Our Palazzo Experience

Overall it was a good experience. We worked our asses off, that's for sure. Starting at 6 pm with our Entree Act at the door and basically on our feet until the show ended at 11pm. And this 6 nights a week.

But we learned a lot, created some new material, got some big laughs, made new friends for life, and hopefully got quite a few new clients. So yeah, it was good.

Would we do it again? Yes, but not for the same money! ; ) Hopefully now they know what we're worth. And if not, maybe they will when the show opens again in Berlin without us in October.

Best thing? Working with Zahir Circo. These guys jumped into every act and animation of ours and gave 200% every show. We had so much fun with them and can't wait to work with them again. Perhaps together in a theater show...

Worst thing? Unfriendly people. Both in the crew and and some of the guests. Luckily they were the minority but it's amazing how a few bad apples can bring you down so fast. Of course we tried to be nice to everyone but at some point you just give up.

Hardest thing? Having acts of ours get cut and yet scenes that didn't really work were left in. We certanly had enough acts in the show, but it's hard when you feel like you could do more to make the audience's experience that much better. Also that the food service took priority over what we were doing in the audience was hard to accept. That the tables had to be served in a certain order prevented us from doing some hilarious bits for some tables. That was a pity.

What did I learn? Video tape yourself early and often. We didn't until the very end and were shocked by some of the obvious mistakes we we're making. Ok, it was new material... but all the more reason to tape it! Feel a but stupid about that and hopefully learned my lesson.

Also, don't play open cards with management. Their interests are not the same as yours and it's much better to keep things on a strictly business, highly professional level.

Make sure your contract says any shows with an audience are paid. They got a free show from us by calling it the dress rehearsal even though they invited an audience to come watch. (It was made worse by the fact that we were totally not ready, having never done the show once...)

Make friends with the cooks! And everyone else you can! They can make your life there much more enjoyable. Plus I now feel like I have several new friends for life and that's a great feeling.

Any last comments? Put everything you can in the contract: backstage space needed, dressing room space needed, dietary needs, stagehands/technical needs, guest passes/free tickets, drinks needed, parking, who pays for damage, what if one partner is sick, what if one part of your act can't be done, what if you're asked to sing or dance or do something you don't normally do? I would also specify better what they get for the money they're paying. One act = €X, two acts = €Y, one animation = €A, two animations = €B. They you won't feel like you're doing more than you're getting paid for.