Notes from Des Moines

Managed to hook up with Carl Franzen in the afternoon to put up posters. Found a few decent, receptive areas, only to discover that a number of businesses in the area don't open until 4pm. My observation last night being that everything closes at 8pm, this leaves a remarkably short window of time for anything to take place.

---

Never did get a tech person -- I'm still uncertain whether this is because my assigned tech person wimped out on me, or because I was never assigned a tech in the first place. The TD basically sat me down in front of the light/sound board and told me I was free to poke around. I'm not a skilled tech, but I've been in show business long enough to be able to operate a simple board. No matter; after a brief round of vomiting in the library's restroom, I was able to draft one of my ticket-takers to run my sound cues for me.

---

My very first Fringe show, I had a grand total of three people in the audience. In the intervening years, I've been able to gradually build an audience, and that's not an ordeal I've had to go through since.

So how many people did I have in the audience? A grand total of -- you guessed it -- three. This is definitely the downside of touring -- that there's a sense in which I'm starting over from scratch, and that experience is somewhat depressing.

---

The audience was receptive, however, and I had fun with them. One of the major *upsides* of touring is the fact that, locally, people have come to know what to expect from me. Out here, I'm re-introducing myself to an audience all over again, that's just oodles of fun.

One woman in particular I shared a very nice conversation with -- she's the adopted mother of several Chinese children, and found a lot of resonance in what I was saying to her own experience. One of the things I love about storytelling isn't sharing my *own* experiences, but the fact that doing so seems to give me access to the experiences of others.

---

The other upside of touring -- and, for me, possibly the biggest one -- is the opportunity to shoot the shit with other artists. Those who make it onto the road always seem to have the most interesting experiences, and I'm eager to soak up everything I can like a sponge.

Did a spot of bar-hopping, too, in a desperate attempt to track down food -- every time we asked one of the locals if there was a restaraunt still open at 11pm, we were met with a torrent of Errol-Flynn-like belly-laughs. Managed to find a bar that was willing to whip up some appetizers, only to have them kick us out at midnight. Midnight! On a Thursday night. It's like being back in Rochester all over again.