Should Carlos Return to Rogue?

Last night's show, in my opinion, was the best of three performance in terms of what I and the audience brought. It wasn't a sold-out performance, but it was pretty close. There were a couple of times when I received applause and felt like telling them to stop so I could continue. (Of course, it's not that I don't like applause, but I only had so much time to get through so much.)

The following is a posting that was back on Thursday, March 5th by Stephanie in relation to my show (http://roguefestival.com/rogue09/?p=162): "This show is a must see!! It was very creative, funny, and well performed!! Confessions Of A Karaoke DJ was very entertaining and will keep you on the edge of your seat laughing!! This was one of the most well performed show of the rouge that I have seen!! This Karaoke DJ is also very easy on the eyes as well!!"

There was also a comment posted on the Fresno Famous website back on Friday, March 6th (http://www.fresnofamous.com/content/2009-rogue-festival-confessions-karaoke-dj): "Once we were convinced there is such a thing--and there would have to be , no? I suppose we need to get out more--we found Greg Ramirez's performance well choreographed and insightful. The 45 minutes flew by! He performed in front of a large photo of a female nude and still managed to keep our attention!"

Of course, if you visit the Rogue Festival website, you will spot one negative posting. I won't put it up here, as it's almost unheard of for any film or work of art including negative reviews as part of their publicity. All I will say is that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion of the show.

Overall, I had fun performing as part of this year's Rogue Festival. This year's show was a far cry from anything I had done in the past. I am a poet, and while I have done readings and even some minor acting, I have never done a solo performance where I am carrying the entire show for as long as I did. I had some people tell me how the 45 minutes flew by, and I also had to assure others that I have never been a karaoke DJ. (As I've told some people, some of this show is based on personal experiences my wife and I have seen at karaoke bars, on the personal experiences of others, and on pure fabrication. I will leave it to you to figure out which parts were which.)

While I am eager to perform in next year's Rogue Festival, something I have been debating is whether or not Carlos should return. For me, this is the equivalent of the Norman Gentle character that the American Idol contestant created during this season or even the Borat character that Sasha Baron Cohen portrayed.

Even though sequels usually don't live up to the original, one thing I've noticed about the Rogue Festival is that it is not uncommon for certain performers to repeat their show year after year. Additionally, while those who attend next year's festival might remember Confessions of a Karaoke DJ, a good number of those who attend won't. In some cases, those who wanted to catch the show this year but couldn't for whatever reason might be happy at another chance to catch it next year. (This was the case for my wife and I, as we caught Abigail Nolte perform last night and loved it.)

If anyone out there who saw the show has any suggestions about whether or not Carlos should return, by all means, please leave comments or get in touch with me to let me know. My e-mail address is gregory.ramirez@yahoo.com. If he ought to return in some other capacity, that might be worth considering as well.

Again, to everyone who came out to the show, thank you, and I hope you enjoyed it.