Tips on a successfull and entertaining trials demo

[mistri@l]

hey hey
so riding tonight, we got approached by a girl from CAA they are doing a youthday deal and they asked us to come and do a demo for them.

well i have never done a demo
just wondering for those who have

like what kinda of thins did you have to do to keep the crowd cheering.
lots of spin moves?

just lookin for some ideas so we can put a routine of some sort together.
wanna keep the kids happy you know

[trialsinhawaii]

From my experiences with demos, it depends on the type of crowd. A demo in front of a whole school of little kids would definitely be a different show than it would be in front of a whole football arena filled with rowdy drunk adults.
Another Factor would be, if you are doing this demo by yourself rather than 3-4 other guys. Doing a demo alone is super hard work because you have no time to rest between big moves as the show must keep going!
If you have multiple riders, make sure that the lesser skilled rider goes first and work your way up to the best rider. This will build anticipation in the crowd.
Another important thing is, obstacles! Depends on how much this demo is worth doing...or the amount you are getting paid for doing this demo?...may help you decide how much, and how big of obstacales you want?
Another factor is music!
Also when you start your demo, start with the easiest moves first(tail whips, endos, small wheelies, etc.). Then work your way up to big drop, far gaps, high taps and so on.
It also helps sometimes to have gimmicks such as, coming out on a beat up old bike, or unicycle etc. Having a voluteer from the crowd always gets a good cheer, for example doing the old pivoting the bike back and forth over a voluteer laying on the ground.
Have fun and be creative!! Hope this helped.
-Nathan :)

[AgrAde]

you've gotta have an announcer/commentator otherwise it doesn't work at all. demos usually involve hyping up the stuff that's well within the rider's skill level then getting the announcer to be all "can he do it? cheer him on! this is xxx move which is really big etc" and do something that's fairly big but still quite easy, then "CAN HE GO BIGGER! WOWOWOW!" and make the drop bigger or whatever. stretch the riders to their max only really once or twice during the whole thing.

get the announcer to explain the sport, "right now he's doing what's called a tap, it's where we do XXX to achieve XXX."

involve some of the kids... and some of the adults. explain the bikes a bit. depending on how long the demo is, have set riding times and set break times, otherwise there will just be people trickling through watching a rider stuff around/get tired

nose hops are apparently amazing.

....announcer.

[chronic]

My only advice is do what you know you can do. Dont try stuff and keep fucking up.

Although everybody likes a little carnage.

[stocktrials]

it's where we do XXX to achieve XXX."


hmmm... sounds like you pulled that one from a certain adult film....?

[mistri@l]

you've gotta have an announcer/commentator otherwise it doesn't work at all. demos usually involve hyping up the stuff that's well within the rider's skill level then getting the announcer to be all "can he do it? cheer him on! this is xxx move which is really big etc" and do something that's fairly big but still quite easy, then "CAN HE GO BIGGER! WOWOWOW!" and make the drop bigger or whatever. stretch the riders to their max only really once or twice during the whole thing.

get the announcer to explain the sport, "right now he's doing what's called a tap, it's where we do XXX to achieve XXX."

involve some of the kids... and some of the adults. explain the bikes a bit. depending on how long the demo is, have set riding times and set break times, otherwise there will just be people trickling through watching a rider stuff around/get tired

nose hops are apparently amazing.

....announcer.

haha thanks!

there will be 2 of us
im a decent rider when it comes to trials on the street and stuff, but for a crowd
this will be a whole new thing for me.
we have 6 weeks to prepare. im sure i can learn a few new moves in there
but ya thats some good advice
i geuss people love that cheesy stuff.

if anyone has any demo vids
could you toss them up? that would be way sweet.

im just nervous realy haha.
:run:

[manimal]

yo nic,

I couldn't remember if you told me, but are they having obstacles for you, or do you have to set it up?

I also can't remember what day it was. I might be able to help.

[giventofly]

If you don't have stuff to ride on....a few picnic tables can produce an awesome demo. Use deck screws to tack them together to create height.
Make sure you have an announcer
Make sure you have music
MAKE SURE THE EVENT IS WELL PROMOTED/ATTENDED
There is nothing more frustrating (even when you are getting paid) than to ride a demo in front of 15 people.

I think, most importantly,
Dont F' around between shows. It's lame, wastes energy, and it spoils any surprises you may have in store for the crowd. Rest or mingle with the crowd between shows. Use the first 2-3 mins of the demo while doing small moves as a warmup. Nobody's going to want to watch a show if they've already seen your biggest moves during a chaotic practice session.

Finally, don't do anything that you are less than 90% sure you can make. If you miss a move, it's ok....it makes what you're doing look harder. If you miss a move 5 times, then walk away....it looks very unprofessional. If you try a move outside your ability, there'd better be somebody in the demo that can make the move.





Hastily thrown together vid of one of our demos.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6304233918759155174&hl=en


EDIT:
Also, for your first show you ever do...however much time you think youll need to set up.....Double it!

[dkoppric]

I dont know much about your skill level, but if you are a very confident rider and have ever made someone lay on the ground and do a little routine over them, the crowd really loves that. same with lining up as many people as possible and jumping over them.

also, if there are multiple riders, do a "mini-comp" of sorts, have two kids hold a ribbon, starting at a foot high, and then do a sidehop comp increasing it like 4 inches at a time.

the risk of human injury and some fierce competition really get the crowds into to show.

also, like several others have said, you really need an announcer.

[ddrain]

always build the tempo and difficulty up. Save the "cool" and good looking tricks for last. Remember, what is cool and difficult in trials is not always cool looking and good for spectators. they are more impressed with 180's, 360's, front wheel hops, bunnyhops to taller stuff and drops. try to make everything smooth and not use the bashring/guard on stuff. think balance i.e riding thin boards, rails, etc.

bring music and an announcer if you can. if you have sponsors, see if they can provide any freebies to give away (stickers, water bottles, etc)

get the crowd involved...be dramatic. if there is a nice sized bunnyhop..dont nail it on the first try...build up the crowd and ask them what they want to see ("you guys want to see me do this gap/bunnyhop?"). Fail the first time...it gets their emotion going. then do the "one more time???" thing and then nail it.

[mistri@l]

well its offical the demo is goin down aug 7th
its for the CAA kids day
there will be 2 groups of 50 kids :eek3danc::run::run::run::run::run: aged 4-12

anyways as for the people who have done the demos
did you guys throw a kind of routine together?
im just nervous
i got a few weeks to learn how to nose hop more then 5 times haha
and build boxes and and and and :run::run:

[Cryo-Cube]

do the 180° FW pivot drops. I know they are easy but people love that shit.

[dkoppric]

well its offical the demo is goin down aug 7th
its for the CAA kids day
there will be 2 groups of 50 kids :eek3danc::run::run::run::run::run: aged 4-12

anyways as for the people who have done the demos
did you guys throw a kind of routine together?
im just nervous
i got a few weeks to learn how to nose hop more then 5 times haha
and build boxes and and and and :run::run:

unless you have a planet-x fork i would recomment not doing lots of front wheel hops in front of a crowd. you dont want to snap the fork and look like a dumbass and not be able to complete the rest of the show, expecially if you are getting paid.

[Mat_P]

when we do street rides with just a few of us we seem to pull in crowds (as would be expected in cities)...2 of the guys i was riding with had a ride off, basically seeing who could do the bigger and better trick.
the trick that won it with the crowd wasnt the sidehop up onto the 4 foot lodge (i think that was its height) but rather the helicopter my mate did off the end, spins are gold...people are attracted to bling, and so helicopters = bling.
being that the kids are 4-12 they will be all like hey, how high can you bunnyhop and can you do backflips...so i suggest learning backflips or something :P

[rush]

Always with the backfilps. :rolleyes:

[mistri@l]

lol backflips?
my buddy can actually do a backflip
but he did it into a foam pit.

and no im not getting paid
were not getting anything out of it.
we dont even have boxes to ride on
or any funding to build boxes
i sure as hell aint puttin what little money i have into building demo boxes thats for sure.

[eturt9]

if your not even getting paid. Just grab some picnic tables for some gaps, some ups, drops... Do a bunch of spins.. Kids will be impressed enough. Do'nt spend too much effort planning this. Kids that age are great to ride for. They are so impressed that you can ride your bike onto a table. When i was little, i saw a trials rider on tv and thought it was impossible.

[ddrain]

find pallets and see ig maybe a local junk yard would like to donate a car to ride on and in trade you will (spray) paint their name and phone nuber all over the car for advertising. Sometimes that works. Picnic tables are good. Even a simple balance bean made from 2x4's is good todo 180's and such on. Anything portable that you can ride on or build on is good

[Boumm]

Do what you can do.

[manimal]

if its at a skate park (as you said nic.. ) I'd just do whatever they have at the skate park.. maybe move some benches or something..

you aren't getting paid.. so don't worry...

[aki]

I would get pallets & stack them up. What we did at the Seattle Bike Expo was stack 'em up & tie them with the heavy duty tie downs (ones with the ratchet). Building boxes is a waste of time unless you have the manpower & a truck to haul it from/to the site. You don't have to worry about destroying pallets...plenty of them around.

I'd keep it simple as possible since it's not hard to surprise & impress kids. Instead of trying to explain trials to like an adult, involve them with a regular bike that some of the kids can try the most basic beginner's course (like a 2x2 or a pallet) and then show off your own stuff. Have small prizes, etc and leave a good impression about the sport. I think you'll have a blast. I would definitely focus on the annoucing, what you two will do rather then building things since you're not in front of a crowd that's expecting something & like others have mentioned getting paid.

[Yoda]

Cars are good because after the show the people go home and say "wow those guys were jumping up and down on a car", and it sounds better than "they jumped up a picnic table." It also gives the audience a point of reference because they know how big a car is, and most of them have probably thought about trying to ride their bike up a car during some point of their life, so now there you are living out their fantasy.

[boxx]

Cars are good because after the show the people go home and say "wow those guys were jumping up and down on a car", and it sounds better than "they jumped up a picnic table." It also gives the audience a point of reference because they know how big a car is, and most of them have probably thought about trying to ride their bike up a car during some point of their life, so now there you are living out their fantasy.

ha cool idea

[dkoppric]

It also gives the audience a point of reference because they know how big a car is, and most of them have probably thought about trying to ride their bike up a car during some point of their life, so now there you are living out their fantasy.

not to be a nay-sayer, but im pretty sure the average person has never contemplated riding their bicycle on anything other than a sidewalk/road, must less up the side of a car. if anything it is the surprise factor/ destruction which the audience likes about riding on cars.

[marauda]

I made some bad music choices at a demo once... stuff that you like might not be the best thing for families. Keep the music to something universally appealing and without foul language. I found that Stereolab makes a good demo soundtrack. Ever since I heard them in some ancient Props vid, I have been into them. I would say their music is an example of the right vibe.

As stated earlier, an announcer is key... an MC with personality and wit is even better. Make sure they know something about trials and names of tricks etc... If it is a younger crowd, be sure to add simple bike advocacy points and the importance of a wearing a helmet etc... Have the announcer get the crowd involved by saying things like "If you want to see the huge drop, I gotta hear you yell for it!"

Try and incorporate more people also. Are there some freeride/urban guys that can backflip a box and share the demo?

Home some of this helps.

[lucky13]

The best demo music I ever had was from a DJ that knew how to play cool hiphop (censored) to what was going on.

Otherwise keep it radio friendly/non aggro.

Look into getting an announcer that can effectively hype the crowd and explain things in a dumbed down manner and not our "bikegeekspeak" language. Even if it's a mountainbiking friend that isn't actually riding trials, they can "translate".

Have fun, stay charged up, encourage the kids to start with trackstands and riding up and down stuff.