When organising an event, one of the basic rules to get right is the guest to entertainer ratio. One Magician in a crowded ballroom of 1500 guests won’t even be noticed and there’s nothing worse than a Caricaturist suffering a hail of complaints upon leaving, after having drawn just 20% of the guests.
Quite simply; one Caricaturist or entertainer can cover around 60 guests in 2 hours, upto 90 guests in 3 hours. This is calculated by taking the average number drawn (one every 4-5 minutes) and doubling it, as the subject will show at least one other person; so TWO entertained! Most caricaturists will produce upto 15 drawings an hour, which entertain at least 30 punters. Therefore if you have an event with 120 guests and only two hours to fill with entertainment, I recommend TWO close up entertainers (Carix/Magix), not just one poor blighter, who will be shouted at and grabbed at with every turn.
1 Carix: 2 hours = 60 guests
1 Carix: 3 hours = 90 guests
Most events have a 50% take-up, the rest like to watch, however student events have a 99% take-up. So if you have a student ball with 150 guests who ALL have to be drawn, I recommend hiring THREE caricaturists for 3 hours to ensure no complaints!
I was recently hired to attend an event with around 150 drunk guests, for just two hours (including a break for speeches) which was a foolish proposition. I drew a maximum of 30 punters; two per table over fifteen tables, though some tables hogged my time and insisted on more drawings, thus giving other tables instant reason to complain. This was a no-win situation for me, as I would never keep all 15 tables happy and sure enough when my time was up, I faced a barrage of abuse from people who missed out on drawings and entertainment. Quite simply my client had woefully under estimated their entertainment needs and I was left to take the brunt.
This is an unfair situation, so please help avoid disgruntled guests by hiring the correct amount of entertainers for your event.
We all hate to see the end of a good thing, but spare a thought for your hard working caricaturist at the end of a booking.
Following a spate of horror stories forwarded to me by colleagues (and having had to deal with similar situations myself), I thought it was time to hi-light the problem of drunk punters at the end of the night. I recently had a colleague close to tears, after a drunk punter confronted him at the end of a performance, demanding to be drawn, then later complained to the client. This lead to the client filing a complaint and making libellous accusations on public forums, which all could have been avoided if all parties concerned had simply observed the following points:
Every performance must finish at some (agreed) point and many artists adhere to the timetable in order to make a second booking in good time. Caricaturists will usually shorten the queue in the last 30 minutes, so not to disappoint later arrivals or those who may miss out.
Your artist will aim to please the client and often offer flexibility on the day in order to keep people smiling. The last thing they want is a confrontation or complaint, it is their living after all.
Your caricaturist will remain professional, polite and sober at all times (unless you have hired a low budget option of course), though some of your guests may not.
The later the performance, the more chance there is that some of the guests will become drunk and less patient, especially when having to queue to be drawn or fed. These guests may take their rejection from a queue as rudeness and react with aggression.
Remember, any punter who claims they have been “waiting all night” can not possibly have been there longer than the caricaturist. In 3 hours a good caricaturist will draw through a queue of 40+ people, so most people waiting from the moment of the artist’s arrival will be drawn.
It is the client’s responsibility to put forward those who simply HAVE to be drawn, otherwise your caricaturist will do their best to draw all in the queue, no matter who.
Not everyone will be drawn, no caricaturist will promise this and in a group of 100 people, maybe 45 will be lucky in an average evening performance. This may lead to a few disgruntled punters, but a lot more happy ones.
As a caricaturist and entertainer I have to regularly deal with drunk, aggressive and violent punters at the end of every performance, despite my having been a roaring success all night and finishing at an agreed time. I always deal with such confrontations in a polite and professional manner, usually leaving smiles behind me. However I should have the right to finish my work in safety and without fear of reprisal or complaint.
With this in mind, I ask all those hiring a caricaturist for their event to spare a thought for the hard working artist, as they pack their pens away at the end of a night and perhaps give them a hand diffusing the punters who missed out on a free drawing that night. Maybe give them the benefit of the doubt the next time a punter moans about not having been drawn.
Spent a day in Birmingham on a photo shoot with photographer Julian Marment earlier this year, here are the results. Some great photos, but I won’t be giving up the day job to join Kate Moss on the glossies any day soon!!
I was overjoyed when my old university DMU asked me to lecture their animation students about caricatures, though a little scared! I was sure the students would know more about my subject than I did, so I spent a few days researching the basics; history, meanings, usage and contemporaries in the caricature world. I managed to put together a 78 slide lecture, covering how to see a caricature, how to create a caricature and the history of caricature, interlaced with demonstrations and volunteers to be drawn.
After much preparation, the day came and I made my way to the stunning Hugh Aston building, with my laptop and my drawing board, to be greeted by a handful of weary students. Numbers were a little disappointing, but I managed to keep them entertained for a good 90 minutes, followed by more drawing and Q&A.
Back in April I was filmed by Channel 4 for their show ‘Coach Trip’ where I helped the contestants draw each other. This was shown last night on UK prime time TV!
Amanda Holden invited me to entertain at her Hen ‘Pyjama’ Party in 2008, where I met and drew the cast of ‘Cutting It’ (BBC), which included Sarah Parish, Angela Griffin, Sian Reeves, Sally Spode and of course Amanda. How much fun can one guy have in a bedroom full of lovely pyjama-clad ladies? Much fun was had by all and many caricatures were drawn!
Last November I received the call from Brad Pitt’s PA, saying how much they loved my Pulp Fiction caricature and that they would like to commission me to draw Brad Pitt’s caricature for his 50th birthday gift!
I jumped at the chance and headed south to the set of his latest movie ‘FURY’, which was being shot in the UK. I spent the most exhilarating day with Brad and his film crew, on set, watching the explosions and drama unfold before the cameras, while I snapped a few shots and drew the crew’s caricatures.
I toiled away at the composition, which included his Personal Team (hairdresser, lookalike, PA, driver, dresser) for over a week and when it was finished I had the honor of presenting it to Brad Pitt on set on his birthday in December. Unfortunately he decided to shoot a ‘closed set’ on his birthday and so I did not get to see his reaction to the artwork, but he must’ve liked it because he asked for a copy of my Fight Club caricature poster too!!
Unfortunately I signed a non-disclosure waiver, which means that I cannot impart any details, but as I retain original copyright, I assume I can now share the caricature with the public.
It was a joy to be on set with Brad Pitt and an honor to be chosen as his caricaturist. Best day of last year for sure 🙂
