August 27th, 2008. Goodland, IN. 20 miles. Grass. Hot. Disappointing business.
Yesterday’s town was booked only a few weeks in advance, which didn’t translate well into circus business. However, Rensselaer did look like a fine town to play with a good host. Thus far strong commodities prices for corn and lower exempt fuel costs in Indiana don’t appear to be resulting in stronger local economies, or at least we aren’t seeing that strength if it exists. Without looking at Indiana economic data county by county it’s hard to know if there’s greater strength further south. We played well in a few southern IN towns in the early spring on the Culpepper show.
It did occur to me yesterday that while performers say it’s no fun working before a small audience, it’s certainly a special event for circus-goers themselves. Every seat is a great seat and every kid can see the gleam in a tiger’s eyes. It’s almost like a command performance. No show can afford too many days like that, with small houses – but I suspect the people who do come out for the show will remain circus lovers all that much longer for the experience and they would gladly drive to another town to see the show again another year. Is it worthwhile to put on a circus just to make six dozen kids happy? Not really, but it isn’t all bad if the rare “down day” for business becomes a “special” day for those kids. Write it off to extending the “brand.”
Yesterday’s town was booked only a few weeks in advance, which didn’t translate well into circus business. However, Rensselaer did look like a fine town to play with a good host. Thus far strong commodities prices for corn and lower exempt fuel costs in Indiana don’t appear to be resulting in stronger local economies, or at least we aren’t seeing that strength if it exists. Without looking at Indiana economic data county by county it’s hard to know if there’s greater strength further south. We played well in a few southern IN towns in the early spring on the Culpepper show.
It did occur to me yesterday that while performers say it’s no fun working before a small audience, it’s certainly a special event for circus-goers themselves. Every seat is a great seat and every kid can see the gleam in a tiger’s eyes. It’s almost like a command performance. No show can afford too many days like that, with small houses – but I suspect the people who do come out for the show will remain circus lovers all that much longer for the experience and they would gladly drive to another town to see the show again another year. Is it worthwhile to put on a circus just to make six dozen kids happy? Not really, but it isn’t all bad if the rare “down day” for business becomes a “special” day for those kids. Write it off to extending the “brand.”
