It occurs to me that the boycott language may seem harsh and impulsive in that context. What I mean by it is: if this is your contact with the show as a blogger, don’t see it, and don’t encourage them. I’m sure with it being Cirque that it’s unreasonable for media outlets to not cover this, so I can’t reasonably ask that, but I hope this is at the least a vote for more in-depth coverage rather than ad nauseum xeroxing of press releases. If there’s *additional* contact with the show that is positive – such as the work that I know the local publicist is now running around doing putting out this fire, that’s a different story.

I think that the behavior and culture of the SEOers and Social Marketing gurus that sell this kind of snake oil service is seriously flawed and needs to be met with some resistance and positive reinforcement in the other direction. As Rebecca Coleman says, we’re not advancing into a computer-generated auto-marketing era, we’re actually reverting back here to the days the door-to-door salesman, and that means more handshaking, more customized tailoring of the pitch to individual needs. This is a GOOD thing, and yes, it’s more work, which may seem in the short term like smaller profit margins – but that doesn’t equate to less return on the investment of developing richer relationships with the audience.

I asked the local publicist about it, and she had no idea what was happening. (But she apologized anyway.) It’s really a shame that they’re undermining her efforts this way.

On a broader level, I’m kind of fascinated with all of the cultural and theatrical issues that come into play when a physical theater company moves into the realm of language and jokes. Jeune Lune in Minneapolis reached a middle ground between French humor and Minnesota humor, though the verbal jokes weren’t as seamless as the physical ones. Montreal, where Cirque originates, has had two separate scenes for comic theater: British music-hall/sketch-inspired comedy on the Anglophone side, and joual (slang)-heavy local comedy on the Francophone side. I’m curious to see how they make the leap into vaudville. As you say, I hope it’s with a surer foot than their marketing campaign.

http://bigorangeslide.com/2009/10/grip-interviews-rebecca-coleman/

(@rebeccacoleman is a friend of mine, but no, she didn’t pay me to say that. She’s just good and knows what she’s talking about)

It’s when the promoters choose to shortcut and NOT do that or choose to remain ignorant of better behavior that it becomes a problem. That said, there are plenty of small theaters with awful marketing etiquette as well – though their ignorance is not nearly as loud without dough to back it.

The common goal here should be improving the way we talk to the audience – encouraging them by example instead of by empty words and comments just how worthwhile it is to make live performance a part of your life.