Agent's Guidebook

The Agent is that key local person in each Roadshow city who coordinates the logistics with the Driver and helps out the Crewmembers.This guidebook is very much a work in progress. Please email the Navigator with any questions as you go through it so edits can be made for clarity and completeness.

Book the local acts

Take some time with this. The local acts often make the difference between a poor turnout and a crowd, and make connections between the crewmembers and the local community. Ideally, with a local act you want to balance appropriateness, quality, and draw. A puppet show is far better than a boring reading. And the more you're into the local act, the easier it'll be to promote the show.

The Driver will need to know the name and a short descriptor ("tap-dancing cartoonist Matt Blackett") six weeks ahead of the tour so they can put it on the handbill. Which in turn will give your local act a good incentive to hand out the handbills you give them.

Like the travelling crewmembers, they'll have 15 minutes (which is important to stress especially with musical acts, since that's a short set). The only time you should make exceptions for this 15 minute rule is if a band has a big draw (ie bring out 20-30 people), in which case they should go last.

Occasionally local acts have left before the end of the show and take their audience with them, which is really morale killing for the people on tour. Please mention this before the show starts.

Book the venue

Roadshow venues are booked three months at a time. Although this can be a challenge for a new venue, the reason for it is that it avoids a monthly scramble on the part of the Agent and the Driver to confirm a venue again -- once you have a booker in front of a calendar, it's better to take care of it all at once.

What the Driver will need confirmed is the date, time, venue, venue address, local act and cover price (if not pay-what-you-can -- up to $5), ie:

PITTSBURGH: Monday, Aug. 15, 7pm. Garfield Artworks, 4931 Penn Ave. $5. With crafty poetess Jessica Manack.

Some tips:

• Venues can vary: bookstores, bars, galleries, punk basements, whatever you think would be a lively place for a show and won't stress you out. A smaller space is generally appropriate.
• Bookers at bars don't generally care how talented or cool the entertainment is, they want to know that there's a good chance that it'll bring in drinkers. Fridays and Saturdays are especially hard to book, try getting a band to be the local act or someone who'll be a good draw. If the Roadshow has gotten press locally in the past you could bring clippings to leave with them--this is a good overview of the project.
• If you book your local acts first, they can give you tips as to places they've performed at and will help you convince the booker that people will come.
• Generally you can assume that the crewmembers will have their own equipment and will not need any special AV needs unless they get in touch in advance. 
• If they want a guaranteed minimum or a rental fee and you can't find somewhere else (though you should be able to) offer to split a cover charge with them so half goes to them and half to the performers. You shouldn't go out of pocket at all.

Promote the show

The crewmembers will be shaking all the trees they have and sending out media packs to various outlets in your area, but whatever you can do to promote the shows is appreciated. This might include:


• e-mailing people who you think would be interested
• dropping off the provided handbills in appropriate areas
• handing out handbills to friends and at similarly minded shows
• getting handbills to the local acts and asking them to e-mail their people
Getting media coverage or doing outreach beyond this would be fantastic, but it's not a duty of the agent. It's understood that you'll be doing what you can, but that the main responsibility's on the crewmembers. In terms of audience attendance, 15-20 people is good, 5, uh, not so good. Do what you can.

At the show

Although it's not required, some Agents like to MC the shows, and it gives a coherence and structure if you can pull it off. But when introducing people, don't read their bios -- just mention where they're from, one interesting thing about them and their name.

And in general, be nice. Some shows will go well, and some will be shit: that's part of touring. But if you can be welcoming, helpful and interested in the folks on tour it'll make a big difference. This is the first tour for most of them and they're often stressed, even if they don't show it. Some things you can do:


• Introduce them to the local act.
• Show them around if you can, or let them know where they can find food or interesting places nearby.
• They will have gotten in touch with you if they need a place to crash, and that doesn't necessarily need to be at your place: somewhere safe and free, is all. It's always good to know of a cheap hotel or hostel near the venue just as a backup plan, however.
• More and more people have food or allergy issues, and it's always nice to inquire as it relates to places to eat and sleep.