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I’ve found over the years that there is a common theme with performers that they feel that they need to have a manager long before they actually require one. In a previous post, I spoke about a bit about what a Manager is looking for, so here I thought I’d provide you with what I see as 3 good signs that you’re ready for a Manager.

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1. You are so busy being the business that you can no longer effectively run the business. A good sign that you fit this category is that you have so many inquiries for gigs that you are spending all your time responding to emails and voice mails and as a result you haven’t had the time to rehearse
2. Many new career opportunities are coming your way and you feel a Manager may be able help make sure you are making the right career choices, getting paid fairly and that your brand has a professional face on it.  Some examples of opportunities would be major media appearances, high profile shows, licensing deals, record deals or sponsorship agreements.
3. You are having great success in one aspect of your performing career, but would like to focus attention on developing a new revenue stream or artistic endeavor (eg. You’re a successful actor and want to build a stage show or you’re a successful musician who wants to try acting). You therefore need to have someone maintain the performing side and help you guide the new revenue stream.

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These are the 3 most common scenarios that I find lead to a successful Artist – Manager relationship. There are of course exceptions to this, but as a previous post points out, be the rule, not the exception.

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This is worth discussion for the simple fact that a lot of performers feel that because they aren’t good at negotiating for themselves, because they can’t seem to find gigs, or they haven’t been able to draw attention from a record label, that a manager will be their magic solution to all this.

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Here’s the reality. All those things I just mentioned are HUGE red flags for me that you are not ready for a Manager and possibly that you aren’t taking your career as a performer seriously enough. If you can’t find yourself shows, to me, this is a sign that you’re either not good enough yet, or that you’re not pushing hard enough on your own.  Honestly, as a Manager, these are things that I’m looking at and the rules are the same whether you’re an indie rock band, a stand up or a ballet dancer.

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Prove to the industry and more importantly yourself that you can accomplish a lot on your own. The industry will take notice of successes, especially those generated without help. In fact, finding those scenarios are what every Manager is looking for!

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-       Justin Sudds – Gigsmacked.com

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We’d love to hear your thoughts so leave a comment or drop us an email.

This is a guest post from TJ Dawe, a Vancouver based writer/performer/director who’s toured solo shows at more than eighty comedy and theatre festivals in the last decade and a bit. He’s got six published plays, a humour book, and his directing credits include The One Man Star Wars Trilogy, which played Off-Broadway in New York for five months. He also blogs, tweets, podcasts, and has stuff on youtube.

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You can go to auditions, you can play covers. That approach works brilliantly for a few. But what if you’re not one of them? Or what if you’re tired of bringing someone else’s work to life?

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Take things into your own hands. Create your own material. And it’s a lot easier to see what you’ve got if you work with someone else. Here are a few things to look for in a creative partner.

-Try to find someone who can offer you a different perspective. A good collaborator will come at a subject from a different direction than you, seeing things you can’t and making connections you won’t.

-Try to find someone who’ll tell you what you need to hear. Imagine if George Lucas had had someone to tell him his scripts for the Star Wars prequels weren’t good enough. When he made the original Star Wars he did. In Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays he describes how he had Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck give him notes on various drafts. Then he got them to rewrite a third of the dialogue.

-Try to find someone whose talent and opinion you respect. The two of you are bound to disagree on some things. Giving in to someone you hold in high esteem isn’t a bad way to go.

-Try to find someone whose feedback doesn’t come from their ego. Not every collaborator is going to have the good of the project as their top priority. Some people are in it for themselves. Don’t work with them.

-Try to find someone who’s as invested in the project as you. Are you the only one trying to get together to work? Are you the only one coming to each meeting having done any work since the last time you met up? Probably not good signs.

-Try to find someone who stimulates your creativity and brings out the best in you. In Miles: The Autobiography, the jazz legend said this about Gil Evans, his collaborator on Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess, and Sketches of Spain: “Gil was the kind of guy you love being around, because he would see things nobody else saw… he would show me orchestrations and say, ‘Miles, listen to the cello right here. How else do you think that he could have played that passage?’ He’d make you think about shit all the time.”

It can be scary to let someone else see the sloppy, incomplete ideas you’ll work into something presentable to the public. But if the combination of people is right, creative energy grows in ways it couldn’t otherwise. In The Incompleat Folksinger Pete Seeger says: “One and one equals four. Two and two equals fifty. When two people get together their ideas multiply geometrically. Ten ideas plus ten ideas equals not twenty but one hundred. Pool your ideas. Be firm in criticism and self-criticism until you are happy with the result.”

-TJ Dawe

Sitting around waiting for someone else to give you a career or find you work as an artist is a dead end.  Share this post with every creative person you know and encourage them to be proactive.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.  Share this with as many people as you can! The results are very helpful to us as we continue to engage you with relevant topics.  None of your personal information is collected.

Kahlil (at) gigsmacked (dot) com

Planning to perform or tour in a different (or foreign) country?  This information will help you prepare for your trip and hopefully help you avoid common mistakes.

1. Visas

If you have plans to perform in a country other than the one(s) you have a passport for you need a Visa.  Don’t wait until the last minute to do this.  Give yourself a minimum of 60 days. These costs aren’t always absorbed by the people sponsoring or hiring you.  It’s on a case by case basis depending on who you’re dealing with.  A few pointers:

-If you do not have a US passport but you want to perform in the US you need an O1 Extraordinary Ability Visa.  Everybody from Elvis Costello to Elton John has one and it requires renewal every one to three years.

-If you want to gig in the UK or Europe and do not have a UK/European Union passport you need a work permit.  A great place to start is here.  When I did my show in London the theatre took care of everything but only because I made it a deal point in the contract.   Preparation is your only advantage when it comes to dealing with Immigration.  The Edinburgh Festival Fringe does not require a work permit but they do send you a letter that you must present to Immigration officials upon entry.

2. Dealing With Immigration Officers

Don’t tell them your life story.  When you’re standing at X airport waiting to get your passport stamped for entry the more specific and BRIEF you can be the better.

DO

Immigration Officer:  What is the purpose of your visit?

You: The purpose of our visit is to perform at Boob Club.  Here’s our visa information.

DON’T

Immigration Officer:  What is the purpose of your visit?

You: We’re gonna perform at Boob Club and then maybe go over to X country and see the sites, hopefully buy some booze for my ex and then check out the bar scene.  I’ve folded my landing card into a ball and I left my visa in my luggage.  Do they train you guys not to smile?

What happens to people who do or say the wrong things? Check out these articles about Snoop Dogg.

http://bit.ly/dxUEPh

http://bit.ly/bJ3TAG

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3.  Play With Fire And You’ll Get Burned.  If you say you are visiting and they find out you’re working or performing the consequences are severe.  It’s not worth it.  The truth shall set you free.

I have heard horror stories ranging from body cavity checks in Australia to being jailed in Thailand, mostly as a result of poor judgement.  Don’t travel with people who act stupid.  If you smoke weed leave it at home.   Traveling is like boot camp.  If you follow the rules you’ll never have any problems.  Once you think you’re the exception they’ll make an example out of you.

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Immigration is too broad of a subject to cover completely here but we thought it was worth clarifying a few misconceptions.  Got any pointers?  Shoot them over to us!

Kahlil (at) gigsmacked (dot) com

Leave us your comments below and share this post.  Let us know if this information is useful.  Thanks!