fbhjr

My look yesterday at the different shows and seasons we’ve done in Phoenix
Swords got me thinking about all of the different jobs we’ve had over the
years.

I decided to look over the “big” jobs we’ve had and rank them according to
what I think is important to us for doing a show.
This is just my feelings, and nothing more.

I only looked at jobs that were public shows that were actively attempting
to get big audiences and make money.
Birthday parties, company events, weddings, private parties or any of the
many, many other types of shows didn’t count.

I ranked them on: how well they paid, if they paid on time, how organized
they were, how friendly they were, how good the audience was and how nice
the location was.
1 to 5 scale. 5 being the best.

So, this is what I came up with:

You’ll notice that the shows the sword troupe itself put on only come in
tied with third. That’s because we lost huge amounts of money on them, and
only because of that.

The winner, for me, was the times we performed at the Big E (Eastern States
Exposition) for the Grange. We did it for several years.
The pay was good and on time. They were very friendly.
And, it is by vast amounts the biggest audience we have ever had.

Of the 9 days we performed there, the average audience was 86,983. And,
the peak was 157,841.
OK, OK, they weren’t all watching us. Probably no more than a couple of
hundred saw us.
But, the event still had that many people and we were doing public shows at
it. So, I still count those numbers.

ISD beat our own because they paid so very well. Best pay per show we’ve
ever had, and that was the “reduced rate” I gave them. (What do you expect
in a town where you hear teenagers complaining their parents got them the
wrong type of Mercedes for their birthday?)

Mystic realms, which tied with us, is the show we did where we got flooded
two weeks ago. We’ve been performing with them since our first year and it
is always fun to be there.

Our own shows were great. If only we hadn’t lost all that money…

Rounding out the top five is the Pirate show we used to do in Maine that
had a replica pirate ship come sailing into the harbor and fire its cannons
at the faire along the water front. That was fantastic.

For the 5 worst:
The Kentucky faire had a lot of folks who were our friends. That was nice.
But, the show that was 800 miles away only paid us in food. What we were
to do and when was in a lot of flux. Great for visiting friends. Not good
for doing a show.

Silver Kingdoms last year, the place that failed to pay or feed us.
(Apparently we’re not hired back for this year. Just as well…)

The Knightly Benefit faire we did a few years in New Hampshire. The cause
of therapeutic horses for disadvantaged kids is a good one, but they forgot
to pay us one year, were horribly organized and my wife and I were terribly
allergic to the barn where they had us perform.

The New Hampshire Ren Faire. The show where our performers mutinied and
refused to do what was actually on the schedule for us. (OK, I led the
mutiny myself, but it needed to be done…) Rain, flooded stages, no
audiences and organizers who told us to go stand in the swamp. People ask
me why we don’t do this one again…

Ohio. May things never be that bad again.
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