minstrel: RE: performing at feasts

[Bergeron, Corrie]

I agree with Tibicen's excellent analysis, though I have found that the
gobble portion of the feast is often as noisy as the rest, with clinking
tableware, etc.  I recall in my early days (circa AS XV) the custom was for
a herald to announce "THISISENTERTAINMENTSHUTUPANDLISTEN."  Not very
effective.

Take a look at the acoustic properties of the hall .  Remember that filling
it with clothed bodies will deaden it considerably, though a gym will always
be loud.  I recall one Crown Tourney feast served in a well-designed
middle-school cafeteria.  The hall was long and narrow, with deep wells in
the ceiling (think big beams across the width).  This hall was designed to
be DEAD.  How dead?  A large group of rowdies came up and did a command
performance for the head table, bellowing the CP's favorite drinking song.
A third of the way down the hall, you could not tell what they were doing.

Tibicen mentions the need for presentations of subtleties.  There is great
opportunity for presenting the courses as well.  One of the best times I
have had as a performer was tag-teaming with Baron Lewys Blackmore,
introducing an Italian-themed feast.  Keep in mind we're in Northshield,
where a large part of the population doesn't understand why people think the
folks in the movie "Fargo" talk funny.  Lewys and I came up with the schtick
that he would introduce the removes in bad-Mob-movie-Italian, and I would
"translate" into Scandihoovian.  So he would say (with much inflection and
many hand gestures), "For-a our-a next-a course-a, we have-a for you a
lovely fettuccini al-a-fredo, accompanied by-a ziti marinara."  I would
translate, "Yah, shore, ve gotcha some flat noodles in a vhite sauce, ant ve
gotcha some tube noodles in a ret sauce.  Now be careful uff dat ret sauce,
dere, 'cause hit's not ketchup, dere, hey?"

Brendan O Corraidhe

Corrie J. Bergeron Jr.

Senior Instructional Designer, Capella Education
"An educated mind is useless without a focused will,
and dangerous without a loving heart." - W.M. Deijmann
corrie at itasca.net


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