BillyBanana.info

It is a nightmare thought for many parents….the hall has been booked, the entertainer hired, party bags organised and the games sorted out.  Then disaster… the entertainer or his wife calls to say the he is ill and cannot make the party. 

Professional entertainers will have a very good reason if they cannot make a function because their living is heavily dependent on their reliability.  If they simply have a cold or even the flu, they will still arrive if they are capable of doing so.

However, contrary to what some people may think, entertainers are only human.  They do become ill, they do have accidents and they are as susceptible as all of us to getting stuck in traffic jams.

 I remember a few years ago an entertainer in my area slipped and broke his hip, at his busiest time of the year.  It was obvious he could not work for several weeks and his wife quickly let all his clients know that he was out of action.  Was there any sympathy  for the performer in his plight?  After all. the poor man didn’t cancel his bookings because he wanted to, he simply had no choice.  No there wasn’t, the clients his wife contacted were rude and downright nasty when she called.  They virtually accused them of deliberately breaking his hip so that he would not have to do the show.  How ridiculous can you get?  Other entertainers did their best to help out, but since it was a very busy period, most of them were fully booked as well.

 On the other side of the coin, it has to be said, there are some (not all) semi-pros out there, who have no problem at all about cancelling a booking because they don’t feel like doing it.

I had one lady call me a few years back who had booked an entertainer.  He called her on the morning of the party to say he could not make it because…..wait for it….HE HAD TO TAKE HIS WIFE SHOPPING.  I sincerely hope that particular ‘entertainer’ did not last for long. 

I know it is tempting, especially if the budget is tight, to book a cheap entertainer. For your own peace of mind though, do check that the performer is reliable.  A cheap entertainer is very expensive if they don’t turn up on the day, leaving you with twenty or thirty children to entertain and and you have nothing prepared.

To be truthful, you are much safer hiring an entertainer who costs a bit more and is professional than going for the cheaper and possibly not reliable, alternative.

In my next blog, I will give you some practical tips to deal with a party on your own if your entertainer is going to be late or cannot make it.

 Bye 4 now

BB

www.BillyBanana.com

When an entertainer cannot accept a possible engagement because he is already booked, some people ask him to recommend someone else, seemingly overlooking the fact that they are asking him (or her) to give work to a competitor.  Many entertainers are, quite understandably, are reluctant to do that.

 There are several reasons why an entertainer will not recommend another.

 Besides commercial considerations, the main one is this…suppose an entertainer recommends a competitor and that competitor goes out and has a bad day, resulting in a poor quality performance, the booker will blame the entertainer that suggested him.

 Conversely, if the new entertainer does a brilliant job, the booker will hire him again instead of the original.  Either way the original entertainer loses out.

 I had a personal experience of this during a recent Christmas Season.  A lady rang in desperate need of a performer for the busiest day of the year, the last day of term for many schools and playgroups.  I don’t know why she was booking so late, only a week before the booking.

Unfortunately I could not help her because I had been fully booked for months.  Shortly after speaking to her, another entertainer called to say a booking had been cancelled at the last minute.  Thinking I was doing two people a good turn, I called the lady back to let her know that the other person was now available.

I did not recommend the other performer because I had never seen his show, I just let her know that he was available.   He got the booking.  About ten minutes after the end time of the engagement, my mobile rang and it was the booker, furious with me because, as she put it, I had recommended a rubbish entertainer.  I pointed out to her that I had not said he was a good entertainer; simply that he had become available.  Unfortunately she did not accept that and so my good deed had backfired big time putting my own reputation on the line!

 When I spoke to the entertainer to find out what had gone wrong, he blamed the venue, the people at it and just about anything else he could think of to try and clear his own name.

 Needless to say, I will never ever give that so-called entertainers telephone number to anyone ever again!

 So please, don’t ever ask an entertainer to recommend one of his rivals!

 Best wishes

BB

 www.BillyBanana.com