welcome to variety + circus gig exchange via Scot Nery

It’s a place for unwanted or hard to cast gigs.

Entertainers find exciting gigs… Bookers find entertaining people. We make it the right fit.

Join Our Facebook Group

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How to Join

If you’re new to our group, follow these simple steps to become a member:

1. Click the “Join Our Facebook Group” button above.
2. Log in to your Facebook account.
3. Answer the membership questions to help us understand your expertise.
4. Wait for admin approval (usually within 24 hours).

Once approved, you’ll have full access to post and respond to gig opportunities.

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How to Post a Gig

post a gig opportunity:
the goal is to put in as much detail as you can so that people feel they can imagine their way through the work and they feel comforted and ready to contact the booker.

1. Join the Gig Exchange Group as described above.
2. Navigate to the “Create Post” section.
3. Provide detailed information about the gig, including:
   • Event type and theme
   • Date and time
   • Location
   • Number of guests
   • Performance details
   • Compensation and provided amenities
4. Include contact information for submissions.
5. Review and post your gig opportunity.

Post a Gig Now

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Example Casting Breakdown

HOLIDAY PARTY For staff of The Los Angeles Natural History Museum

• Date: Dec 13
• Location: Natural History Museum (La Brea Tar Pits)
• Theme: Circus Themed
• Time: 5:15 – 7:15pm (Call time 4:15pm)
• Guests: 250 guests in 5000 sq ft
• Provided: Parking, prop storage, private bathroom, 1 meal
• Requirements: Must have proof of COVID vaccine
• Wardrobe: Circus / Carnival / Steampunk
• Rate: $xxx/2hrs for each performer (for kids and adults)
• Casting Deadline: Monday Dec 4, 10am
• Roles Needed:
  • CLOSE UP MAGICIAN – Walking around the event and doing tricks for small groups of guests. Looking a little circus-y is a bonus.
  • TWO STILT WALKERS – Looking circus-y and having fun interacting with the guests.

To submit for this job, send an email to whatever@booker.com. Please send a photo and a few-line resume (just three to five career highlights). Also, let me know your break schedule for a gentle two-hour gig.

Creating a detailed casting breakdown helps performers understand the gig fully and ensures a smooth hiring process. It shows that we value their time and effort, fostering trust and professionalism.

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Why Use Scot Nery Gig Exchange?

Our Gig Exchange Group is dedicated to connecting talented entertainers with exciting opportunities. Whether you’re a magician, stilt walker, or any other type of performer, our community provides a platform to find gigs that match your skills and interests. One person’s trash is another ones treasure. Dump unwanted gigs here.

By joining our group, you’ll benefit from:

• Access to a wide range of gig opportunities
• Networking with event organizers and other performers
• Support and resources to enhance your career
• Exclusive tips and best practices for successful performances
• The good mojo of getting your peers more work

Join us today and take your entertainment career to the next level!

Join Now

Feelings

To me, feelings are things that pop up and can go away just as fast.

Modes

Other things are longer lasting and stronger. They usually come about as a result of our effort – wallowing or affirming.

Depression, for example, in me can be the result of a chemical imbalance or of me trying to hold on to a narrative I don’t like. I’ve experienced a lot of it.

Feeling wheel edited

I’ve gotten good results from using this 6 feeling feeling wheel to identify my feelings. I’ve put stars on the things that I think are not usually feelings, but are usually closer to modes. Most modes can be escaped via a physiological state change and a mindset change.

How to…

We can have a state change using drugs, extreme temperatures, breathing, exercise and some other stuff.

We can have a mindset change with mental novelty (like watching a movie), meditating, journaling, talking to someone.

If I’ve got one of these, i usually feel in control of it.

• Shame
• Fulfillment
• Depression
• Anxiety

there’s no way to control feelings

When I start working with someone. I take inventory. I want to know what they have. I want us to be on the same page about what we have to monetize. If I were to work to sell pencils for a company, I’d want to know how many pencils they have in stock, ready to go.

This became really clear to me when I started working for a company that was in a major change. They had dozens of employees, yet had just had a major downsizing, so the CEO was in charge of a lot of stuff suddenly. I was trying to make marketing materials. While the boss was in charge of important meetings and big things at the company, I was also texting him to get the Youtube password. There was a ton on his shoulders because the organization didn’t have a clear organization of assets. They had a style guide, they had photos, they had lots of things, yet they weren’t organized in a way that a person like me could access them.

This happens with freelancers also. Sometimes a thing like a list of past clients has never been constructed. Sometimes it takes a year to get video files over to an editor.

I learned this lesson, and still, my employees get a message from me occasionally saying “Oh yeah, I did this thing a year ago…” or “I have this half-finished project”

It is worth our time sometimes to organize what we have. It helps us individually to see the value we have, and it helps us to scale and to be ready for outside help.

Take action : if you don’t have one, get a password manager app

In examining the lives and work of so many creatives, it’s obvious that human beings of all drives and ambitions and personality types feel most fulfilled when they’re being used. I mean being used fully. The more an activity exploits all aspects of a person, the more they feel valued.

It works the same from the outside. When a job position or a relationship requires someone’s complicated pile of assets, the person in the job position or relationship is more valued.

When Taco Bell hires someone to show up and follow directions, that person is using a very small part of themselves — mostly their presence. The work is not fulfilling and is not worth paying more than minimum wage.

When Ryan Gosling is hired, It’s the special cocktail that is everything Ryan that makes him get paid so much and that makes him enjoy his work.

“Exploitation” seems criminal

The problem with this word and words like it like “being used” is that they are often seen as one-sided. A person in power is exploiting a person weaker.

If we seek instead to have mutual exploitation, we can get more out of every relationship than the sum of the parts. We can have extremely fulfilling and productive collaborations that change the world. The best performances that I’ve had were because I there were parts of me used and energy in me used and discovery in me that was rare.

We can seek this rare gift of mutual exploitation with a generous spirit. Knowing that getting the best out of someone is also GIVING THEM the best of themselves.

An easy gig sounds nice. What’s really nice is a gig that feels easy because it comes out so naturally. A gig that taps in to our strengths and history in a way that flows.

Money is the same

maybe the question comes up when money comes into the picture… what’s mutual about getting paid? People really like to buy things that are great. There’s probably something that you can think of that you really like purchasing. It feels good to spend good money on something incredible. So, risking our money is just as much a part of this flow as risking our reputation or our knowledge of 18th century self-help in Poland. It’s a unifying of resources to make something great.

Take action : figure out how you can give more of yourself to your next project.

It’s the call to action.

We wrap up our proposals with a request for action. We have nothing left to say except “do this!” The recipient already knows why and they have a picture of what will happen if they mobilize. Now, we put the button in front of them and tell them to depress it.

The call is simple.

A pill that can fix my back is better than a stretching regimen. How simple can we make this next step. Hopefully it’s only one thing to do. It’s easy and it’s fun.

The call is rewarding.

Hopefully, we’ve already clarified what’s going to happen and it’s going to be a dream come true. “just reply to this email saying ‘it is on’ and I’ll take all this off your hands”

The call is now.

We’re trying for the next step to be immediate. They can pull the trigger and we can give them something right away.

Take action: think of something you’ve asked someone to do — maybe a proposal that hasn’t gotten a reply – and ask them to do something in a better way.

In the LOOTERS format, we have already talked about the objectives and how we’re going to make it happen. The idea of getting back to the results is that the cost has been stated. We want everyone involved to focus on the results and not on the math. The math is not the important thing. Math is based on a highly distorted, cognitive view of our reality. Math carries the deception that it’s concrete and safe. If we put cost before desire, we’d get nothing and achieve nothing big.

So, the order of the way we think best is…

1. do i want a rad hat that makes me look cool, protects me from the sun, will make me look like i belong at Coachella, is easy to clean and pack?
2. it’s $76
3. I’ll be able to have a great time with my friends and have confidence to meet new people and dance

The results part of the proposal is a quick description of what happens at the end. It summarizes the objectives and reflects confident success. It’s a promise.

The scope of work / effort shows how it’s done. The results are what the customer gets.

Take action : think about a way you were misunderstood in the past month.

What was a promise you could have made that would have been exciting to everyone and fulfillable?