On the Mainstage:
Let Me Ask You To Leave
from The Heron Method
Performed by Dave Cave
Dave will ask for volunteer contestants to come on stage. Using intimidation and emotional manipulation, he'll ask them to leave. If everyone leaves, Dave keeps his performance fee. If not, Dave gives his performance fee to those that remain.
Genesis of the Show:
This is a show about emotional manipulation, coercion, and intimidation.
It’s an opportunity for everyday people to voluntarily become temporary reality show contestants on stage with me. How much can one tolerate on stage, and how much will I be willing to (non-physically) push contestants to leave?
I value the audience experience, and people want to see real risk on stage. This show has tangible, financial gains at stake. If I can get all the contestants to leave the stage by the end of the show, I keep my performance fee. If people don't leave, I have to forfeit the cash and give it to whoever remains.
My previous work includes audience participation as a core element of performance. People participated because they wanted to help me on stage, or help themselves. Instead, the structure of this show places me as an adversary, a barrier between them and my cash.
How hungry are we?
Dave Cave
… is a performance artist who uses audience participation, improv comedy, and reality television principles. His work has been featured at Canzine Toronto Festival of Zines and Underground Culture, Peterborough Comedy Festival, the Toronto Zine Library, and the Charlotte Street Arts Center (New Brunswick). Past works include: "Win a Date with Dave Cave", "Can Everybody In the Audience Tell Me What’s Wrong With Me?", and "Dave Cave Almost Falling Off a Couch for 45 Minutes".
Premiered October 12 - 14, 2023.
Festival artwork by Sage Hartly