Seeking input re: Pennsic Classes

For those of you who will be at Pennsic this year and might want to take a class which I could teach  8)  :

I'm now taking feedback and requests.      The filing deadline is in just under two weeks.     I have several ideas.      If there are specific time issues I should build into my application, let me know.   ("NOT WHEN I'M TEACHING!1!" is a given...)

Possible topics:

--"Mad Men of Gotham" And Other Jestbooks / Chapbokes (and adapting these written stories for performance)

--Filking With History  (aka, da Contrafait)  -- Practical information regarding the history of contrafacting before and just after 1600, potential source materials for adaptable tunes, and suggestions for shaping original lyrics in a more historically-informed "voice".

--"Mistress of the (SCA) Revels"--a service to feasters, servers, minstrels and cooks

-- Masks and Street Mumming  (an oldie but a goodie  8)  (ETA: This class is part lecture with some background about activities which incorporated masks and mumming, and mostly performance "practicum" with instruction and feedback about performing in a mask.      The last two times I did it, we went on an abbreviated "field trip" into a nearby merchant area (I warned the merchants) and played Freak The Shoppers)

BTW,  if there are other upcoming events which are looking for classes / teachers, let me know and I'd be happy to teach in-Kingdom as well   (I was unfortunately booked at a convention before Spring War Practice  was publicized as an EKU  8(

What I Did Last Saturday

Instead of begging a ride to Owlsherst, I had been booked months ago to perform at a pirate convention (being organized by a friend).
"Buccaneers and Privateers" in New London, CT  turned out to be a very relaxed, low-key affair boasting costumed attendees, a few merchants, a film room, a small lecture hall (conference-table style) and several musical acts  ( HI  ::::waves:::: ).      In true con tradition, there was hard information for people who sought it, and fluff for people seeking fluff   8)

Since "Don't sweat the small stuff" was my motto for the day, I wore the kirtle I always wear, over a puffy chemise.     I bought a bandanna to cover my subway tip hat because the hats offered for sale at the con were $75 and up (anyone who twits upon SCA merchants for "overcharging"  in my hearing for the next year is gonna get an earful   8P    I had put together a short-ish a capella program --  Lucie Skeaping's Broadside Ballads book  ( www.lucieskeaping.co.uk/book_broadside.htm)  proved to be of  priceless  help    8)    I made a short handout of drinking / pillaging song lyrics, and when I passed the hat, I had made back enough to cover the printing costs.    The audience was small but enthusiastic and appreciative.

Here is what we sang:

Bring Us In Good Ale   (I substituted the more secular "before my head begins to ache" instead of "for our Blessed Lady's sake")

Unto the Prophet Jonah     (stretching the definition of "sailor" to cover a tune I already know)

Sir Francis Drake ("The 'Invincible' Armada", adapted to the tune of "Sellenger's Round")

The Little Barley-Corne , to the tune of "Stingo" (courtesy of Steven Hendricks' copy of that song)

When Stormy Winds Do Blow (a song in praise of sailors' bravery, adapted to "When First I Saw Your Face")

Watkins Ale      (I left it up to the audience "Is this a sex song or a drinking song?", and stayed in one middling key rather than switching octaves.  I got the laughs I wanted by having the lad fall asleep at...precisely the wrong moment...).

The Loot   (This is a convention filk about Vikings recruiting more Vikings which I learned sometime in the late '80's, and I have lost the attribution data.    Someone suggested writing to Mudcat Cafe to learn more.)

I'm still in the learning stages of putting a show together,  but  I'm not going to beat myself up any more for not learning an entire hour's worth of new music for every new booking.      Professionals don't do that.    Professionals mix new material with other songs which they can perform without having to think about every note.    

I heard two other acts before my ride took me home -- The Bawdy Buccaneers  ( Two of whom were named Truly Scrumptious and Captain Lance deBoyle)   were an a capella trio who did mostly modern stuff, I think, with a funny slant, and they were hilarious.     The Brigands did mostly instrumental, Celtic-flavored songs and...didn't really need the amps they were using  8)

I was most surprised that there was only ONE Captain Jack Sparrow, but he was a very good one.