The Umbrella Fringe Festival show was a huge success. While we have done many shows of different types over the course of 20 years, this was the first show where people were specifically coming to see us perform… and wow, did they turn up! It was standing room only in the Kirkland Arts Center. Both floors were packed. Never in my wildest dreams did I think people would actually show up like that for us before.
Before the show, we sat outside for a bit to decompress and prepare while the previous act was finishing up and people kept walking by, pointing at our sign, and looking inside. I turned to Christopher and said, “Holy crap. I think all these people are waiting to see us.”
Maybe it’s just the imposter syndrome speaking, but I’m so impressed that people 1.) were interested in seeing some old-fashioned sideshow and 2.) actually enjoyed it! To be honest, I’ve definitely slacked on pushing our shows, but after that response, I will definitely reach out to more events and venues instead of relying on being invited.
We added two new acts this year to fill out a 45 minute show and there is hardly any downtime in our 10-in-1. Technically, we did 11 acts between the two of us at this show, but one was only partial as we were running a little ahead of schedule.
We will be doing six 30 minute sets at the Oddities and Curiosities Expo in Portland this November. I was hoping to have my latest big act ready by then, but it’s not. Mostly due to lack of practice on my part… but it will still be a good show! We’re planning to mix it up every show, so you won’t always see every act twice since last time there were several people who stuck around for every show.
Anyway, thank you all so much for coming out to this past show. It meant a lot to me in a variety of ways. Thanks for making all the noise and allowing yourselves to gag when appropriate (and when it made no sense, but I love that for you).
