KCRF Fourth Weekend: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

The Good:

  • The Show. It’s evolving slightly, changing a bit at a time as we drop stuff that isn’t working or that we’re bored with, and experiment with new stuff. Quite the change from scenario/court, where we slogged through the same stuff day after day, regardless of how the audience responded. Being able to tailor a show to the audience as it is happening is exhilirating, and I’m blessed to be working with performers who are talented enough to do that without a second thought.
  • Friends coming to see the show. It’s always great to have people you know in the audience, whether they are Festival Performers or Patrons. This weekend we performed for some of Red’s Girls, Friends that we comp ticketed, Co-workers, and even a friend of mine from High School that I haven’t seen in at least a decade. Seeing the moment on their faces when you transform from “Somebody They Know” to “Funny Show” is a wonderful experience to have.
  • Quotes that I will carry with me: “That’s what happened! She became a whore through osmosis!”, among others.
  • Wonderful dinner with friends after the show on both days. Especially Sunday night, where we filled a Chinese restaurant with laughter.

The Bad:

  • Aside from the usual (temperature, humidity and my physical infirmities), I honestly cannot think of anything bad from this weekend. At least nothing that rose to the level of being noteworthy.
  • EDIT: Actually, an email that I just had to send to the management reminded me of two:
  • While our 11:30 show was moved from Merlin’s Berm to the Crown & Rose (yay!), our name and scheduled perfomance did NOT appear on the stage sign, on either Saturday or Sunday, despite staff being alerted.
  • A patron pointed out to me at our last show on Sunday that none of our shows in the schedule were given the “Not For Little Ears” asterix, as they had been on the first 3 weekends. Given the nature of our show (and, hell, our performers!) that’s a problem….and might explain why we had so many kids showing up at shows this weekend.

The Ugly:

  • Spoke at length with a couple of the wine wenches, and found out that the reason we were given for the after-hours pub being cancelled was bullshit (surprise, surprise). Honestly, do these stupid motherfuckers really think that we don’t talk to people outside of our own discrete little groups? Despite the fact that WE were told that THEY didn’t want to have to pay people to be there after closing, THEY were told by the front office that ALL alcohol sales must stop by 6:30, because “management is concerned about the liability of people leaving the festival drunk.” Which, of course, is a laughable legal position….and yet another example of a decision made for church reasons by church people. Congrats, kids….apparently we work for the Kansas City Jesus Freak Festival. We’re on our way from “tits and beer” to none of either.

KCRF Fourth Weekend: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good:

  • The Show. It’s evolving slightly, changing a bit at a time as we drop stuff that isn’t working or that we’re bored with, and experiment with new stuff. Quite the change from scenario/court, where we slogged through the same staff day after day, regardless of how the audience responded. Being able to tailor a show to the audience as it is happening is exhilirating, and I’m blessed to be working with performers who are talented enough to do that without a second thought.
  • Friends coming to see the show. It’s always great to have people you know in the audience, whether they are Festival Performers or Patrons. This weekend we performed for some of Red’s Girls, Friends that we comp ticketed, Co-workers, and even a friend of mine from High School that I haven’t seen in at least a decade. Seeing the moment on their faces when you transform from “Somebody They Know” to “Funny Show” is a wonderful experience to have.
  • Quotes that I will carry with me: “That’s what happened! She became a whore through osmosis!”, among others.
  • Wonderful dinner with friends after the show on both days. Especially Sunday night, where we filled a Chinese restaurant with laughter.

The Bad:

  • Aside from the usual (temperature, humidity and my physical infirmities), I honestly cannot think of anything bad from this weekend. At least nothing that rose to the level of being noteworthy.
  • EDIT: Actually, an email that I just had to send to the management reminded me of two:
  • While our 11:30 show was moved from Merlin’s Berm to the Crown & Rose (yay!), our name and scheduled perfomance did NOT appear on the stage sign, on either Saturday or Sunday, despite staff being alerted.
  • A patron pointed out to me at our last show on Sunday that none of our shows in the schedule were given the “Not For Little Ears” asterix, as they had been on the first 3 weekends. Given the nature of our show (and, hell, our performers!) that’s a problem….and might explain why we had so many kids showing up at shows this weekend.

The Ugly:

  • Spoke at length with a couple of the wine wenches, and found out that the reason we were given for the after-hours pub being cancelled was bullshit (surprise, surprise). Honestly, do these stupid motherfuckers really think that we don’t talk to people outside of our own discrete little groups? Despite the fact that WE were told that THEY didn’t want to have to pay people to be there after closing, THEY were told by the front office that ALL alcohol sales must stop by 6:30, because “management is concerned about the liability of people leaving the festival drunk.” Which, of course, is a laughable legal position….and yet another example of a decision made for church reasons by church people. Congrats, kids….apparently we work for the Kansas City Jesus Freak Festival. We’re on our way from “tits and beer” to none of either.