presents...

Red Ribbons

That's Entertainment!

Originally written for Montaigne but largely applicable to other nations as well.

Wandering entertainers can get outside the neat hierarchies that define Montaigne social structure. They lack gentle blood but can be as amusing - or more amusing - that certain freeloading members of the gentry. An entertainer with the right act, right reflexes, and right personality du jour can become a celebrity - at least for a time.

Wandering the Country

Entertaining country folks are the bread and butter of most troupes. In good weather, a circuit is made, hitting all of the major market days and fairs in the region. Every troupe tries to afford a tent and the means to carry it along - putting your act inside a tent means being able to make people pay to see it. Young members and apprentices may stand outside to perform, giving a taste of the greater wonders within.

Soloists and small groups have to resort to passing a hat, typically, or having a bowl for donations. (It can be risky to pass the hat - sometimes, the hat disappears.)

While country people are glad enough for the amusement traveling entertainers bring, they are also deeply suspicious of them. These are the days before all-points bulletins, Wanted posters, and the like. When a neighbor commits a crime against a neighbor, everyone knows where to find the parties involved. Itinerant performers could vanish in the middle of the night, leaving no forwarding address - and no way to find them and exact justice for chickens stolen or daughters seduced.

Wandering the City

Most cities aren't quite so suspicious of travelers - at least, not as obviously. There's more of a love-hate relationship: taverners, shopkeepers and innkeepers all need visitors to the city to stay in business, but it's strangers who are most likely to skip out on a tab.

Performing in cities can be tricky. Soloists or small groups have an easier time - they need only stake out a street corner and set to it. Performing in taverns or inns is another option, but then the take must be split with the host. Large troupes either need to occupy space in a park (and probably get run off by the guard for their troubles) or else set up their tents outside the city walls.

An act which manages to continually refresh itself and maintain perpetual popularity might see about renting a performance space within the city.

The higher foot traffic in cities means more money, but the gain is somewhat offset by the higher cost of living and stronger presence of the law.

Wandering into Court

The nobility usually remember to pay their hired dancing bears. Even one performance at a lord's party can earn a performer a month's wages. More importantly, it gives exposure and the potential to cultivate a regular patron. A steady patron is, for some, the holy graal of income.

"Breaking into" the world of the courts is difficult. The luckiest are spotted by a nobleman on the street and capture his fancy on the spot. More typically, word will spread through the grapevine that a lord or lady is looking to hire performers for an evening. (Getting tapped into the grapevine can be an adventure in and of itself - those with connections don't want more competition showing up at the auditions!) Performers arrive, wait for hours, and then give it their best shot. Rarely will an immediate favorable decision be rendered. The performers can then either leave, and hope word of their employment makes it to them, or stay and hear the hired list directly. Most stay.

During the party, the usual rule is to speak no more than your job requires. Instrumentalists may as well be wind-up music boxes for all the regard they are given by the guests. But entertainers like jesters, fools and magicians are of course expected to speak to the guests - they could hardly do their acts otherwise. Negotiating for further jobs right on the spot would be awfully rude (unless the guest starts it). Hopeful performers take their time packing up and linger at the servants' doors, waiting to see if the servants of any of the guests are coming with offers for further work.

Sometimes, a single performance becomes the gateway to regular patronage. The performer or troupe enters the household of the noble, ready to perform at his beck and call. In exchange, they are housed, fed, and given a stipend. Many jongleurs who romanticize the life of the road find the reality of a soft bed and hot dinner to be quite tempting.

Maintaining a patron can be more or less tricky, depending on the type of performer. Good dance musicians are always in demand, but a magician who has exhausted his bag of tricks must either invent new ones or else move on.