June Performer Spotlight - Maximum Velocity

This month we highlight Maximum Velocity an action sports stunt team whose shows can be customized for nearly any venue and budget.

Maximum Velocity consists of athletes who perform stunts on freestyle bikes, in-line skates, and skateboards. The show can be performed on a variety of hard surfaces including asphalt, concrete and yes even wood gym floors. The team provides it all box jumps, half pipes, quarter pipes, street spines and more turning your venue into an action sports mecca. In the event your venue has a grass or dirt surface a wood runway can be built for the athletes.

The show provides a sound system, professional announcer, the athletes, equipment and is fully insured. There are several shows to choose from depending on your budget, venue and the length of show your would like to have. Some show options include the Box Jump show and the Street Course show.

All new this year, by popular demand, Maximum Velocity has added a Dirt Jump Show to their line up featuring BMX bikes and two dirt jumps. The team will work with your facility to built a proper course for the riders.

Maximum Velocity has performed successfully at theme parks, fairs, National Night Out, New Year's Eve events, festivals, corporate picnics and halftime shows. Just this winter Maximum Velocity was featured on an episode of ABC's Extreme Home Makeover where they assisted in the demolition phase of a project home.

Maximum Velocity also offers a package for non-profit groups to use as a fundraising event that can be held indoors or out. Suitable venues would be skate-parks, basketball courts, hockey rinks (no ice), etc. This fundraiser is perfect for PTO's, school groups, or any organization looking to attract or raise money for projects involving young people.

Call us for a proposal to suit or needs and budget or for details on the fundraising show।

January 2010 In Review

Happy New Year, January is always a slow month event wise but very busy as far as bookings, inquiries and proposals.  We have been very busy putting together proposals for events around the world including Hong Kong and England. 

We have also spent January meeting committees here in the Northeast who have been busy preparing their events.  Some of the most popular entertainment this year so far have been circuses, western entertainment, actions sports, animal shows and magic acts who carry their own stages.  Its going to be another big year for local events and "stay-cation" venues!

We visited the Maine Association of Fairs Convention on January 29 & 30th.  We saw most of the fairs from the great state of Maine including Houlton, Northern Maine Fair, Oxford County, Windsor, Union, Fryeburg, and Bangor to name just a few of the wonderful fairs in Maine.  We spent a lot of time on the trade show floor on Friday and Saturday.  Geoff Carleton of the Maximum Velocity stunt team spent much of the weekend with us, Geoff's show features BMX bikes, in-line skaters, and skate boarders.  They were recently featured on Extreme Home Make Over.

We also spent some time in the hospitality suite of Central Maine Pyrotechnics hosted by Steve and Carol Marsden and their crew.  Always a wonderful time!  Central Maine Pyrotechnics produces some of the best fireworks shows in New England, with a professional staff and outstanding prices. 

Somehow the Maine Fair Convention always seems to take place the coldest weekend of the year and this year was no exception.  We left on Thursday evening and hit 50 mile per hour winds, white out snow squalls, and black ice along the way, our 3 hour trip turned into 5 1/2 hours.  Fun, fun, fun.  We are so looking forward to heading back to Maine during fair season when its 75 degrees and sunny (of course it will be!).

Since its a little quiet right now event wise I thought this month would be a good time to bring you a few tips to help you bring the best possible event to your patrons this year:

1) Buy entertainment for your patrons not for your committee.  Look at whose coming (or who you want to come) what are their ages, do they have children, how old are the children?  You want to entertain your patrons so that they stay longer and patronize your vendors you also want to attract people to your event.  Ask the good folks who come year after year what they want to see and ask those who haven't been coming what kind of entertainment would bring them to your event.

2) Ask us what is rout-able to your event!  Acts who are traveling through your area are going to be more affordable than an act who is going to have to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to make the event.

3) Have a budget in mind or at least a price you would like to stay below.  Acts can range in price from a few hundred dollars per day to several thousand dollars depending on what they do and what they bring with them.  To get what you want and not to be disappointed by what you can't afford please have a budget in mind when asking for a proposal. 

Here are a few ideas to entertain through the ages:

Children 7 &; under:   The Bravo Brothers, Debbie O'Carroll's Magic, Dan Grady's Marionettes, Dragon Scales and Fairy Tales, The Imagination Movers and the Backyard Circus.

Children 8 and up:  Horses, Horses, Horses, Kachunga and the Alligator, Maximum Velocity, Bwana Jim's Wildlife Show, The Lucky Show. 

Teens:  Maximum Velocity, Winn's Thrill Shows, the Skyriders and of course the music act of the moment!

Families:  The Flying Wallendas, the Flying Pages, Nergers Tigers, Johnny Peers and the Muttville Comix, Magically Medieval, Mutts Gone Nuts, the Magic of Lance Gifford & Co. and the Anastasini Circus.

Seniors:  Chuckwagon Mac Tales of the Old West, Darren presents the Music of Elvis, and the Neil Diamond Tribute.

Let us know who you want to entertain we'd be happy to make a suggestion!  Make the best of February we will be through it before you know it!

November 2009 in Review

Well November is the month when things begin to slow down as far as events but it is also the month where things really heat up booking wise for 2010. And November did heat up literally here in the Northeast as temperatures all November were above normal and overall warmer than the month of October (last month).

We began November with an appearance by magician Matt Roberts at the West Warwick Flea Market on Sunday the first.

Gordon took a ride into Providence to meet with Pat Butler who is from Northern California and works with musicians. Pat was in Providence as the tour manager for the bands Sledd with Tesla who was performing at Lupos.

On Friday the 6th we headed over to the Courtyard in Marlboro for the set up and opening of the Massachusetts Agricultural Fair Association (MAFA) annual meeting and trade show. Gordon is on the Board of Directors as the representative for the Associate Members (which include talent agents, talent, buyers agents, sound companies, midway operators, etc). We brought over a couple of donations for the gift bags, chips from Cape Cod Potato Chips, and CD samplers from our marketing division MacKay Marketing.

On Saturday the 7th was the annual trade show for MAFA and Gordon also moderated the panel "Entertainment Contacts" where he, Diana Ammon of Atlantic Music Productions, and Rich of Sounds by Rich were all guest speakers. The tradeshow was busy as it usually is when it is held in the middle of the state since it is so accessible for the fairs from across the state. It was nice to see there the great people from the Spencer Fair, the Dennis and Charlene O'Brien, Allan and Priscilla Walker, Ann and Dave Whigham as well as Heather and Pam. We also saw the committee from Yankee Doodle Days, the Topsfield Fair, the Big E, Chuck Felix from the Adams Fair, the Martha's Vineyard Fair, the Marshfield Fair, the Cummington Fair, Bruce Shallcross from the Three County fair, the McCarthy's from Barnstable County Fair and I hope I didn't forget anyone.

We had a nice lunch over at the 99 Restaurant with Harold Fera of Rockwell Amusements and Diana Ammon of Atlantic Music Productions. After lunch the Breeders Cup races were on television and the lounge at the Marriot was kind enough to give us the remote control so we didn't miss a beat. Of particular interest was the Breeders Cup Juvenile where Dogwood Stables had Aikenite entered (alas it wasn't his day) and who wasn't tuned in for the Classic where the great filly Zenyatta ran what may have been the race of her life against the boys to become the only filly in history to win this great race. We enjoyed watching many of the races with Carlton Chandler of the Marshfield Fair, a racing fan himself, whose fair had live racing for many years, where I myself saw my first live horse race as a child. Oh yeah did I mention there was a trade show going on between races (of course).

David Garrity performed at the West Warwick Flea Market on Sunday the 8th. We had a lot of unpacking of the trade show materials and packages to send out.

On the 14th Gordon braved the elements to pay a visit to the lovely island of Martha's Vineyard for a consultation with the local fair committee. The island is only accessible by ferry or airplane. And on Sunday Chuckles the Kids Comic performed at the West Warwick Flea Market.

Gordon headed out to the Massachusetts State House on Monday the 16th to testify at a hearing on proposed legislation to ban the use of the ankus in the trade of elephant handling. This would included all elephants in or visiting the state at zoos, education shows and circuses. Also some handlers do not use an ankus, however, it is the prescribed tool by the USDA and has been time tested for over a 1,000 years of man working with elephants. This is nothing more than a petty attempt by animal rights activists and armchair animal experts to stop elephants from coming to Massachusetts. Members of the afore mentioned MAFA were there including Cummington, North Adams, Spencer, Heath and the Big E, as well as circus fans, Bob Commerford of Commerford and Sons Zoos and representatives of Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. The reason the activists are using to attempt to ban the ankus is that they say it can be used as a weapon, and as history has proven so can a baseball bat, a tire iron, a frozen turkey, a car, and most recently a golf club. Where would we stop at banning items which can be misused as weapons, really?!

On Sunday the 29th Maximum Velocity joined Ty Pennington and the crew of ABC's Extreme Home Makeover to make a families dream come true. They set up their ramps and performed jumps inside and outside of the home about to be demolished in New Hampshire using both BMX bikes as well a motorcross bikes. The young boy in the family they were helping was a huge fan of extreme sports.

On Sunday night Gordon left for the IAFE tradeshow in Las Vegas. The tradeshow opened on Monday night the 30th, where he worked with Giovanni Anastasini and had several meeting set for the next few days. He had the opportunity to see the Sandloffers of the Great American Frontier Show, Paul Shoeber of Erie County Fair, Bill and Lotta Carpenter from the Midway Caravan and Wayne McCary and Greg Chieko of the Big E to name a few.

More excitement to come in the December review. To be continued . . .