Giraffe performing

[GILD]

i've landed a nice uni-gig at a rugby match this saturday.
i'll be one of 14 entertainers (4 stiltwalkers, jugglers, face painters
and a poi-swinger or two) entertaining the arriving crowd just outside
the Ellis Park Stadium from 13h00 till 15h00

given the presence of so many stiltwalkers (and it's added visual
appeal), i've been thinking about spending most of the two hours on the
raffie
i've been searching and re-reading a lot of the threads about
uni-performances and noticed that there isn't a lot of mention made of
the giraffe as anything but a parade-machine or a big-finish prop

any suggestions of things to do on the raffie to entertain a passing
crowd for two hours?


--
GILD - Waffle-tosser

The second half of a man's life is made up of nothing but the habits he
has
acquired during the first half.
-- Fyodor Dostoevsky


'pleez check this out' (http://www.reuniteluna.com/)

JUST SAY 'KNOW'!

Namaste!
Dave
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[thinuniking]

giraffe unicycles are loads of fun i am using my unicycle clubs one this
weekend they are loads of fun just to watch peoples reactions in cars i
still can not free mount yet which its a big problem but the good old
step lander is good enough for me! i can now idle on it which i am happy
with but i have to give it back tomorrow:mad: just had to ask how you
get the pics under your name i looked on the help thing and it did not
help! when you say a raffle if you mean a raffle with the numbers on the
tickets jugling stuff as they would of just seen you performing and
booze always go's down well if you needed help with the prizes i hope
this has been a help


--
thinuniking - started trails unicycling

unicycle it is your right
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[GILD]

thinuniking wrote:
> * when you say a raffle if you mean a raffle with the numbers on the
> tickets *


my apologies
i mean 'RAFFIE' as a contraction of giraffe
it's a 'nickname' of sorts for the giraffe i picked up while working on
a wildlife-based internet radio station
my other favourite nickname for the giraffe is the swahili word
'TWIGGA'
i try not to use that on the forum as i figure most non-swahili speakers
wont have a clue what i'm talking about


--
GILD - Waffle-tosser

The second half of a man's life is made up of nothing but the habits he
has
acquired during the first half.
-- Fyodor Dostoevsky


'pleez check this out' (http://www.reuniteluna.com/)

JUST SAY 'KNOW'!

Namaste!
Dave
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[Memphis Mud]

We've done the "while folks are arriving" gig on giraffes. Mostly they
are amazed enough by your just riding.

I found some soap-bubble guns that shot a stream of little glistening
bubbles into the air as I rode. That was easy because its a one-handed
thing and doesn't interfere with balancing. They add a nice
light-hearted visual element.

I had thought of (but never tried) a Yo-Yo with a very long string.

A pouch of glitter confetti (this could be more of a mess than your
employers want you to create)

Gently tossing gum or little candy singles.

Most folks are by you in 30 seconds.


--
Memphis Mud - Student of GrandMaster 2T

Mantra: Avoid Hitting Tailbone...Avoid Hitting Tailbone...
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[GILD]

Memphis Mud wrote:
> *We've done the "while folks are arriving" gig on giraffes. Mostly
> they are amazed enough by your just riding.
> *


pretty much the way it played out
the yo-yo looked pretty good while practising at the club on thursday
night untill somebody decided to break it
didn't get around to replacing it

something that did work rather well and made me ressurect this thread to
share it is a ribbon (think rhythmic gymnastics)
i bough 5metres of red and 5 m of blue satin ribbon (the colours of the
sponsors) and tied it to the front of a 1m piece of dowel

swinging it around while idling/riding the raffie is visually quite
arresting and pretty easy to do


--
GILD - Waffle-tosser

The only difference between me and a madman is that i'm not mad.
Pablo Picasso

'this will only take a minute...'
(http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/actions/un.htm/)

JUST SAY 'KNOW'!

Namaste!
Dave
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[chirokid]

Memphis Mud wrote:
> *
> I found some soap-bubble guns that shot a stream of little glistening
> bubbles into the air as I rode.
> *


This sounds awesome MM. Any pictures? Where did you get the gun?
--chirokid--


--
chirokid

"Unicycling can make you proud then humble in very quick succession."
Mikefule

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[chirokid]

GILD wrote:
> *
> something that did work rather well and made me ressurect this thread
> to share it is a ribbon (think rhythmic gymnastics)
> i bough 5metres of red and 5 m of blue satin ribbon (the colours of
> the sponsors) and tied it to the front of a 1m piece of dowel
>
> swinging it around while idling/riding the raffie is visually quite
> arresting and pretty easy to do *


This should really make you look like a GIRL too!!! :D --chirokid--


--
chirokid

"Unicycling can make you proud then humble in very quick succession."
Mikefule

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[U-Turn]

GILD wrote:
> *so unless u harbour some deep, strange cowgirl fantasies...
> *
Hmmm that's food for thought,,,,,

but what about wearing a jester-type hat with long, bouncy "arms" that
would bounce around a lot just while riding? You wouldn't have to DO
anything, just ride around and be a piece of dynamic art.


--
U-Turn - Mounting a Revolution

Weep in the dojo... laugh in the battlefield.

'Strongest Coker Wheel in the World'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albup39)

-- Dave Stockton
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[evilewan]

girrafing, yuck.
its not my favourite way to spend an afternoon.
its much more funn to do tricks on a real unicycle.
some promoters realy like the girrafe though. and the public are all
dumb enough to think its harder than a real unicycle.
i`ll ride a girrafe if thats what the event organiser realy wants but
not if i can get away with doing something more intersting.

i was busking at the edinburgh festival not long ago and i was the only
one to do a single unicycle trick. out of dozens of performers,
mind you, i cant realy fault the "space cowboy" who juggles a fire
torch, a juggling knife and a scyccle (cresent shaped farming tool)
whilst blidfolded on top of a girrafe.


--
evilewan - death or glory

--
evilewan.

see the rec.sport.unicycling maintainance FAQ @
http://evilewan.unicyclist.com/
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[dustin]

evilewan wrote:
> *girrafing, yuck.
> its not my favourite way to spend an afternoon.
> its much more funn to do tricks on a real unicycle.*
I will admit that riding a chain driven uni is not my fav way to spend
an afternoon riding, at this point in my life I would rather Muni or do
some urban trials. But I must ask, what is a "real unicycle"? Maybe we
should all be riding one ton 40 inch wheeled pennyfarthings with the
rear wheel removed since it is commonly believed that is where the first
uni came from. Wouldn't that be a "real unicycle" as opposed to the
freestyle, muni or trials uni's that have just come into existence in
the last 20 years.
> *and the public are all dumb enough to think its harder than a real
> unicycle. *
Have you tried any tricks on a six ft or 10ft uni? People often ask me
which unicycle is the hardest one to ride (I use 8 different uni's when
performing), to which I say "Your first one." The question still
persists and my reply is that it depends what you do with it.


--
dustin - on and off the road again

dustin kelm
www.dustinkelm.com isa40:30.31

"You are only limited by your imagination."
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[GILD]

dustin wrote:
> *it depends what you do with it. *


where have i heard that line before?



as to the yukky raffying, it was two hours of me playing with one of my
toys that paid me half of what i paid for the raffie in the first
place

call me a capitalist, but that was a LOT of fun

:)


--
GILD - Waffle-tosser

The only difference between me and a madman is that i'm not mad.
Pablo Picasso

'this will only take a minute...(fixed)'
(http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/actions/un.htm)

JUST SAY 'KNOW'!

Namaste!
Dave
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[chirokid]

dustin wrote:
> * People often ask me which unicycle is the hardest one to ride (I
> use 8 different uni's when performing), to which I say "Your first
> one." *


"Your first one." Nice line Dustin! --chirokid--


--
chirokid

"Unicycling can make you proud then humble in very quick succession."
Mikefule

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[Memphis Mud]

chirokid wrote:
> *
>
> This sounds awesome MM. Any pictures? Where did you get the gun?
> --chirokid-- *


Sorry no pix of the bubble shooting guns. Like a pistol and the little
bottle of soapy stuff screws on up in front of the triggerguard. Kind of
like a goofy non-threatening disney version of an old German Machine
Pistol.

Walmart on sale at the time: $4 for two. Kind of cheap. Only one still
works well after only one gig. Takes a couple of AA bateries. You pull
the trigger and whiiiiirrrrrrrrrr...tiny stream of bubbles.

Spring for a "good" one if such a thing exists.

tom.


--
Memphis Mud - Student of GrandMaster 2T

Mantra: Avoid Hitting Tailbone...Avoid Hitting Tailbone...
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[johnfoss]

evilewan wrote:
> *its much more funn to do tricks on a real unicycle.*
So what's a real unicycle? Any with pedals on the wheel axle, or is it
limited to certain wheel sizes, etc.?

In walkaround-type entertainment, the giraffe rules.
> *some promoters realy like the girrafe though. and the public are all
> dumb enough to think its harder than a real unicycle.*
Walkaround, as opposed to a focused show, is all about being visible. In
a walkaround situation, such as what Gild was hired for, promoters
usually aren't interested in tricks on a "small" unicycle. The guy on
the giraffe sticks well up above the crowd and provides a large
"decoration" or "backdrop" to the event. Anything to make the performer
even larger, such as twirling a big ribbon (the bigger the better) or
juggling fire, will make an even larger impression, and will generally
be favored by the sponsors.

For a focused show, that's where you want to rivet and amaze your
audience. Especially a busking show, where you have to grab them and
keep them until hat time. Then you need to impress them with either
skill, comedy, or personality and tricks on the small uni pay off much
better.
> *i was busking at the edinburgh festival not long ago and i was the
> only one to do a single unicycle trick. out of dozens of performers, *
But who brought home the biggest hat? The true test of the most
successful performance :)

Of course you can be an artist, and be more concerned about the show
than the hat, but to truly follow that philosophy, you should forego the
hat completely, especially when there are other buskers around.


--
johnfoss - Now riding to work

John Foss
the Uni-Cyclone
www.unicycling.com
________________

"Where's my kids?" -- Amy Drummond
"Where's my unicycle?" -- Andy Cotter
spoken one right after the other, mostly to themselves, at NAUCC 2003

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