Karaoke Forums

when can we do a karaoke KJ swap like those wife swap shows?

man, we need to pitch this to cable tv

this is not to put down anybody or to teach anyone a lesson but to get folks out of their comfort zones

but it's gotta be for real. not with 2 similar KJs but 2 KJs from very different venues & styles

I've done that on occasion with a couple kj's I know in the area that we can trust not to try to snipe our show.

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Put me anywhere. I will run the show the same as I always do.

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

interesting...i don't know if i could say that.

I think successful KJ's have to be chameleons. Even if they work only one location, but especially of they work multiple venues. Different bars have different vibes and different crowds. A KJ has to adapt to that.

I have covered for others and others have covered for me. But only because there was a need, not just for the heck of it. I don't see the point of doing it "just because". I think to much drama would ensue when doing it for the heck of it.

_________________
-Chris

I have lots of KJs fill in for me that are perfectly successful at their venues, but crash and burn at my venue, mostly because they "run the show the same they always do." My owner even complains that I need to find good KJs to fill in, and I tell him that my fill ins ARE good KJs, they aren't suited to my venue the same way I am.

When I go fill in for these other guys, BTW, I tailor my show to suit the venue, and get lots of compliments. The other bar owners insist that I'm the first call for a fill in at a couple other venues. In particular, I fill in alot at a honkeytonk type country bar, and my bi-weekly show caters to 20 something hip-hop fans, so obviously, they can't be the same.

I think you can keep the technical portions of your show intact at a different venue, but you definitely have to cater to the venue with things like filler music and the way you talk to the patrons.

If you think your show would work at ANY venue, you certainly haven't been challenged by one like mine!

_________________
C Mc
KJ, FL

I agree with Smoothedge. In my case, I have my own style of running a show that I've perfected after many years of experience. OK, maybe not perfect but it's what works for me. So, basically I will do what I do anyplace... which is to provide quality entertainment and a fun atmosphere for all.

As far as swapping, it's never gonna happen with me because I've never seen a KJ in my area who I feel is at least equal to what I do and the quality show that I put on. Swapping with a bad one, can only destroy what you've worked hard to establish. Another stupid question.

_________________
Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

Not really a stupid question. I know several kj's that work at the others shows often - either filling in or just trading off a night. What do you do if you're sick or on vacation, just close the show for those nights.
If anything it gives other an appreciation for what they have in a kj (unless the other is that much better than you and you worry).

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

There COULD be some potential for this out here. Evidently they have karaoke at The Moonlight Bunny Ranch. We could switch a baby boomer, clean show host with an anything goes, pole dancing, naked ladies singing host and see what happens.

When I say I would run it the same way at any bar, I meant I am who I am, and I have my own personality. I don't change that. What I do change is my music depending on the crowd at hand. I am not going to play hip hop all night in a country bar, for example. It also changes the songs I sing. At my friday show, there tend to be older people there. I won't sing Metallica and Judas Priest. I will sing Billy Joel, Dean Martin, and more bluesy stuff. I save the heavier stuff for my fill in show, which is a more rock and metal oriented crowd. I am starting a new show tomorrow night. I know the place well. It is a rock PALACE!! This is going to be fun!!

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Well you'd also have to adapt to the bar IF they had any kind of 'language' restriction.

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

I already do, and have.

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

I have never "swapped" but I have on many occasions filled in for some one and they have filled in for me. But we have never swapped. The only reason for the "filling in" was because I, or they, couldn't do the show that evening. What would be the purpose of a swap anyway... to confuse your audience?

Sign me up. Sounds like fun

This weekend I have a fellow KJ filling in for me on Saturday. She has a couple folks that work for her and she is sending one of them to run the show. This will be the 9th time they have covered for me since Jan 1st. They bring their own gear and run their own style of show. I pay them my rate plus $50. It is a great arrangement and I am perfectly happy with it as are they. No friction, and the show goes on.

_________________
-Chris

I'm a bit confused here. You pay this Fill-in more than what you would make for the show if you were running it? Or, when you refer to "My Rate," do you mean the rate that you pay your KJs for the gig (which would be less than what you actually make if you were running the show)?

You got it right. I pay them My Normal Rate + $50. So they get paid more than I would get paid. I take a hit, but.....

They are doing me a favor, so I show my appreciation for it.
Also, not that I am too concerned with it, I also consider it insurance against sniping the gig. Why would they try to take it from me if they get paid more for filling in?

_________________
-Chris

I would think that the creator of a "reality show" would be counting on just that!!!

Playing Devil's Advocate here.... Let's say you are making $200 a night for that show. You ask this person to fill-in for you once in a blue moon (for whatever reason when you can't be available to run the show yourself), and you pay her $250 to do so. Now, let's say this is a weekly gig on Monday nights, and you only use this person once each month. That person might start to think that he/she would only get $150 for that show if he/she had booked it, so why not steal it from you by undercutting you, and then he/she would be making $600 a month instead of $250 for that weekly gig.

Not everyone in the world is without honor. I have been running my friends gig as a fill in since 2005. I would never think of taking the show from him, UNLESS he decided to retire. Then, if they offered it to me, I would be foolish NOT to take it.

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE