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We are looking for an Elvis impersonator (young or old), a Tina Turner
and a Bette Midler.  As always we are looking for comedy performances.
Personality and stage presence is more important than a technically
perfect look alike.

We are always looking for performance contractors with specific skills for specific shows.
We do not have a specific cast nor employees but always use the best possible performers
available on  a contract base.  Flexible, talented contractors will always be in demand.
Shows typically consist of Impersonations, Comedy and Illusions.  Impersonations can be
of men, women, personalities or some combination.  Comedy can be of almost any type
performed by anyone including typical 'standup'.  Illusions are hard to describe but we all
know them when we see them.  Visionary, other worldly, fantasy, glamour, sexual and
ethereal come to mind.  Perfomances can be live, lip synched or some combination.

What is a good solo?
It must appeal to the audience that shows up on any particular night.  If your number only appeals
to specific demographic groups or if it contains an 'inside joke' there's a good chance we can't
use it unless we know that group is showing up at a particular show.  Situation or sketch
comedy, as often seen on TV, is usually too slow or requires too much focus for a live audience
to follow and enjoy.  Much of our material has come from TV but it is usually a comedy
performance or commercial parody taking place within a show.  The key to the success of
these TV snippets is their ability to stand alone(without a lengthy lead in or complex storyline)
as an entertaining performance.  Live performance audiences are much more complex and
fickle than are TV audiences as they key off from each other and vary widely from night to night.

Material that you feel strongly about  usually works best as your motivation will usually show up
on stage.  If this material stikes a responsive chord with the audience then you are on the way.
Audiences will however, see you differently then you see yourself and they will often gravitate
towards some of your least favorite material.  Find out why they like that material and try working
on that angle.  .  Do not drastically change a good working number just because you are bored
or want to wear something new.  Get honest feedback or video footage of your performances
when possible.  Most good entertainers are insecure but simply pumping your friends for
compliments will obviously not lead to improvement.   A performance is something you do,
it is not who you are.  Try to separate your ego from your individual performances so
you can feel completely free to improve.

The best advice is simply to 'make love' to whichever audience shows up, on a given night and
work on improving your presentation.
                                           
Demographics and General performance Guidelines: .  The following recommendations
are not intended to  criticize anybody's artistic vision.  We realize that female impersonators,
drag queens and  uppity women of all kinds are usually on the leading edge of entertainment and
are important pioneers in several aspects of modern life.    Our  mission however, is to attract the
widest possible audiences available and not to make any particular political statement.    Our
very presence amongst diverse audience members who are enjoying us, and each other,
is statement enough.    Feel free to read in your own political, sociological or philosophical
subtext.

These guidelines are only our best guess as to what seems to work for most audiences
most of the time.  We often, need to appeal to very diverse audiences which are often  straight,
middle aged and live in the country.   We do expect to also perform within larger cities and will
adjust our material accordingly.  Therefore we are open to new or unusual material as long as it has
a good chance of entertaining most of our audiences most of the time.  

More specifically, straight women of all ages love our show and they often drag their boyfriends
or husbands along.  Most straight men are somewhat uncomfortable without a woman to escort
them.    This dynamic is important to understand when working on material.  In this type of
audience it's generally(but not always) safer to  flatter women while mildly poking fun at  men. 
It is obviously not acceptable to ridicule any specific audience member.  While beauty is relative,
really poor or unattractive female impersonations are often offensive to women (both gay
and straight)..  Campy, spacey, elderly or ditzy impersonations are often successful but work better
if the portrayal is relatively attractive.  A close Phyllis Diller approximation would be  excellent  while
Phyllis Diller with a beard would not.   While many gay men love drag, some continue to feel that
drag is making fun of their lifestyle simply to pander to straight audiences.  These objections are
quickly overcome with proud, entertaining and attractive performances. 

Most great performers are rather shy and unsure of their abilities on stage. Great performances result
by being able to overcome fear.   It's OK to poke fun at yourself during a performance and almost
anything goes during a comedy number but never apologize for your performance by
engaging in  self deprecatory behavior.  For example, never remove a wig as a way of apologizing
for who you are or what you are doing. Walk tall, look directly at the audience, smile and project  love.
Conversely, do not overcome your fear by being overly aggressive, combative or offensive toward the
audience.  These people want to be your friends so give them a chance. 

Comedic, 'cheeky' or faster paced performances rate high and it is good to work these aspects
into almost any solo.  No slow ballads ever period.  Most of the audiences, most of the time do not
have the patience and these numbers really throw off the pacing of an upbeat show.  If the actual real
live diva showed up to sing her ballad, we'd probably have to decline.  It's just not that kind of show.

Looking Like performers who have some great material.  No matter how much you look like
some famous person that is not enough.  If that person has no material that fits into a cabaret
type of drag show, then we can't use it.  It is easy to sell a snappy Tina Turner by someone
who doesn't quite look like her while a 'dead on' look alike of someone with no good material
is a only good for 30 seconds or so.  You should not do a dead on exact copy of the original
performance.  As you will normally be lip synching you should be able to much more than the
original artist was able to do as they were rather distracted by 'having to actually sing'.  Take
their general presentation and improve it radically.  Bigger hair, better jewelry, better costume,
better choreography and better expressions are all possiblilities.  If you feel lip synching is not
a real performance art than you are not working hard enough on these other aspects.

The 30 Second Rule:  Any solo needs various 'business' or 'gimmicks' to keep an audience's
attention.   I believe something should change roughly every 30 seconds. Most business or
or gimmicks include some aspects of Comedy, Illusion, Glamour and Sex.

Specifically:
*If you have a great costume just walking out can get you by for a while. 
*If you look like someone or the audience is fascinated by your face and hair, for any reason, that is
worth some extra time. 
*If the material is familiar and the audience enjoys  hearing it that is great.   I like to think that if
   everyone in the audience heard this material in their car radio on the way to the show would they
    turn up the volume or switch the station? 
*Snazzy choreography or if you can't dance, think about other ways you can move around.
*Underdressing 1 costume with another can work if you can change smoothly and it makes sense.
*Make your solo a medley.  Care must be taken that the edits are smooth and that the
  progressions make sense. 
*Edit out the boring, unintelligible or redundant material from your solo. A great solo could be 2 min's.
while the same solo could be very boring at 4 minutes.
*Evoke emotions that make sense in combination with other material.  Comedy, Illusion, Glamour and Sex
   often set the emotional tone so pathos, sadness and serious drama are difficult to mix into this show.
*Target your material.  Inner city 'hipsters' will appreciate rather different material will their country
   counterparts..
  Many older audiences will not recognize top 40 hits that are less than 5  years old.   Old classics that
  appeal to all ages are the safest bet.

Oh yes did I mention Comedy, Illusion, Glamour and Sex?   
            

         

   More specific ideas:

Top 40 or famous material from any of the following: Tina Turner, Bette Midler, Carol Channing,
Joan Rivers, Reba, Cher, Marilyn, Eartha Kitt, Phyllis Diller, Elvis, Dolly Parton, Madonna, Donna Sommers,
Dianna Ross, Michael Jackson,  Joan Jett, Cindy Lauper, Any Popular Female Rockers. Who else??
Novelty Material Including:
Parody impersonations of famous people, Comedy Country Western Numbers, Female Comics. What else??

What is a performance contractor?
If you never worked as a performance contractor it is similar to hiring a stripper to
entertain at your friends birthday.  You need certain skills in a certain time frame and
you agree on what is to be done and what you will pay for that job.   There is no
employer/employee relationship just a simple contractual relationship.  The contract
will include specific solo's that we need performed.  You would provide the primary
costume, hair, jewelry and most importantly the skill to entertain the audience. 

You may also be contracted  to perform, with other performers, in a group number that
includes specific choreography and costumes. This will be an minor part of your contract,
as your primary focus would be your solos.  If  you contract to do group numbers you
should expect to cooperate with the other performers in producing a smooth and
coordinated performance.  If you don't feel you have the skills or proper motivation to
contribute to a certain group number, you should decline to participate.  Ability to perform
in group numbers is not a criteria for getting a contract.  Contracts are awarded totally
on an ability to entertain a given audience with 1 or more of your solos.

How do I get a contract?
Quite simply we need outstanding solo performances that generally last less than 3 1/2 minutes. 
In rare cases we use numbers that last up to 5 minutes but that is unusual.  You should have
performed this number in front of paying audiences and have a video tape if possible.   If you
are performing in the Seattle area we can probably come and see your performance.   We'd also
love to videotape an audition which you can use to improve the number, if necessary.

These are our opinions and would love to hear yours:>>  Contact Us at
jimaga (at) yahoo (dot) com    
                                               
            (at) = the 'at' sign and (dot) = the 'period' 
            This disguise is to hide from the spammers
                     
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