What an Entertainment Showcase Looks Like

Yesterday I mentioned that I liked booking shows through showcases. Here’s some of the other acts that I recently showcased with:

There were a couple of jugglers, a few magicians, some animal acts and some bands. It’s rough to stand out when you’re doing these and you need to bring your A game and have your showcase set TIGHT!

When I watch these showcases, I can always tell who took it seriously and showed up to get work. Their shows are tight and they have zero wasted moments.

-Louie

It’s not about the tip…

One of the ways I get a lot of work is through showcases. These are where you perform in front of people who are in a position to book your show. This year has been interesting with them happening virtually. I think a lot of “newer” musicians are struggling in this format compared to what a variety act can do.

Recently I was at a showcase and took this picture of this band’s virtual showcase:

They had their tip info on the video!!!!

I can’t believe their agent didn’t look at it and tell them to take it off. I think it’s not only disrespectful to the viewer, it’s just lazy. The band added the tip info to an existing video, that means they have a copy of it without it.

Show that you respect your audience and don’t ask them for a tip, when you’re trying to get a contract worth thousands of dollars!

Gig To Gig…

When I was first starting out performing full time, I would have to hustle every gig individually. That’s a lot of work. One way my business has changed is that I book the majority of my gigs at showcases and trade shows and this is my preferred way to book. If you don’t know what … Continue reading “Gig To Gig…”

When I was first starting out performing full time, I would have to hustle every gig individually. That’s a lot of work. One way my business has changed is that I book the majority of my gigs at showcases and trade shows and this is my preferred way to book.


If you don’t know what a showcase is, it’s where you do a short bit of your show for people who can book you. The goal is after they see your show, they’ll book you. The nice thing about the booker actually seeing your show is that they will have a better idea of whether or not your show will be right for their event.


The other way I love booking shows in trade shows. What I like is that I can talk about their event, but also do a short demo if needed. Also there’s a ton of people that can book, and you book a lot of shows in a short amount of time. Another bonus of booking this way is that you can do all of the office work (contracts, etc) in one sitting, instead of spread out over time.


I want to be clear that I do book single shows that come in, however the majority of what I book are at showcases or trade shows. Having multiple ways that shows come in is a good thing.

Fight For What You Need…

The way I get a lot of work is by doing showcases. These are things where a lot of acts perform 15ish mins and buyers watch them to decided whether or not to book them. Here’s how today’s showcase wanted to run our music: They wouldn’t let us plug into the board. I had to … Continue reading “Fight For What You Need…”

The way I get a lot of work is by doing showcases. These are things where a lot of acts perform 15ish mins and buyers watch them to decided whether or not to book them. Here’s how today’s showcase wanted to run our music:

They wouldn’t let us plug into the board. I had to argue for about an hour with people all up the chain of command to get them to allow us to plug in. The organization thought holding a microphone up to your phone was a viable way to run sound for a show. Doing it that way is your Plan B, not your “professional set up” that’s provided initially.


Finally I convinced them that that was an unacceptable set up. We pay a lot of money to perform in front of these buyers, and the least they could provide us with was to be able to plug into the board. I finally got all of the showcase acts to tell the organization about why the sound won’t work. What changed their mind is when we all joined together to tell them why that set up was unprofessional.


I think I burnt a few bridges with people to get the sound right, but it was the right thing to do. If anyone insists that running sound that way is professional, I’m OK burning the bridge as I never want to work for them.

Get To It!

A couple of the showcase acts I saw recently did a lot of talking before anything happened. By anything, I mean anything, no jokes, no tricks, nothing. They did do a very straight forward autobiography of themselves. It really didn’t move the ball forward. Yes, the goal is to let people get to know you, … Continue reading “Get To It!”

A couple of the showcase acts I saw recently did a lot of talking before anything happened. By anything, I mean anything, no jokes, no tricks, nothing. They did do a very straight forward autobiography of themselves. It really didn’t move the ball forward.


Yes, the goal is to let people get to know you, and to relate to you, however you need to do that in an entertaining way. Telling jokes about yourself upfront makes it palatable for an audience. Saying you’re 28 years old and from Missouri doesn’t. Telling them about you in the context of what you do is the goal.


Personally I don’t believe you need a quick trick, but you do need to get to what you do to set the tone for the rest of your show. This is even more important when you showcase set is only 12 minutes long!

A Showcase Tip…

This week I’m at another booking conference and saw a ton of acts.  I saw good acts and bad acts.  For me personally one of the things that separated them was tightness.  I know it’s hard doing a showcase set instead of your regular show.  A showcase set is generally somewhere between 10 and 20 … Continue reading “A Showcase Tip…”

This week I’m at another booking conference and saw a ton of acts.  I saw good acts and bad acts.  For me personally one of the things that separated them was tightness.  I know it’s hard doing a showcase set instead of your regular show.  A showcase set is generally somewhere between 10 and 20 mins, and in a variety show type format, with multiple acts. 


One of the challenges with these showcases is that they aren’t always scheduled in an order that compliments the acts.  Sometimes there will be low energy acts following high energy bands, or similar acts back to back. These are things that aren’t an issue if you are doing a full show as there’s usually a gap between shows, or you have more time to have the switch gears to what you do. 


One thing you can do to help in this situation is have walk up music that sets the tone for your show.  You can also try to do original material, so that you don’t have to worry about overlap with other acts.  While those won’t completely help out an act that super low key, following a high energy act, they do help a little bit. 

Watch Out For Yourself…

While at the showcase last week, all off the other variety acts has problems with their vocal mics. In the three showcases prior to mine all of the headset mics cut out multiple times. I notice this and didn’t want it to happen to me. The first thing I did when I went into sound … Continue reading “Watch Out For Yourself…”

While at the showcase last week, all off the other variety acts has problems with their vocal mics. In the three showcases prior to mine all of the headset mics cut out multiple times. I notice this and didn’t want it to happen to me.


The first thing I did when I went into sound check was scan for a free channel while the band that I was sharing the showcase with was doing their sound check. In theory they are going to have all of their wireless packs on, so my pack will find a channel they aren’t using.


The second thing I did was insist on using my mic pack and not theirs. I didn’t initially do this, I just assumed they’d be using mine. When it came time to tech me, they told me they’d prefer that I use their mic and pack and that all of the other acts used theirs. That told me that the problem was with their system, as that’s the thing all of the other acts had in common, using the sound company’s gear.


When my showcase came around, I used my audio gear and it went great. Nothing cut out, and my vocals went flawlessly! If you notice a problem with other acts audio, try to solve it before it’s your turn!