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I think it is finally taking it's toll. I KJ 3 nights a week, plus do private parties. Well I've decided no more private parties. I love my job, but if I'm going to keep from burning out completely I have to learn to say no. I've turn down 3 jobs for private parties this week. Summer seems to be the time they flourish. I feel bad saying no, but the idea of lugging my equipment around anymore makes me wince. Not to mention if I get the night off I'd like to keep it that way. I need to have a life too.

Have any of you cut back?

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If I were to do anything, i'd RATHER do private parties only.  I get burnt out on the clubs - been at the same one since '92 running 7 nights (I only work 4 now days), although you can't let it show you are burnt & granted most nights are not that bad, but you get a night or 2 per week that just drags & there aren't any good singers - this is when I wonder if I can keep doing the clubs.
Private parties are much more entertaining - and usually easier IMO.  Plus they pay MUCH better.  3-4x what a club pays in one night - at least if your billing yourself accordingly.

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Raise your prices and you will naturally cut back.....AND THE ONES THAT BOOK you won't mind doing !!!!

I quit altogether for about 6 months. When you reach the point where you are not getting any energy back from the crowd or singers then it is time to think about laying back.  If you can keep the crowd going it isnt too bad. I'm back now but training a very good host how to run the computer. I really dont want to host anymore.

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I had been doing three nights a week at the same bar for almost 3 straight years out of the five.  Then getting up and going to a regular job at 7:30 am.  About six months ago I started doing only 2 nights a week.  My club didn't like it all that much but I needed a break.  Besides he was able to hire another KJ for less money for that night.  The clubs nights aren't as good those nights now but I'm still alive and kicking the other two.

I agree with Lonman.  Private parties are more fun usually and do pay more.  My saving grace having been at the same place so many years now is I have a very talented bunch of diverse regulars.  Good enough that we get a certain amount of traffic from folks who just come to listen.

Kelly

here are some signs that you are beginning to get burned out.....

1) every question asked by anyone is an idiotic question
2) even your regular patrons get on your nerves
3) you find yourself not wanting to do your regular gig
4) you cannot break down and get out of there fast enough instead of hanging around chatting it up
....among others.  

I left KJing for about 3 years only yo be dragged back into it.  Maybe I was only kicking not kicking and screaming but these were the signs it was time to get out last time.....I find they are creeping up on me again.  Fortunately I have a capable replacement and fill in when i need to take a weekend off.

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All work and no play make Homer something something

a few years back I was doing 5 nights a week and holding down a full-time job. I did this for about 3 years and I reached burn out in the 2nd year. I finally had to hire a couple of KJ's to take over for me...it was either that or stop the gigs altogether so I found a good one to cover my Fri/Sat gig and another to cover my Wed/Thurs then I did my Monday gig. Wow what a relief!!  

Most folks that work a 40hr week have no idea what it is to work 65-70 and how much of a toll it takes on you and your personal life.  

After 3 years of hiring KJ's I no longer do it as the financial end of it just did not work out all that well for me. The paperwork and bottom line did not make it worth the extra effort. So I helped my Fri/Sat KJ out by turning it (the gig) over to him and selling him my 2nd system and then I discontinued Wed/Thurs gig as it was requiring me to fill in for the other KJ more than I cared to. Now I only do Mondays myself.

As it turns out getting rid of all those nights really did not make the financial impact I thought it would. Having to purchase new music for 3 systems and book reprints etc sucked alot of my $$$

I now do private parties and get premium $$$ for them. If you raise your prices on private functions you will book just as many, and sometimes get more bookings than you did before. So moving away from bars was a good move for me.

Have you considered hiring someone to fill in for you at the bar gig?

Private parties can be very lucrative and alot more fun.

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FlipSide Karaoke
Scott

It does sound like it would be more profitable to do private parties, but for me I don't believe that's true. The venue I'm at now allows me to leave my equipment setup, so I have no setup or teardown process everynight.

I'm lucky that my gig is five minutes from my house and I only have to plug in and turn on when I get there. My burnout stemmed mostly from having to setup and teardown. Without the private parties I no longer have to do that. I am so relieved!

I still love my job and most of my patrons, thank goodness.

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Then you hire someone you can rely on & teach them how to set up & hook up the equipment.  That's how I started - karaoke roadie/tech.  I got $20 for the setup/teardown plus gas if I needed to use my vehicle - no it's not alot - but at the time I was setting up, up to 4 systems per day 5-6 nights, and it allowed me to go play at the shows without dipping into my own cash.  We were allowed to leave the shows set up over night & I would go in the morning & move systems from one show to the next.

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babs, I concur you must not be charging enough for the private parties. Man, one of those checks is easily better than a whole week or more at a club... I don't mind the set up and tear down, mostly cause it's a totally different atmosphere, I get to mingle a LOT more with the partiers,  and rarely do I have five solid hours of karaoke!

That check in my hand and later in my bank really helped to alleviate the aches and pains! Yeah, I'd be dog tired, but instantly perk up at being able to eat thick steaks that night or the next day! !

Babs Do you have anybody that can fill in for you occassionally at your bar ?  Just curious, Day job, steadily working late at night I'd burnout (without even considering having to knockdown and setup early on a weekend day and prepare for a weekend private party), The nature of this stuff and it's hours gives you little sleep time in addition to a reg day job, and without getting substantial reimbursement making it worthwhile losing your weekend rest, seems you wouldn't have much incentive.. These late night gigs have a way of beating us slowly down over time assuming as soon as we get to put our heads on a pillow, it's 4 hours til the alarm goes off for the primary income.. Sleep becomes pretty valuable...Now since I'm no KJ I don't know, but if you had a friend who'd fill in once in awhile somebody you can trust it seems as others have said, passing up a night or two at the bar might be worth it if you charged your worth at the private gigs. I can see a sliding scale for close friends and relatives etc.. But private pays well, if you had a fill-in, you'd be able to take a breather when necessary. Even take a sick day or two without having to stress about it.  When younger working double-shifts wasn't out've the norm, but as we get older this stuff gets more tiresome.  Save yourself for the next step in life... You know,  Bingo, Watching soaps in the lobby of the facility, Arts and Crafts when the recreation director comes tuesdays and thursdays, having to dodge out've the way when we older folks from the north wing chase down the nurses in our diapers calling them mommy, etc


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Is it KJ burnout, or the schedule and hours that over a longer term take their toll on most that work day jobs, bars until close a few nights a week, etc.  Those are LONG hours.  Easier to keep when I was younger, and more into certain things,  the bar atmosphere can get really boring night after night sober. Not to mention depressing. It had it's place, being around people that've been drinking alone for any period when I'm tired is too much like watching kindergartners,  They are annoying much of the time, immature, I realized awhile ago that I outgrew the mentality of MOST of the singles bars even in my late 30's. I could only stomach these places infrequently.
Places like Borders or B&N where people are sober fine, but being around alcohol when you don't drink just isn't at all stimulating, it's the opposite IMHO.. Job or no job, it's just dismal much of the time.  Makes me glad I gave up the juice all-together after 5 minutes in a bar that is semi-crowded on a weekend night. (yeah I know, sounds snobbish, and I know it's a job, but still... Not the best atmosphere for intellectual or emotional exhilaration.

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Thanks Kappy

I'm good now. Cutting out the private parties elliminates setup and teardown. That was my main problem. I dreaded it.

I do have someone to fill in for me, but I use him very seldom. He'll be taking over one night when I'm on vacation this summer. I can't wait!

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Depending on your type of relationship with this individual rather than turn down a private event, why not cohost a few with him ?  Let him help you knock down and setup (assuming of course he's willing). Or, rather than passing up an event,  Assuming you wish to not do an event yourself let him do the event using your equipment and take a cut yourself.  Word of mouth from people that are happy at private parties can get lots of publicity !  As stated these are the money makers, why pass ANY up assuming you request pay that's commensurate with such events.
Rather than pass it up, ask for slightly higher pay, if they say yes seems you benefit.
I know setting up and knocking down sucks..  When I was on the road, I used to try using the line... "I can't lift those, I have a birth defect making my arms disproportionally short for the circumference of my torso".  Problem is even the drummer didn't buy that excuse.   I hated helping carry Altec VOTT bins, and bass folded horn cabs weighing well over 300-400 lbs, and 100 lb amp heads.. blech..  This was during sunrise alot of the time too.. horrible hours.  Hammond organ without knicking the thing was no piece of cake either... But for a woman, even lifting todays solid state stuff is no fun,  even if the woman can beatup guys.

JMHO..

<new years resolution,  Kappy stay out've ALL threads that have the term KJ in the title, you do not belong in such threads>

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

actually Babs, I leave mine set up for the most part as well...and the bar is literally around the corner from the house.  i could walk if i so desired.  my burn out comes from seeing the same people drinking the same drinks, getting just as drunk as they did last weekend and being just as obnoxious as they always are, hitting on the same girls they did last week....hell even wearing the same clothes they did last week.  
i know most of my patrons on a personal level.  i know about their jobs, families, etc and my burnout comes from watching these people do absolutely nothing with their lives.  i guess i get disheartened that most of them dont even WANT to try to better themselves.  that and i don't like stupid people.  there's a difference between stupid and ignorant.  ignorance i can tolerate, but stupid is just that, stupid.  
like the comedian ron white said "you can't fix stupid".

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All work and no play make Homer something something

I understand your pain. There always seems to be that lot of people that get on your nerves.

My crowd changes over from time to time. I always have a few new faces to make things interesting. I do have those nights though that I just don't want to be at work, but it's a job, it's not supposed to fun all the time. What job is? I just try to remember I get paid well and the next night I work I could have a great time that makes up for a bad night.

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[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

that's what keeps em going as well........that and the possibility that the next hottie that walks in may actually be interested in me!

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All work and no play make Homer something something

Yep,  Got to the point that I lacked incentive to give it my all most of the time when the bar crowd consisted of 4 or 5 slovenly drunken creatures that were wallowing in their own martini oblivious to anything and everything.  Just trying to knock themselves out in the days DUI didn't exist.  Quite common.  Bars were often the epitome of depressing places, losers clubs, etc.    Some bars were great places too though,  all depended.  But some crowds were tough to want to please because they didn't give a )$*( whether you were there or not.

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

i guess the worst part of it is i'd like to consider some of these folks friends, but i can't get past the fact that they are not motivated to do anything.  one guy even changes jobs just about weekly because he doesn't want to go home and sleep so he can wake up in time.  he's even gone to jobs still drunk from the night before.  for the most part i try not to get inolved, but sometimes i can't help it.  i truly do care about my customers.

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All work and no play make Homer something something

One of the roads I traveled was I hitch hiked from the east coast to the west coast and bummed all the way. Back then I knew how to go into a new town and knew who to ask which church would give you $20 and where the missions were. I met some of the best people in the world both homeless and those providing care. Sometimes I would volunteer at a mission and give counseling to addicts and alcoholics. During this trip which was one of the roads that I needed to travel I leaned life and what things are important.

Since then I have picked up kids on the highway gave them a few bucks and hauled them to the mission. We did karaoke in a bar sundays for years A kid started coming in and he would sing songs with emotion and you could tell he was getting a release from stress. About the third week I approached him and he admitted he was living under the bridge over the poudre river about 4 blocks up the road I said son meet me here about noon tomorrow. I took him down to good will and bought him some clothes got him in the mission and soon he had a job and was turning his life around. I havnt seen him since 99 but he was sitting on a bar stool crying and saying thank you.

Half of karaoke is public relations and knowing how to have tolerance for drunks and you cant judge them One of the advantages I have I spent many years on shore patrol leaning how to control and deal with drunks in a fair way We were in a port one night when half the drunks were just back from nam. So karaoke singers dont get to me very much. And I probably let them get away with more crap than kj's here but at a certain point I sat NO One look into my eyes and they know stop.

In a small rural area or town the regulars have known each other all their life and have sang together for years. We dont have drunk problems at our shows and I have a very strong bond with my regulars whom some I known for 10 years or more.

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f

They might be friends Steve.  While I like my friends personalities, some still need to grow up, some aren't strong enough to grow,  There are others that have an alcohol induced "wet" personality, and I don't have to like that aspect at all.  What's to like about "wet brains" ?   Many that chronically drink and hang at bars getting drunk every night intellectually know this too about their drunken behaviour, they know they are idiots when drinking.  They know they've killed braincells that'll never repair themselves.

Hence, the problem in many bars. You see a prevalence of that "alcohol" induced stupidity.  Since I've been there, done that, almost died from it, and didn't emerge unharmed.  I'm not overly tolerant of it.. Especially when the rollercoaster is always the same, and you can read these peoples altered personalities so easily.  It's like watching a rollercoastering of emotion and BS..
If I want to speak to people that are anesthetized,  I might as well get a job sitting with people in a post-op recovery room (coming out've ether, or other general sedation) because there's really little difference in the state of doped-upness ! And, at least those in the recovery room want to survive and deal with their life for the most part.   JMHO..   The substance is still ethyl-alcohol, it puts people to sleep.  Drunks don't grow up, (they remain stunted assuming they drink constantly).

I suppose my point is Steve, NOTHING wrong with getting burnt-out being around burnt out unmotivated people that have a few too many as a ritual when it's obvious they aren't coping with life.  Those working around it often are just watching reruns of the diurnal " poor me show". There is very little in life more depressing to watch !  So to take some of that experience to heart, isn't wrong when you're a caring person !

There's really nothing fun, stimulating, or invigorating for a person who's sober, HAS been sober for a long time, to return into an environment where his (used to be) "drinking buddies" are 50 going on 17, only difference is they look decrepid, half dead, and they can't figure out why the 18 year old girls and all others are repulsed by their mannerismns,  they really haven't grown at all !  PATHETIC is a good word for this type thing !  World gets older and goes on without these folks, many still live in the days of the HS football popularity, nothing more ever came of them.  No interests, nothing else to talk about, no incentive to live in the here and now..

(Sort've like me and the digital world)  LOL

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I suppose it's no wonder why when many go "straight" which doesn't just mean stop drugging, but decide they can't drink, they often find they have very little in common with their ex-drinking buds.  All they ever had in common was often as little as "Getting schitfaced and trying to score", even though the last time they might've scored was 1974.  Similarly I had the same prob in 1986  (not regarding scoring, the last time I did that was around 1974) but regarding when I quit smoking, it was a similar situation regarding changing many friendships.  Had to cultivate new friendships that suited quite a different lifestyle..

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".