Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday!

This week’s tip is a continuation of the one about working with food — about a very specific category of food: milk.

Avoid using actual dairy on stage.

Just stay away from milk. It spoils easily and then it smells bad. It’s really hard to get that odor out of your costume and off your skin. And you don’t want the lingering aroma of spoiled milk to be the reason the venue remembers you.

If you want whipped cream, substitute shaving cream. This works really well for pie fights as well as sexier stuff.

If you’re doing a milk pour, diluted white tempera paint makes a decent substitute.

Both wash off well, but they’re absolutely not edible, so don’t let anyone lick you until after your shower!

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 18 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.

Dear Constant Reader,

It’s Independence Day here in the US and I’m probably not alone in not feeling very celebratory.

This is tip is from a t-shirt I have with a sentiment that I believe the Founders would have agreed with.

Get angry. Stay hopeful.

Design by The Morbid Curiosity Podcast. (If you want your own, their merch is on sale today!)

Some days it’s easier to do the former than the latter, but we need both actions for change.

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 18 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.

Dear Constant Reader,

It has been A Week. Nothing I want to talk about here; suffice it to say everyone is fine.

Here’s your tip!

If you use food in your act, clean up promptly and thoroughly.

Whether it’s a cake smash, a champagne pour, or eating a banana, besides cleaning the stage, you need to clean yourself, your dressing area, and your costume. Not only can food be really messy, it can stink and can draw pests if you don’t deal with it promptly

You already know to protect the stage if you’re doing something messy, but you need to check after the show to make sure no stray bits flew anywhere.

Patrol the dressing room as well. You don’t want to leave stray morsels for the mice or to get on your colleagues’ costumes.

If there’s food on your body and no shower at the venue (we should be so lucky to have a dressing area with a shower!), bring a towel, baby wipes, and anything else you need to get at least the worst of it off before putting on your civilian clothes.

If there’s food on your costume, bring a plastic bag to transport it in and then wash it as soon as you get home. I don’t care how tired you are. I know it’s long-established tradition to put off unpacking your gig bag until you have to pack for the next show, but not in this case.

With just a little care, you’ll be welcomed back to turn yourself into an ice cream sundae again.

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 19 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Saturday! Yes, I forgot to write a tip yesterday. I took this week off from my day job and I forgot what day it was. Which brings me to your tip.

When you’re traveling, on vacation, or otherwise outside your usual routine, set up reminders for tasks that you still need to do at a particular time.

It’s better if you can schedule things in advance (like I should have), but sometime you can’t and it’s easy to lose track or time or even what day it is. 

I hope you’re enjoying your summer so far!

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 19 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday!

This week’s tip is about sparking creativity. Sometimes you’re just at a loss when trying come up with a new act or new costume. Try this:

Set some constraints.

It’s actually easier to be creative when you have guidelines. That’s often why themed shows speak to us. So, pick a theme or maybe chose a move you can’t use in your choreography. Decide that you’re going to make a costume only out of materials in your stash. And maybe, while you’re brainstorming within these limits, you’ll get a fantastic idea out of the blue that blows it all to hell. That’s  great too!

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 19 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.

Dear Constant Reader,

You almost didn’t get a tip today. Early this morning, my neighbors found one of the feral cats we feed. We don’t know how he died; I just hope it was quick. I had only ever seen him on our backyard camera, eating at our shelter, and only late at night. He was black with scars and matted fur. We called him Scruffy. He had clearly had a hard life. Because he was only around erratically, it was hard to plan to trap him so he could either get TNRed or adopted. I wasn’t as attached to him as to Tux or Tom or Lord Julius*, since unlike them, he didn’t hang out in our yard and let us get to know him. But the loss still hurts. I wish we could have done more for him.

Your tip is:
Get to know your neighbors.

Community is important. It’s good to have someone nearby that you can turn to. Maybe you need someone to water your plants, and they need someone to hold onto a delivery until they get home. Maybe you all organize a block party. And maybe you care about stray cats and cry together. It’s better not to be alone.

*Julius, now known as Tim, decided he wanted to be an indoor cat and lives in splendor with two other rescue cats in a highrise in downtown Boston with his very patient humans. He sends us occasional video updates.

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! We’ve been rehearsing for our shows in Salem and Hyannis next month. Something that occurred in rehearsal inspired this tip.

What is the surface of your performance space vs. your rehearsal space? Can you do all your choreography in both places?

I’ve talked about stage surfaces before in the context of tap dancing, but now I want to expand that to anything. In a recent rehearsal Ava slithered across the floor, which was easy on the studio’s marley floor. However, the stage at Deacon Giles has carpeting on it — not conducive to smooth slithering. Knowing that, she can be prepared.

So, if you’re doing something floor dependent, like roller skating, be prepared to modify if necessary. Someday ask me to tell the story that involves performing on sawdust over dirt…

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 19 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.

Dear Constant Reader,

It’s Friday! I had an exciting time last night (but not the good kind of exciting). I drove to the storage unit to get some folding chairs for tonight’s acro chair class with Kerri N’Fuego. On the way back I ended up on the side of the road with an overheating BeauTeaseMobile. Fortunately I was 15 minutes from The Manor and Betty was good enough to bring Scratch and a bottle of coolant to me and then follow behind until I was safely home. Happy ending (other than the hassle of getting the car into the shop and the expense that follows). However, this experience inspired this week’s tip.

Have a membership to a roadside assistance service.

In a previous tip I recommended having emergency gear in your car, especially when traveling. However, sometimes the problem is more than you can take care of yourself. Imagine being stranded on the side of the road in a strange town with a dead car. Being able to call a service for a tow or a new battery is invaluable.

And sometimes your membership can get you discounts on other services too, like hotel rooms or museum admissions. I know that’s the case with AAA and I take advantage of it whenever I can. (I’d rather buy rhinestones…)

Stay safe out there!

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 19 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! We’re just one week from Not Just Sitting Pretty: Intro to Acro Chair Flow with visiting instructor Kerri N’Fuego and I can’t wait. And that brings me to this week’s tip…

Try a new skill.

If you have the opportunity to try something new, take it! (like acro chair…) You never know if it’s something you might use in a future act or you might just think is fun. Even if you decide it’s not for you, you’ve still had a learning experience.

I once took a class on rope tricks (yeah, like spinning a lasso). Not something I’m probably ever going to use, but now I have an appreciation for the skill of those who do it and make it look easy. And who knows, there might be a situation where I can use or share the knowledge I gained.

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 19 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.