I am quite relaxed on the format. I am happy to just sit and share two hours worth or poetry. The poetry will be interwoven with short stories and as always I enjoy teasing people with my stories on why I wrote the poetry. Over the years I have worked extensively with asocial people and often tell a lot of their stories. I try mix my sets with humour, stories of life and adventures with God.
I usually prefer to connect with a local singer songwriter and have them play at the start, end and through the break. I am also open to having the first hour as open mike poetry and then me finishing with the last hour or vice-versa. It really depends on the local situation and who is helping organise me.
I need to pay for my travel this trip, so it is important for me to make enough money to cover costs. I am not interested in making a profit and would be very surprised if I did.
I am quite keen to continue doing House Concerts, basically this means being hosted in someones home, they invite all of their friends around. Everyone who comes is encouraged to give a flexible 10€ donation which goes straight to the artist and not a middle man. And in this case it goes straight to my transport. Follow the House Concerts link it belongs to a singer-song writer and is quite informative.
Another idea is to find a friendly local cafe owner. I ask him/her how much they will sell a coffee and cake, if I fill their place up. Usually they will make it worth while. I will add a percentage to this price, enough to make it slightly more than the normal price and charge that as the ticket price. This means tickets come with a free coffee and cake.
I also ask the cafe owner if they have any free merchandise, if so I raffle that off during the evening.
Usually my gigs are quite relaxed, light hearted, thought provoking and fun.
I will also need to find for each city a small PA system.