Brighton, UK - May 6-23

Hello from Brighton,

Well, I am now two weeks into my tour, and yesterday performed my eighth show of the Brighton Festival. The Rap Canterbury Tales is gaining some notoriety in this city, in so far as many people I speak to say something like “yeah, I heard of that, the Canadian Chaucer guy, cool, I want to come see it.” Still, attendance on the first weekend was pretty poor. I’ve been doing four shows a week in this little café called the Mad Hatter, which is a very intimate and comfortable space to perform in. My shows are scheduled for 8pm, and on the first day there I was at 5 after 8, sitting in the café, which was completely empty, thinking: “oh my God, this is torture.” I was determined not to cancel any shows, however, and with the kind permission of Nick, the café owner, we managed to rope ten people in off the streets with promises of free drinks, and no cover. Suffice to say, I didn’t make much money the first weekend.

This is not for lack of exposure, since in the first two days I was here I appeared on three radio stations, including the Southern Counties BBC, as well as Juice Radio, Brighton’s most popular hit station, which played a couple songs from my CD on air. These interviews, as well as my prolific postering and listing in the Brighton Fringe Program, are the reason so many people have heard of my show, but the difference between hearing of it and taking the initiative to come see it is huge. Saturday of the first weekend we actually got twelve or so people who showed up, some with pre-sale tickets for me to rip. This may not seem like much, but after the first few days I was just happy to have an audience, and it is a small venue. Also, people have been taking up the cause, and I get people coming up to me after each show declaring their indignation at the low turnout, and swearing to spread the word.

The second weekend has been much better, with between ten and fifteen people at each show - paying patrons, and some CDs selling and all. Far from making enough money to cover my plane ticket, my new goal is to not have to withdraw any more money from ATMs, and have the money I make from shows cover my expenses. England is pretty much on par with Canada in terms of cost of living - that is, if the pound weren’t worth 2.4 dollars. But as long as I’m getting 5 pounds per ticket and ten pounds per CD, I can just pretend a five-pound dinner is just five bucks, not twelve. So far so good: no ATMs for a week.

As for the city, this place is amazing, all young people and travelers and students. Brighton is directly south of London, right on the ocean, and the entire city runs along a twenty kilometre stretch of beach, with a boardwalk crowded with thousands of people taking in the sun. There are nightclubs galore along the main stretch and an average of about three pubs per square block throughout the city, which is a mix of old Victorian buildings and shiny new shops. I’ve been pretty much living on fish and chips and beer - a slight exaggeration perhaps, but the fast food here is pretty top notch, and you can buy little cups of fresh steamed prawns, mussels and cockles on the beach for a pound. Also, the Mad Hatter feeds me when I’m performing, and they have good healthy fare.

The best part about this trip so far has been the people. At pretty much every show there is some group who stays to talk and then invites me out for a drink or to some event afterwards, which means I’ve had something new and interesting to do every night. I have had teachers approach me about coming to their schools, and I’ve had one school show so far with more to come this week. Also the Mad Hatter staff have been great, showing me around town and taking me out. There is a bit of a hiphop scene here as well - the second night I was in town I found my way to this open mic hiphop night where all the local MCs were rapping and I got on stage with some: “check the Canadian / rock a nightclub, or a stadium / with rhyme straight off the cranium / make all the local MCs afraid of him” type freestyles. From that night I met a few of the local MCs and DJs and they’ve been totally welcoming, putting me on where they can on radio or at jams, making introductions, and I’ve been representing at the weekly freestyle jam. All in all I’m just feeling really privileged to be here performing and seeing new sights and sustaining myself with my poetry, which has been very well-received, at least by those who show up.

The biggest challenge I’ve faced has been accepting the yoke of self-promotion, which means facing all of my demons about getting in peoples’ faces and being a salesman. For the first week I relied on my radio interviews and posters to get people out, and it simply didn’t, and when I couldn’t make up any more excuses I finally parked myself on a street corner to hand out flyers last Thursday. It wasn’t so bad actually, and I’ve been out there doing it every day since, talking to people, pitching the show. I don’t know why I’ve been in such resistance to it, but I guess this is part of the game and it’s time to get dirty. When I get people showing up with tickets in hand there isn’t much question whether or not it’s worth it.

So that’s where I’m at - maybe not so exciting to hear about, but it’s pretty exciting for me. In about a week I fly to Prague for the Prague Fringe Festival, and then back to Canada for the Montreal and Toronto Fringes. Each city has its own challenges and opportunities and I’m trying to take them one by one and keep focused, but I’m still having a great time. Sometimes I wish I had an entourage with me, because this whole project would be so much more fun to share, but I know doing it this way is valuable as well. I’ll leave you with a few verses of a new rap I’m writing about the whole self-promotion problem. Lots of love, and I welcome responses or suggestions from any of you.

Baba