It might make more sense for me to wait till January to write about what I would like to be able to do in the next year, but I think there will be some other things to write about/announce in the next couple of months. Anyway, we have a lot of ideas for new routines and even talked about making an audition tape for America’s Got Talent, but I want to talk about doing something that seems simple but is much less likely to happen then any of those goals.
I once heard a clip of the comedian Louis C.K. talking about when he was starting out in comedy. He was on the road performing the same jokes for 15 years. He felt like he was just going around in circles and he felt trapped by his act, unable to change anything. A turning point came for him when he heard an interview with George Carlin. Carlin was asked how he was able to write so much new material, and he said that it was simple, every year he worked on the material for that year’s HBO Special. After the special would air, he would throw out all that material and start over. Although the idea of throwing out all his jokes seemed crazy and terrifying to Louis C.K., he worked up the courage to try it, and since then he has been much more successful and has multiple specials. He tells a lot of dirty jokes, so I can’t really endorse him, but this is a fascinating idea to me.
I would be interested in applying this idea to a juggling show. I am sure some people would say it takes longer to come up with and master a new juggling routine than it does to write a joke. I am not really sure about that, I am sure I would have an easier time coming up with a new juggling act then writing and performing a half hour of comedy. Also I think we could do it on a slower time table, in other words perform a show for a couple of years before throwing it out and starting over.
Now, I don’t know if there are any jugglers who actually work like this. If there are, I would guess there are not very many. Earlier this month, Darren and I went to see Chris Ivey’s show. We had seen him before, but it was about five years ago. Now I want to preface this by saying his show is great and if you haven’t seen him you should definitely check him out, and I actually enjoyed it even more the second time I saw it. However, in the hour long show I think there were only two new bits. I enjoyed these bits, but they were both pretty short, together they were probably only five minutes. I can’t help but hope that I will have more new stuff than that in five years. For me, it would be more exciting to come up with something new even if it was not as good at first.
We have been performing some version of our “Themes” routine for about five years now. So, what I would like to be able to do in 2013 is create a nice video version of the “Themes” show, release it, and then basically retire “Themes” and do a new show. My main goal with the video would be to allow everyone who wanted to see that show, to see it. Then we would have to move on to something new. To achieve this I would want to sell it for as cheaply as possible, probably only a dollar or two. Now I don’t think any of this will happen, but as long as I am playing pretend I might as well think of a release date. I think the ideal time would be Black Friday 2013. This would give us a full year to come up with the new show and create the video, and it would be just in time for Christmas shopping. If anyone is reading this and would be interested in us doing something like this, let me know by e-mail or just leaving a comment.
I would be interested in applying this idea to a juggling show. I am sure some people would say it takes longer to come up with and master a new juggling routine than it does to write a joke. I am not really sure about that, I am sure I would have an easier time coming up with a new juggling act then writing and performing a half hour of comedy. Also I think we could do it on a slower time table, in other words perform a show for a couple of years before throwing it out and starting over.
Now, I don’t know if there are any jugglers who actually work like this. If there are, I would guess there are not very many. Earlier this month, Darren and I went to see Chris Ivey’s show. We had seen him before, but it was about five years ago. Now I want to preface this by saying his show is great and if you haven’t seen him you should definitely check him out, and I actually enjoyed it even more the second time I saw it. However, in the hour long show I think there were only two new bits. I enjoyed these bits, but they were both pretty short, together they were probably only five minutes. I can’t help but hope that I will have more new stuff than that in five years. For me, it would be more exciting to come up with something new even if it was not as good at first.
We have been performing some version of our “Themes” routine for about five years now. So, what I would like to be able to do in 2013 is create a nice video version of the “Themes” show, release it, and then basically retire “Themes” and do a new show. My main goal with the video would be to allow everyone who wanted to see that show, to see it. Then we would have to move on to something new. To achieve this I would want to sell it for as cheaply as possible, probably only a dollar or two. Now I don’t think any of this will happen, but as long as I am playing pretend I might as well think of a release date. I think the ideal time would be Black Friday 2013. This would give us a full year to come up with the new show and create the video, and it would be just in time for Christmas shopping. If anyone is reading this and would be interested in us doing something like this, let me know by e-mail or just leaving a comment.
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