To: "Storytell"
Sent: Friday, January 02, 1998 12:34 PM
Subject: Re: First Night
Ellen,
<snip> Did anyone do First Night and if so, what kind of experience did
you
have? <snap>
So soon afterwards, the feelings are frozen and exhausted. Yesterday was a
recovery day. Slept and drank teas. Ate lightly (spinach pie and
veggie
sweet breads) and did a little reading.
FIRST NIGHT Portsmouth, NH 12/31/97
I arrived at sundown (about 3:30 pm or 15:30 EST), found a spot to park
the
Vardo and checked in at headquarters.
The weather reports predicted 5 to negative 20 degrees Fahrenheit (-18
to -30 centigrade for the rest of the world). My job was to entertain in
the streets from 4:50 (16:50) to 10:30 (22:30). The reports were correct;
temperature dropped below -15 F (-26 C), with gusts of wind adding a wind
chill of who knows what to the equation.
I was dressed for the cold, but by the end of the night, it didn't seem to
matter. I was constantly removing icicles from my beard. Must have
looked
great during "Jack Frost".
I kept all of the stories short (ten minutes being the longest). The
listeners were willing to stay and freeze, but I couldn't bear to let them.
I promised them more tales between the inside shows and sent them off to
warm up.
It was very quiet compared previous years, but I had wonderful times with
those who came out. The crowds were mostly over 18 years of age.
Here are some of the memories that managed to stay with me.
Large groups of 100 to 300 until 6 pm. A television crew filming during
"Jack Frost". Most of the time they stayed out of the way, but
once a
cameraman moved right between me and the crowd and stuck the lens within a
foot of my face for at least ten seconds. Well, that was very awkward.
The
police were towing away the cars that hadn't gotten off the streets in time.
Once, I needed to move my listeners out of the tow truck's path. It was the
only time I've lost my place in a story in years. lol
The rest of the night saw groups of three to twenty. Only once did I
manage
to pull in a larger group (about 50 for a short version of 'Tayzanne').
Oh! I remember it was very hard to get any snapping sounds from the
audience during "Jack Frost". lol Some muffled sounds
beneath mittens, but
those with gloves were out of luck.
All the stories were much less interactive than I liked. And the pace of
the stories were rather faster than I prefer. But one must always take the
environment into account and this night the word was short and fast.
Pax & Amicitia,
Papa Joe
Oak-n-Ivy Cottage, Turtle Island
(16 Sunny Lane, Fremont, NH, USA)
Papa
Joe ~ Travel
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