reason we are lack luster in our enthusiasm for our local faire this year is that their entertainment is identical to what it has been the last 5 years.
So combine that with the lack of friends to visit with and 80% of the vendors are the same- not much to stimulate interest.

And just to add more perspective- we are the kind of people that will watch a movie we love a couple of times a year- Ive lost count of how many times I have seen some of my favorites- its just not the same for a stage act I guess.

[Butch]

I try to watch as many shows as I can at the festivals.  Some that I like, I don't mind them repeating their format.  But from one season to the next, I prefer that they have a little new material.  BUT, I also like it when an act has so much material that, although it is the same stuff, it is put together differently!

New acts, yes!  I like them too!

[PollyPoPo]

I enjoy musicians and most I have seen do not have more than a vague routine, often asking for requests of specific songs or kind of songs.  They interact more closely with the audience.

Some acts I enjoy time after time (like mud shows and other sight gag types).  Those that rely on dialog or set jokes I see a little less often.  Ded Bob has large audiences and always lots of new faces so even if his material is old, I enjoy watching the audience reaction.  Some acts I avoid – I find them boring or particularly insulting. 

When I'm with someone, we try to catch some specific acts (bird shows, belly dancers, whatever is chosen for the day).  By myself, I alternate between shows and sitting to people watch.  Last year at Sherwood was the first time I was at Faire alone; it was a totally different experience. 

With working cell phones, this year at TRF I was able to wander away from the family units, settle down for people watching, had a nice chat with Queen Bonnie of Meow Manner, and had some calm time for me.  When they wanted me, they just phoned and I told them where I was. 

[jeremiah sullivan]

I GO FOR THE VENDORS, THEY ALWAYS HAVE NEW AND GREAT THINGS EACH AND EVERYTIME .....

[Merlin the Elder]

I'm actually a bit surprised to see how many respondents don't even take in shows! Admittedly, we don't stop to see a lot of shows, that is, we don't hop from one to another filling up our day, but we do enjoy catching them when we can. Between the four festivals we visited last season, we saw new shows at all four, and thoroughly enjoyed each and every one.

[Bob of the Lake]

I for one enjoy the shows and watch a lot of them. I like variety so enjoy new acts or old, familiar performers who change things up from year to year. Fortunately, many of my favorites are musical acts so all they have to do is sing a different song and then it doesn't matter how many years they've been at faire!

There are some old favorites who I watch just for old times sake or because we've become friends but if they haven't changed their routine in years--and some of them haven't--then I'll watch them once and give them a pass for the rest of the season. We'll chat in the lanes but I don't go to their shows.

As for new acts, bring 'em on! I love catching new shows and always try to fit them in my schedule because you never know what new act will become an old favorite in a few years.

Maybe a lot of faires do this but at my home faire (NYRF), they do test runs on new acts. They'll invite them to perform for a weekend and if the patron reactions are good, they may get signed for the following season. Faire management is very responsive to patron feedback and really does try to give us what we want. I always share my opinions with them when we run into each other on the grounds, and in an annual post-faire e-mail.

[temper]

As an act, I can't speak for the patrons but WE get bored if we don't change it up. Also, our talent pool varies from show to show. You might see the same "show" but maybe not the same way.  (I am reminded of a kid's act we altered for a rainy faire with NO kids in the audience. We can never, ever do that again but even the performers had a good time pushing those boundaries)  We have faires that we've been doing for almost a decade but the owner knows we'll always be a good time.

I agree about the "same act year after year" but  the flip side is that that act is *very* good generally.

It's a hard call for organizers. I know acts I thought were *awful* but the patrons like them, and for organizers, like any other business, it's the bottom line of what the customers like and will pay.

[The Rabbi]

Merlin good Sir please forgive but might I be so bold as to add another thought here. Seeing as many of us catch shows as we catch them does this mean we would much rather catch a 5 minute lane act over a 30 minute stage act? Here is my thoughts to get things started. I totaly enjoy an interactive stage show that maintains a steady pace as anytime you bring an audiance member onstage you might lead them in the direction of choice but you can not control the path they take. Musical shows I can be entertained by for a short period but they serve just as well as background to the ambiance. Combine this into a lane act and it is the best of both worlds. I am a huge fan of lane acts and if they are good I tip well if bad I do not feel any obligation to tip but to continue my journey through fair. On the same note I have interacted with a lane act that was mediocra at best and tipped average or better on thier ability to interact. I for one would much rather have more lane acts over stage acts any day.

[Merlin the Elder]

I'd like to respond to both Temper and Rabbi.

Temper, no question that practice makes perfect, and when you know the routine backward and forward, it would be extremely well-polished. An act that wants to work that angle, might be better served to rotate the faires that they work each year. That way, they could introduce new material more slowly, and still be fresh to most audiences, and get the kinks worked out while still surrounded by the safety net of proven material.

Those of us who have gotten older, despite our attempts to ward off the process, have to sit and rest a little more frequently. A stage act helps—keeping us occupied at least, and well-entertained at best—while we rest our weary bones. But something in your post, Rabbi, is significant to my position in the matter: interactive. If the act is really good at improv, and I think that's critical with live audiences, the fact that the outcome is unknown is what makes the show something you want to see over and over. Most acts do some, the best, IMHO, do it a lot.

[ravic]

A little perspective. If the thought of "old, stale, & boring" cause you to walk past a stage, consider the plight of the vendors & boothies in booths close to said stage who are trapped & have no way to escape. Especially if the same acts return to that stage year after year. That joke that was so great the first time or two gets really old by the end of a season. I once worked a booth next to a belly dance stage. I think I saw them 500+ times in the years I worked that booth. As much as I love that group of girls, they & we got really tired of seeing each other by the end of the run.

[Amyj]

I have favorites at the faires I go to.  Sometimes the unchanging aspect of some of those favorites shows makes for a comfortable familiarity, sometimes it's a "here we go again".  SOMETIMES that depends on my mood on that particular faire day.  However, at one time, those favorite acts were new to me (and perhaps the faire itself).  While I hate to see acts that have become friends to me not be invited back...I look forward to being exposed to new people and acts; and hopefully making new friends and finding new favorites.

Faire is first and foremost a business...albiet one that lends itself to becoming "family" very easily to many of us.  For the sake of having the faire survive and thrive, I am perfectly willing to suffer a few "losses".

Ironically, my home faire is going through just this sort of changeover...this coming season will be bittersweet with the loss of some familiar and popular acts, but I am also anticipating the new.

[Alexandra Johanna]

After 10 years at the same faire, I've learned to watch the schedule, facebook, and any ren faire forums for notices that someone new is coming to perform. My family and I have our favorites, and we still watch them once a season or so to show our support. I noticed this past season though, when it comes to these favorites and their tried and true acts, I've begun to derive just as much enjoyment from watching the audience, as I do from watching the performers. Maybe that means the show is stale, or that I'm just happy to see people enjoying themselves. I don't know. I do find myself hoping for some new material though. I can understand doing the same act for the entire season, but for a decade of them?

[JCadden]

Having worked (in what seems like a past life) for live shows in the past, one of the problems with adding new shows for these individual acts is that sometimes when you change you catch as much flack as just keeping the same shows year after year. 

In other words:
Show XYZ does the same three sets each year for 5 years.
They change one of their sets and because people are asking for something new.
Year 6 they launch a new set.
All they hear during year six is "Why did you take that other set out?"

It is a real catch-22 for the performers.

[Merlin the Elder]

Simple answer is, "we got tired of doing it." Been doing shows with bands since the 60s. Without updating material, we'd lose our audience. Got to keep it fluid. It doesn't mean you can't put different sets into a rotation. That would make more sense to me when the material is good.

After seeing the exact same act every year for 4 or 5 years, we quit going to one show, which had been our favourite. They could easily have added back in some of the skits that they did when we first saw them, and we would have kept coming. But seriously, how can you keep laughing after hearing the same joke over and over? That act isn't at our home faire any longer. After not seeing them for 3 years, I'm ready for a fix.

[DonaCatalina]

I have noticed that Wine & Alchemy has added some songs to their repertoire that we are used to hearing Owain Phyfe perform. Some work, others not so much. But it certainly beats hearing exactly the same six songs every weekend.