Karaoke Forums

The other day the Budweiser and Miller reps were talking to me about doing up some banners, and they ask if my show had a name. So it got me to thinking. I know I've been around to some of the shows in towns close by and all those guys have a stage name that they go by. I was wondering if anyone here did the same thing.
I've thought about it a bit, but never really sat down and gave it any deep thought, I was concentrating more on the show than what it could be called.
I've also had a guy approach me about doing merch as well, t-shirts/koozies and such, and they ask the same thing.
Now the one thing that most of you don't know, is that everyone in town calls me Jimmy for some reason. Only a few close friends, and of course you folks here, still call me James, and even most of them couldn't tell you my last name....  
When I sign my name on anything, I still use James since it's my legal name, but as far as Jimmy, no one would even know how I spell it at this point..exp: Jimmy, Jimi, Jimmi, you know what ever...

Since I was sixteen, I've done various promotions and musical events and have always used the name Laughing Skull Productions for any press that I've done. I do motorcycle events under Spring City Choppers, and have an internet group of musicians from around the world called the 'Fallen Angel Society' and all of those fall under the LSP group as well. However, while I still use the registered LSP name on any promotions that I do, I wanted possibly something else for the Karaoke show.
So I pose the question to you guys. Do you have a stage name? Or do you have some suggestions for what I could possibly call my show. The one thing that I am fully aware of and why I take so long to make such decisions, is that once you start promoting it, you're stuck with it, so I want it to be good.
Now I know right off, that this thread will probably get sidetracked, and that's okay, I'm getting use to it, but if you have suggestions, please feel free to me know, regardless of what anyone else here may think.  
Thanks in advance,

James
Maninblack

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I serve no man and am loyal to only one God.

Being critical of a person's success in any respect speaks volumes about the lack of your own.

Love as though you've never been hurt, Dance as though no one's watching, Sing as though God Himself were listening.

How about "Professional Karaoke"  Slogan "We may not be professional singers but we sing anyway"

I really like Babs show name and full house entertainment has some witty slogans.

I think Jian is "Badsinger Production"  or something like that.

Perhaps you could use "Man in Black Productions" or "James' Gang Productions"
"The Wet Spot Productions" could be fun.

Don't know, just some suggestions.

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Will sing or fish for food!!I'm not quite right!!

Good stuff, but no one would know me by those names. Maninblack was given to me when I use to go the songwriters showcase in Nashville, and it's been pretty much an internet name. But it's also my biker roadname, and I doubt too many of those guys really do that much Karaoke... Yeah I can see me going up to some of my HA and Outlaw buddies and inviting them out to Karaoke but then again it could be interesting, but could turn ugly is both groups showed up on the same night. I'd have to change the name to Jimmys Karaoke Massacre  :shock:

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I serve no man and am loyal to only one God.

Being critical of a person's success in any respect speaks volumes about the lack of your own.

Love as though you've never been hurt, Dance as though no one's watching, Sing as though God Himself were listening.

<hangs head in disappointment>   I tried.  But really, any name you choose would be a new extention of your current LSP.  Once you have a name then they will know it is you.  

I guess it really needs to be an extention of YOU.  Something new that would be YOU and people would know it is you.  

I'll keep my thinking hat  on

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Will sing or fish for food!!I'm not quite right!!

I'm "The Fat Guy", because, well, I AM!

Woohoo, you been talking to some of my fans?????

I remember for a long time, I'd use the silly Liquor Poker Productions, Liquor in the front, poker in the back, but thank goodness I'm all grown up now and past that silliness.

But please don't put too much thought into it Isis, I don't. All that matters to me is that folks show up. It'll be like, I'll sit up all night trying to brainstorm ideas, but usually the best ones just show up out of the blue when you least expect it. But thank you just the same, I really appreciate it.

James
Maninblack

P.S. I really wish I could get by with calling it, 'Jimmy's Monster C**k and Karaoke Revue' but all the women in town would know I was lying.

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I serve no man and am loyal to only one God.

Being critical of a person's success in any respect speaks volumes about the lack of your own.

Love as though you've never been hurt, Dance as though no one's watching, Sing as though God Himself were listening.

Company moniker: "Celebration Karaoke-Where every song is a CELEBRATION!!"

and I'm

"Swingcat", "DJ Gato Loco" or "MC SWING"........whatever the situation requires

And the company logo is a pic of my big silver old-school mic on the cover of my songbooks 8 x 11 in color.

On business cards the logo is a a cool looking catfish with the old school mic dressed up in a 1940's zoot suit, shades and a cool blues hat smoking a cigar.

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"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT

No strings attached is the name of our duo, but I use the name regardless even if I am solo.

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

I don't know what you should name your business, but I'll let you know what NOT to name it.

When I started out, I was primarily a karaoke show so I billed myself as Big Mike Karaoke.  As I started to move into DJ work for weddings and such, I've had a hard time because karaoke is in my name.  If I had it to do over, I'd call my company Big Mike Entertainment Group or something like that.  

I have also used as my logo the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons because we bear a striking resemblance to one another.  I am trying to move away from that as well because as I grow my business I don't want any hassles over the unlicensed use of a TV character, but when I took him off my web site's greeting page my customers complained.

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Spreading the karaoke gospel

Yes one thing that I definitely want to do is refrain from using Karaoke in the name and it has nothing to do with my personal view point, but like Big Mike referred to, the public's perception.
Key words that keep coming to mind are something with the words:
Revue
Legends
Icons

The more I think about my personal name it seems silly to change it from Jimmy(or however I end up spelling it) since that's what the community already knows me by.
I was just uncertain as to whether I wanted to incorporate it into the show or business name. But one thing it has to remain simple, to the point and easy to remember.
The last thing you want is to tell someone your companys name and them go 'do what?' or 'what was that?' if that happens then you know you've made the wrong choice

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I serve no man and am loyal to only one God.

Being critical of a person's success in any respect speaks volumes about the lack of your own.

Love as though you've never been hurt, Dance as though no one's watching, Sing as though God Himself were listening.

JMO  I would stay away from the skull thing.   You play in Marinas.   A laughing skull and cross bones might work for that.   It won't work if you decide to play in non nautical locations.   The skull thing might get you a bad reputation.   Too bad biker looking.   Might scare off higher class establishments.

Why are you so ashamed to be associated with karaoke, when that is exactly what you do?     I don't understand that part.   That's like being a plumber and acting like you're a brain surgeon.   You're a KJ and you should be proud of that.    Why hide.  You're not on a wanted poster, are you?

I wanted to use a name that made me sound like I was bigger than I am.  You always want to look bigger than you are.   It's a psychology thing.   I knew I wanted to have more than one system.  If I call myself "karaoke by Jerk," Jerk can not be in two places at once.    So if you plan on ever growing out of yourself, think big.   It costs to much to build your reputation as one thing and then try to change it to another later.

I agree with not putting karaoke in the name. I'm afraid I'm stuck with
it now  LMAO This is the front of one of my books -

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Another thing I wasn't anticipating was having  "monkey"  in the name. I
now have 60+ monkeys given to me by patrons. Here is just a few-

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

The reason you don't want karaoke in the name is if you venture off
into other avenues like DJing.
I personally don't claim to be a DJ by any means, but
I have done weddings when both was needed. I usually explain it isn't my expertise,
so they know my limits. Most of the time it is just small sets in between karaoke. But if I ever decided to branch into DJing it would be hard to advertise with a name like Monkey Business Karaoke.

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Whoa, slow down, you'll give yourself a heart attack. First of all you presume a lot in reference to my post. Yeah I look like a biker. But I also am on the board of directors at the Senior Center here in town, I'm an election officer, I read to the kids at the library and the HeadStart Center. So if my town doesn't have a problem with me looking like a biker, I hardly think that I'm worried about getting a bad reputation. Quote-'Too bad biker looking' that's a comment I would expect from an amateur, and I hardly view you or your comments as being amateur, so please in the future refrain from making comments about something you have no direct knowledge of. No offense is taken personally, I just found it to be unfounded and stereotypical. Thank goodness I live around people who accept me for my deeds and personality more than my appearance. It may be different around where you live, but since I don't live there, I have no idea, so in other words, no opinion.

Yes I play at Marinas, you know those places on the water where those big ole floating things come in? The fact that I do play at the largest Marinas around here, pretty much puts me in the flow with the so called 'higher class'. They come in with big money, and I'm more than glad to get up there on the stage and take all I can get.

Like I said about the Karaoke thing, I don't have a problem with it, but the publics perception is still pretty slack when it comes to being accepted as a professional form of entertainment. I am very proud of what I do, but as you say if I want to grow bigger, I have to present myself as being more than 'just karaoke'.
Now you are right about using the Skull and such. When it's poker runs and things of that nature, it goes loud and proud up at the top of the flyers and banners. Anything else that I promote, it usually goes way down at the bottom of the page in very small print, that is if I even use it at all.  

Now reading back on my reply, I realize that I'm coming off more than a bit defensive about your comments and having said that, I'll go ahead and apologize if I seem a bit curt in my response. It's my reputation as being a 'go to' and 'can get the job done' type person that has allowed me to live my life and dress as I see fit.
When I worked in the corporate world, I made the compromises that were ask, but this is my world now, and I serve no man and am loyal to only one God. The only time people give me grief is when they find out I'm Republican.

But thank you just the same for your input, I am big enough to know that you spoke your mind with the best intention, so I don't take offense, just thought maybe some clarification was in order.

James
Maninblack

_________________
I serve no man and am loyal to only one God.

Being critical of a person's success in any respect speaks volumes about the lack of your own.

Love as though you've never been hurt, Dance as though no one's watching, Sing as though God Himself were listening.

I said the skull would work for the marina and bike things, but I don't think it's going to work for family restaurants or kids shows.

I ride a motorcycle, so I fall into the same catagory.   Bad biker dude.   I'm more like a girlscout.      Every biker is "Hells Angels" to non bikers.   Always will be.

You have to be careful with how potential employers will look at you.

I would never call on a client dressed in my leathers.   Unless it was for a biker club.

Now if you want to appeal to the larger majority of clients, you will have to decide who you want to work for.    That is how you should taylor your name and appearance.

It doesn't matter if you washed Mother Tereasa's feet everyday.   If you look like a biker.    They assume you are.

I could be the worlds foremost brain surgeon, but if I look like a wino, smell like a wino, fall down like a wino.   What is everyone supposed to think of me?

It's 2006, but first impressions still rule.   Everyone still judges the book by the cover.    So I always try to put my best paw forward.  You never know when the dog catcher is hiding around the corner.

My company is called Blackbelt Karaoke this was from a few years ago when I was running contests if you won you got a trophy and were known as this years Blackbelt in Karaoke. Here's a shot of my Book Cover.

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ROBDOG *WOOF WOOF*

"Kellyoke" happened long time back.  I didn't come up with it.  Ex-bartender did that to me after being where I am now after the first week.  Showed up for my show one night and it was on the lighted billboard out front on the building.  I didn't like it at first.  But hey, first time I ever saw anything referencing me in lights!

Top billing at that.  Been there now for almost 5 years and it makes it easier for their radio advertisement  that they do.

Kelly

James, you'd be surprised about bikers and karaoke.  Couple of years ago a regional biker group contacted me to do a show for them.  The club house wasn't as big as most small bars.  Very cramped.  They were doing a Toys For Tot ride which finished off with a party and me as the entertainment.  It was very entertaining TO ME to see some of these big huge bikers singing.

One of the better parties I had ever been to.  My wife was with me and when we got there I kept noticing these two guys staying very close to me and my wife.  If she walked to far away from me one seemed to follow her and the other stayed with me.  After about a hour of noticing this I asked what in the heck was going on.

One of the guys said, "Sir. Didn't mean to offend you or your wife.  We are your security for the evening."  WHOA!  There were some other "gangs" that were there and they wanted to maker sure we would be ok if something happened.

First time I ever had security.   Best part of the evening was later when they asked me to MC their wet T-shirt contest.  Strangest wet T-shirt contest I ever saw.  The girls would take their shirts OFF!  As I said it was very cramped.  I'm 6'2" but was having a hard time seeing through the crowd to do any MCing.  One of my "Body guards" grabbed a milk crate and brought to me so I could stand on.

I "heard" this lady ask me if I could "see everything now."  "I said yes mam.  I can seee real good now."  I turned and reconized the voice....  :( It was my wife.  I said,....uh,... ya it really helps to see if your MCing an event.

She laughed and we had a good time.

Guess i should have posted this in the "topless Karaoke" thread.

Kelly

Skull sounds like it would work just fine in your area James especially since so many people know you and your reputation.

Just throwing this out there. How 'bout Jimi Black?

My wife picked a name for my show if I ever get it off the ground. The name came from a song but it's an expression that has been around for a long time so I'm not worried about steppin' on any toes. It's simple, just Stray Cat Karaoke. This would be different if I ever DJ an event but I don't see that happening. The name recognition would still be on Stray Cat and the logo would still be a cat howling. The one thing I can see being a problem is that many people hate cats, not just don't like but hate them. I like it.