08/21/2026
š± Look at that line!
This was roughly 40 minutes into the Goblining Ceremony with King GarrBodge Duh Gamblin Goblin at The Great Camelot Renaissance Faire first Saturday and this line didnāt die until about an hour and a half in.
Now we did make this a much more efficient line second weekend by adding an additional assistant and a second tent to keep the line shaded, but I wanted to talk about what this picture reflects.
GarrBodge and I are primarily lane acts. We interact with hundreds to thousands of people in a faire day and there are loads who travel just to see us. But the problem isā¦ā¦.our audience is usually scattered. Unlike a stage show, we donāt usually have a gathering of people come to see us at the same time. And this doesnāt just apply to us, this goes for all lane acts.
This was a rare opportunity to have our audience gather at once so you can physically see the attention weāre getting. Many lane acts struggle to find faire jobs or to get paid fair wages because we donāt āappearā to be as popular as stage shows. This is especially the case at many larger permanent structures shows that have a much higher budget. Thereās a reason we only do one large permanent structured faire (currently). Of course thatās not the only factor, but it is a prominent one.
So I guess the point of the post is this, patrons love lane acts. They love interactive and immersive characters who they can have a conversation with. And I would argue that a lane act is roughly just as valuable as a stage show. Our performance is just spread out over 8(ish) hours rather than condensed in 2-3 shows. Yet the average lane act pay is still currently hundreds of $$$ lower than an average (non dangerous) stage show. That affects us personally by not getting accepted into most large permanent structured shows (because we donāt undercut or rely on tips).
Now of course, the responsibility to pay fair wages is not all on the festivals. The responsibility also falls on the lane acts who are accepting these incredibly low rates, especially at high budget festivals. So it is important for us to uphold our standards, especially when traveling across the country. Remember, this is a job. Even if you love it, itās still a contracted service.
Thank you so much to all of the festivals and other events who appreciate our work and provide us the opportunity to do what we love while also making a living from it! In return, we will work our butts off and do everything we can to make your event magical!āØ
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