jender
Playtron-Wannabe
www.myspace.com/jender123
Posts: 8
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Post by jender on Oct 24, 2007 17:17:07 GMT -5
I worked at the Michigan Renn Fest years ago - and I think that the one thing I liked most about it was all of the actors hired to walk around and interact with all of the guests.
We also had an intense training course in Dialect and Characterization (every wench had a name <3) and were taught how to make our own authentic garments. We were paid very little but it was a great experience.
Those of us that were not performing in an act or were not in the royal court were paid to walk around and bother people - it was hilarious! I stood by the roasted almond cart for a full day stopping people to say "Are you enjoying the King's nuts?" or if someone were to ask us where the bathroom was, we were trained to grab there hand and push through the crowd yelling "WATCH OUT - THIS ONE NEEDS TO USE THE PRIVVY....PARDON US...HE'S GONNA BLOW!!!!" etc.
We also had a jail cell where, for a dollar you would have a friend arrested. We would write on a scroll what the "crime" was (the buyer got to choose) and we sent a thug to grab the friend and set them in jail. Every 15 minutes (there were ALWAYS several people in jail) our "jail keeper" would basically put on a Simon Says show and let prisoners go once he was through laughing at them.
We also had a few characters who guests would pay to insult a friend, etc.
We also had audience participation in our themes. for instance when you entered on Romance weekend, girls were given stones w/ red numbers on them - boys were given stones with black numbers. As you walked the faire all day, you tried to find who held your matching number (your "true love") and if you found eachother (it was more difficult than it sounds) you went to the chapel for a prize.
Most of the folks I see at the MD fest are either in the court (which means they are characteristically too snooty to talk to you - and rightly so) and the people who have acts - who don't really speak to you in character unless they are on stage.
I LOOOOVE the MD Fest, I just miss the humiliating the audience aspect.
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Post by Mathemactor on Oct 24, 2007 17:32:09 GMT -5
....Most of the folks I see at the MD fest are either in the court (which means they are characteristically too snooty to talk to you - and rightly so) and the people who have acts - who don't really speak to you in character unless they are on stage. I LOOOOVE the MD Fest, I just miss the humiliating the audience aspect. .... This past season, I was sort of in the Court (visiting from Cleves) and tried to stop whomever I could to talk about my Princess and her meeting with the King and blah blah blah. I hope that we weren't too snooty to talk... the cast is there is interact with the patrons. And, although we aren't actively supposed to insult the audience (I tried to keep my insults flying over the head), we have a sheriff and justice of the peace issuing citations and all sorts of other ways of harrassing the patrons. You mean, Sheriff Middle didn't put your purse through his metal detector, searching for smuggled anachronisms?
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Post by Ana on Oct 24, 2007 18:59:08 GMT -5
....Most of the folks I see at the MD fest are either in the court (which means they are characteristically too snooty to talk to you - and rightly so) and the people who have acts - who don't really speak to you in character unless they are on stage. I LOOOOVE the MD Fest, I just miss the humiliating the audience aspect. .... This past season, I was sort of in the Court (visiting from Cleves) and tried to stop whomever I could to talk about my Princess and her meeting with the King and blah blah blah. I hope that we weren't too snooty to talk... the cast is there is interact with the patrons. And, although we aren't actively supposed to insult the audience (I tried to keep my insults flying over the head), we have a sheriff and justice of the peace issuing citations and all sorts of other ways of harrassing the patrons. You mean, Sheriff Middle didn't put your purse through his metal detector, searching for smuggled anachronisms? I have to admit, I noticed a lot of cast-patron interaction. The JoP issuing citations. Mother Goose talking to people. The lady I think was named Madge trying to get kisses/married. Mother Lowe often talked to people and I know right after the gate opened, the Princes could be found sitting near O'Shucks, ready to interact. Last year I saw Mrs. Pugh pulling people into stories and/or tossing clothespins into her washing. Not to mention the Felonious Fingers construction company tramping all around the Shire. And our dear mathemactor here.
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Post by Mathemactor on Oct 24, 2007 19:37:08 GMT -5
...we aren't actively supposed to insult the audience (I tried to keep my insults flying over the head)... In fact, my insults are very subtle, discreet, and humorous. My favorite ten are: 10. Sirrah! Thou must <offensive material removed by moderator>9. Scurvy knave, why not <offensive material removed by moderator> ? 8. Is that a <offensive material removed by moderator> or are you <offensive material removed by moderator> ? 7. <offensive material removed by moderator>6. Methinks thy <offensive material removed by moderator>! 5. How canst thou <offensive material removed by moderator> without so much as a <offensive material removed by moderator> ? 4. I shall <offensive material removed by moderator> thee anon! 3. Great Zeus Himself should <offensive material removed by moderator> with thy <offensive material removed by moderator>. 2. Mayhaps thee <offensive material removed by moderator> with thy sheep! and, of course, 1. Hey you !!@#$%!!! Mundane! Get the @&**$#@!~!!! out of my way!!!Disclaimer: The above is purely an attempt at humor, albeit lame, and in no way represents my character's actual interactions and bits. Use of jenniferlynn's color for #1 was purely coincidental.
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Post by willpaisley on Oct 25, 2007 0:10:58 GMT -5
Most of the folks I see at the MD fest are either in the court (which means they are characteristically too snooty to talk to you - and rightly so) and the people who have acts - who don't really speak to you in character unless they are on stage. I LOOOOVE the MD Fest, I just miss the humiliating the audience aspect. As Ana and Mathemactor pointed out, there are more than a few people on cast at MDRF who are part of the village and whose primary job is interacting with patrons. On the other hand, I don't blame anybody for missing them, as there are soo many patrons at this faire. MDRF has plenty of people doing street - it's just that the place is so big and there's so many patrons that it's easy to miss them (especially if you're in garb - I've noticed that characters seem more likely to interact with 'danes than playtrons). If you want to see cast interacting with the audience, go to Virginia Faire. For years, that was the primay source of entertainment at the faire, as it's relatively new, small, non-profit and all volunteer. At VARF, the performer/patron ratio is so low that the actors have to be careful to leave the patrons alone at times. And while most of the actors don't regularly humiliate the guests, I make it a point when I work gate to ask everybody leaving if I said anything to offend them (and if they say no, I apologize for not offending them that day and ask if they can come back tomorrow so I can offend them then)
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Post by Mistress Pepper on Oct 25, 2007 9:31:28 GMT -5
On the other hand, a neighbor of mine said they only went to the Minnesota Festival once because some guy with a puppet humiliated her mother and made her cry, so they never went back...and only this year did I finally convince her to take HER kids to Maryland. Sadly, not everyone's a good judge of who can take it and who can't!
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Post by Mathemactor on Oct 25, 2007 10:04:53 GMT -5
On the other hand, a neighbor of mine said they only went to the Minnesota Festival once because some guy with a puppet humiliated her mother and made her cry, so they never went back...and only this year did I finally convince her to take HER kids to Maryland. Sadly, not everyone's a good judge of who can take it and who can't! We in the Company of the Rose (village and court cast) have a policy not to insult or humiliate patrons. And part of our rehearsal process includes training in how to recognize when a patron is likely to play and when to leave a patron alone. Of course, audience interaction can occasionally backfire (and I'm not just thinking Michael Richards) and any of us with improv/interactive experiences can attest. I was in a production of "As You Like It" once in which the character, Jacques, would do his "All the world's a stage" out in the audience, and when he got to the lover "with a woeful ballad, made to his mistress' eyebrow," the actor would drop to his knee to one of the women in the audience (never touching, of course---that is an acting no-no!) One woman, at a performance, was so startled and embarrassed that she hauled off and slapped him quite hard in the face. Needless to say, for the rest of the run, he was quite a bit more patron-shy.
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jender
Playtron-Wannabe
www.myspace.com/jender123
Posts: 8
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Post by jender on Oct 25, 2007 10:11:52 GMT -5
Yeah - I have gone every year for the last 5 years and have never had an actor speak to me (just the guys selling beer proposing or whatever...but I am assume that is tip based?) Maybe I am just mean looking? ;P
Bah! THe humiliation is the fun!!!! ALthough I have done improv for several years - so maybe it is easier for me to tell who can and cannot be F'ed with...which must be key to NOT making people cry... The "humiliation" aspect was never personal cut downs, more of a silly fun time.
I apologize if I made it sound otherwise or if I have offended anyone by saying I was never spoken to at the Faire. It was just the main difference that I saw between the two. No one went unspoken to at the other Faire - that is what I would change about this one. I said humiliation, but I really meant I missed all of the interaction. I wasn't trying to criticize the actors who were at the Fest. Even the games (like the romance weekend one I mentioned) were interactive...I miss that. I thought thats what this thread was for...I am still new though, so my bad.
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Post by mistresshemyngton on Oct 25, 2007 13:37:27 GMT -5
Did you go to any of the shows at the Revelers Bower? Mistress Hampton uses patrons in her shows. I am no longer in cast but when I was all I did was talk to patrons and give them demonstrations of Tudor homelife. Being in the street was hard for me because I was tied to the Kitchen but when Beatrice was in the street all she did was talk to patrons...of course the performer to patron ratio lied heavily on the patron side so maybe you were just missed...or shame on them for not talking to you when seeing you, that is what they are paid for.
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Earl
PLAYTRON!
Posts: 17
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Post by Earl on Oct 29, 2007 15:33:17 GMT -5
"Interaction" is always a tricky bit of business. Speaking of "As You Like It"... if you saw it this year you know that in every performance someone in the audience got feinted on. A lot of time and discussion among the actors went in to choosing the proper "victims" each day. And if there was ever any sense that they didn't appreciate being a part of the show, they were always met by the actor afterward and personally thanked for being a good sport. I have heard from many that this was their favorite part of the show (aside from the sheep, of course!)
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Post by sashenka on Nov 4, 2007 19:31:09 GMT -5
I think it is a valid concern. Unfortunately, I don't know the solution.
Logistically, I understand both sides of it. I know I leave every day feeling like I've talked to (or tied myself in knots for) so many people. I feel like I've said my stupid snake charmer line so many times the crowd HAS to be sick of it. But then I know numerous people who have spent the whole day at the faire and not even seen me. I know it's the same way for all the other cast members.
Like Will says, it's a numbers thing. There are just so many patrons and so few performers (there are actually quite a few performers, it's just that the odds aren't good).
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jender
Playtron-Wannabe
www.myspace.com/jender123
Posts: 8
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Post by jender on Nov 13, 2007 10:27:17 GMT -5
That is a valid point without just saying "No you're wrong, we talk to everyone, you seem to be the ONLY person who doesn't get attention, etc" so thanks. Maybe it was more of a numbers thing. At the Mi one, they hired the actors for the shows, actors for the court, then an extra 200-250 extra actors who just walked around talking to patrons. They weren't in an act or the court, they were just to walk around solely to interact. Maybe that is what I miss. The extra people being around to play with. The extras weren't paid well, the staged shows and court were compensated much more, but people who were the extras were doing it more for the fun than the acting experience. Just my opinion. Thanks for not knocking it immediately. <3
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Post by sashenka on Nov 15, 2007 10:04:18 GMT -5
200-250 extras! Wow! That's amazing. Yes, I imagine that would make quite a difference. Now I really want to go to Michigan...
There is also something to "learning" the MD faire, I think. Being in the right places at the right times definitely ups your chances of interaction.
Will's right though, you might see a ratio you're more familiar with at the Virginia Faire in the spring.
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Post by Fyreblaste on Nov 21, 2007 16:43:38 GMT -5
I lost count of the times the Wool Merchant,his sheep and his Neice got groups of people involved in a twister game. lol
And those Pyrates at the Pyrates Royale pavillion and their tug of war games.
The interaction is fun. even if there are just so many faire actors and I imagine they have shows etc to perform at certain times
I don't know how the faire would feel about small groups of Garbed faire-goers having impromptu interactions with the ungarbed or with other garbed groups?
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Post by willpaisley on Nov 23, 2007 21:23:14 GMT -5
I don't know how the faire would feel about small groups of Garbed faire-goers having impromptu interactions with the ungarbed or with other garbed groups? About the same way DisneyWorld would feel about somebody dressing up as Mickey Mouse and coming into the park to interact with patrons. All faires have training for their cast, with specific guidelines on how to interact with patrons, and how not to interfere with each other when performing. Faires would understandably like some control over how its employees present the faire to the public. If a patron is offended or otherwise displeased with the faire experience, faire management would at least like to address the situation, and this is problematic if other patrons are taking it into their own hands to be "surplus entertainment". Granted, MDRF is big, and there are generally more pressing concerns than some playtrons interacting with patrons as if they worked for the faire (assuming, of course, there are no complaints from the patrons). Bottom line is, however, if you really want to spend time at faire entertaining patrons, audition for cast.
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Post by Sir Black Fox on Nov 23, 2007 23:17:29 GMT -5
I don't know how the faire would feel about small groups of Garbed faire-goers having impromptu interactions with the ungarbed or with other garbed groups? About the same way DisneyWorld would feel about somebody dressing up as Mickey Mouse and coming into the park to interact with patrons. Bottom line is, however, if you really want to spend time at faire entertaining patrons, audition for cast. This is the best, most eloquent way of handling this question ever. In truth, MDRF is an amusement park. . . it's just taken the form of Revel Grove to create the atmosphere. Remember that entertainment is SECOND to income! I have a feeling it'll be a very hard sell this next season to bring back PubSing when sales at the White Hart were estimated up to 400% over years WITH PubSing. As much as everyone loves MDRF. .it's a business. If it makes money, then folks who run it will listen to the masses. . . if it fails to do so, remember also that your voice won't mean very much. Added to that, if you start interrupting the PAID entertainment or starting your own "interaction" that doesn't sit with the status-quo. . .well, you're cutting not only your own throat. . .but all of ours as well. As Will says. . . join the cast if you want involvement. . . pay your dues and feel free to do as you're told. There's a reason for every little street act and every major production at MDRF. . . just because one isn't privy to every nuance, doesn't mean the show won't go on without you! LOL In other words. . .leave the interacting to the professionals and the involvement to the paytrons who buy all the beer. Why do you think playtrons are RARELY called up on stage as assistants? Look for clues, mate! K. . .stepping down off soap box.
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Post by Fyreblaste on Nov 23, 2007 23:52:09 GMT -5
thanks for answering my question, just something I was wondering about, not planning on doing because with my acting skills or rather lack of them I would soon starve to death if I tried to earn a living doing it.
the shows and the acts stage and street are very entertaining but also entertaining is seeing the garb people come to the faire wearing, from the historicly acurate to the very imaginative.
its fun !
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Post by Sir Black Fox on Nov 23, 2007 23:59:26 GMT -5
That's the perfect attitude to take, mate. . . you'll be surprised how many "odd cosutmes" one might see way before the "day of wrong"!!
it's all good, m'thinks
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Post by Fletcher on Nov 20, 2008 22:00:26 GMT -5
I had the privilege to be chosen as a volunteer in the Tudor Top Five. Where you were taught about the five deadly or at least harmful diseases of the period. I was dressed in noble garb so was picked as a rich man with the gout. I never laughed so hard while being told to ham it up. Imagine.. a three hundred pound noble with the gout. There is a stretch. But anyway, I think the cast did a fantastic job with the crowd this year. Our King and his court was more than happy to talk to M' lady and I and we made sure to show our respect to them as they passed. The addition of the Courtesan was also a big draw. She had a crowd around her at all times, telling stories and singing, let alone all the pictures that she was asked to be a part of many times a day. The only people I would like to see more interaction with would be the knights that joust. I am not saying the Sir Barchan does not mingle with the crowd, because he is out there most of the day. But the jousters themselves would draw even more kids if after a joust they came back out and spoke to the kids. Hell.. even to the point of selling banners like medieval times for each knight so you can cheer them on more.
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