About DJsanity...
A subdivision of Inland Northwest Stage Management (INWSM) primarily operated by R.L. Noble (Production Stage Manager of INWSM and President/CIO of RP&E), DJsanity brings to bear more than 15 years of entertainment, production, and DJ experience to create a focused centerpiece to any event.
Operating from a central location in the Pacific Northwest, DJsanity has been found driving the party from the sticks and boats (running off generators), to static structures and stages, operating at events ranging from paintball games, to live concerts, to church organization dances.
As an experienced emcee, DJsanity (aka R.L. Noble) serves as an entertainer to fit any event; as a DJ, the vast knowledge of music and experienced crowd-reading eye will bring your event the success it deserves.
Using ahead-of-the-curve equipment, techniques, knowledge, and testing, DJsanity brings to the table a solid, reliable system with capacitiy for any event.
The short version...
DJsanity uses audio server technology coupled with video, karaoke, and audio files to ride the technology wave and become an active party machine.
can you hear me now? good!
A
noteable example of DJsanity thought:
Mobile
Beat Issue 107 (May 2007 p 24)
Expanding Universe of Performance
Mike Ficher for Mobile Beat Magazine
DJs are opening their minds to the unusual and grasping a wider and wider
range of gig opportunities
The evolution of the mobile disc jockey into a mobile entertainer has reached
dimensions that even the most sage forecasters might not have envisioned yet
a decade ago!
Years past, the disc jockey’s roles were fairly straightforward and clear—provide
an on-site audio system and the ability to program audience-pleasing dance
music. Vocal aptitude—at least in the industry’s infancy in the early 1970’s—was
a bonus. Games were not even on the radar. Dance instruction was non-existent.
Interaction was generally limited to mingling with the guests if the host
graciously accorded a meal as part of the deal. My, how times have changed!
Back to the Future: DJs as Vaudevillians?
Today, the “plain” mobile disc jockey is virtually an aberration, like an
8-track player or vinyl records prominently featured in a home. The new paradigm
is the mobile entertainer, a multi-headed, multi-talented beast who can switch
at the call of the wild to a comic, dance instructor, games master, emcee,
prop fiend or music laureate with grace and often exceptional skill.
My, how we have returned to an old American art form—the new mobile entertainer
is the vaudevillian performer of old.
With the new, improved, redefined mobile entertainer, are gigs limited to
the rich buffet of wedding receptions and school dances? Not likely; as the
mobile entertainer has evolved into a multi-faceted performance animal via
out-of-the-box thinking, the types of gigs that mobile entertainers perform
might benefit from some creative re-assessment.
All the World’s a Stage
Back in the early 1990s, many entertainers—myself included—sought ways to
create more portable, flexible equipment configurations. While technology
certainly fueled the ability to pursue this angle, the primary driver originated
from the increasing number of facilities offering their space for events.
Art galleries, museums, touring yachts, private residences, gardens, and more
evaluated their settings and determined that their facilities might offer
something unusual, something personal, something more intimate than the utilitarian
function of classic halls and air-walled hotel spaces. And, the public agreed.
So, entertainers had to find ways to work without a defined stage area, to
access often ill-designed and cramped performance areas, to often work with
less, to re-assess what mobile meant. Thus, smarter, smaller, more adaptable
equipment configurations allowed entertainers to comfortably execute shows
in the growing number of facilities offering their space for events.
Climbing Out of the DJ Box
Much like the venues that expanded their view of what they offered to expand
their revenue stream, would you benefit by escalating your view of your services
to, perhaps, tap into unusual and different events for your entertainment
skills? Do you see yourself as solely a DJ or a versatile, well-rounded entertainer?
For instance, a couple of years ago, I served as systems engineer at Giants
Fantasy Camp for a week in Scottsdale, Arizona. 23 set-ups in seven days (bull
sessions, lunch time music, public address announcing at Scottsdale Stadium,
meet-and-greet with the ballplayers) created a fairly intense work schedule.
But the pay was respectable, the January sunshine wonderful and the opportunity
to horse around with former major league baseball players such as Vida Blue,
Darrell Evans, Tom Haller and Johnnie LeMaster was priceless.
Other entertainers have embraced the opportunities presented by non-traditional
events.
Terry Moran of Crown Entertainment, serving the greater New England area,
has spun at the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas (“Basically, the Grammys
of porn,” he reports), Fantasy Fest in Key West, and during bicycle week in
Laconia, New Hampshire for the past ten years. In addition, Moran and his
company spin and emcee at more than 100 trivia events at pubs around New England
annually. Oh, and Crown Entertainment also performs at 20 to 35 wedding receptions
each year.
Matt Bixby of Matt’s Entertainment, serving the Willamette Valley area of
Oregon, recently performed at a company party entitled “A Night of Games.”
“We did game shows all night that ranged from Let’s
Make a Deal to The Price Is Right to Family Feud,” noted Bixby. “No dancing
desired, but it was a scintillating success!”
Many, like Bixby, have embraced the transformation. “When I realized that
I was an entertainer and not ‘just a DJ’, it was a huge personal reinvention.
Now I focus so much harder on building a rapport with my guests before and
during the event so that I don’t think of them as strangers and there’s absolutely
no reason to be self-conscious or get stage fright.” Bixby even recently changed
his company name from “Williamette Valley DJ” to the more personable “Matt’s
Entertainment” to reflect his professional evolution. Bixby is actively marketing
for further game show opportunities.
Break On Through
The bottom line is the seeing yourself as “just a disc jockey” may limit the
types of events you may attract or the opportunities you might consider pursuing.
In my two decades as a mobile entertainer, I’ve secured work as a mobile DJ,
dancer, dance instructor, dance floor “plant,” MC, engineer, public address
announcer, character player, engineer, commercial spokesperson, voice actor
and radio air personality. Some gigs were a bit more unusual than others,
but all offered an opportunity to enhance my entertainment skills, keep my
excitement level fresh and earn money.
Wedding receptions and school dances may be the volume leaders in the mobile
entertainment industry. But, as more and more professionals are learning,
unusual gigs offer fun, engaging and innovative ways to secure business and
retain a fresh entertainment perspective. Certainly, the ride will be fun!
**Mobile DJ, dance instructor, emcee, voice actor, writer, teacher, and improv
comedian, Mike Ficher owns and operates Dance Express, based in Bend, Oregon.
A regular presenter and host at Mobile Beat conventions, Mike has been expanding
the public’s definition of mobile entertainer since 1986.**