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Big Daddy Cool Inner circle 1604 Posts |
In an interesting thread in Time after Time, there was discussion about nervousness.
We all feel it right? Some more than others. Right up front let me tell you that I am rarely nervous on stage. The reason is my traumatic event. When I was a Freshman in high school (20 years ago), I was thrust on stage to replace a Senior who went awol. I didn't know the song. I didn't know the dance. I was led around by a panicked female partner while I shook uncontrollably. 2 days later we watched the video. You couldn't tell that I didn't know what I was doing. Nobody could tell! I then realized that if I could do that, then I could do anything on stage! I've never been nervous since. Since then it has been my contention that to be fully and wholly comfortable on stage in front of an audience, one must have such a traumatic event. I welcome thoughts on this. Have you had a traumatic event? |
KerryJK Special user Northampton UK 621 Posts |
Sure, it's the times when you either die on your arse or just know that you've put in a terrible performance that keep you working hard. Nothing's worse than getting complacent.
In my case it would be a big show at a free festival last year; at the time I was still developing my magic act with a female partner and this was the gig we we aiming towards. With benefit of hindsight, I was trying to do way too much way too quickly. We'd put together a show that was far too complicated, involving too many costume changes, angle problems and other little logistical things, and to crown it all I'd let the festival organisers talk me into co-ordinating the Theatre Tent we were performing in, adding a catalogue of stressful situations to my day including a prima donna company who turned up at the last minute demanding loads of stuff they hadn't made a peep about when we asked them for their tech requirements, the tent opposite having a sound system louder than most demolition blasts which drowned out everything we did, our own PA breaking down leaving us on back-up systems and the event co-ordinators insisting on having all the walkie talkies on open channel, leaving us having to listen to loads of irrelevant chatter. With all this, the show itself was a trainwreck, but we just about managed to get through it. The part that was really traumatic for me though was in our final illusion, a sword box varient. Half way through in my stressed state I began to lose the routine and did exactly what we'd trained so hard not to do, I panicked and started putting the rods in anywhere I could where I knew my partner wasn't. Of course she was still following the routine herself, had no way of knowing what was coming next and, in short, I was putting her in danger, something I could not forgive myself for. As a result of that event I re-evaluated everything I was doing. Part of the problem was I was still a musician trying to become a magician, and I'd done it in not nearly a focused enough way. A solution presented itself when I performed later that week as my drag escape character (the cheerful minx you now see before you) and, if I do say so myself, **ing killed. The act got a terrific reaction, I got another booking out of it and I knew I was on to something. At that point I decided to make Helen my full time magic persona and concentrate on doing her as well as possible. While I continue to learn the art of magic in general, my focus is on things that I can do well as Helen, and doing them well. So far it's turning out to be a good strategy. Oh, and that traumatic illusion has come back out of the cupboard, I've simplified the working and am using it now for a different routine, this time with me in the box. Thinking about it, given the horrible experience that that prop was a part of, it's actually quite apt that the current routine is called "Punishment". |
drwilson Inner circle Bar Harbor, ME 2191 Posts |
What's really helped me on stage is not so much a traumatic event, but a perfoming situation that was so grueling and difficult that it has made stage work seem like sitting in a warm bubble bath eating bon bons.
For the last two years I worked a tent show at a fair. The hours are brutal. You are there at 8:00 AM and work until 10:30 or 11:00 PM, taking the odd break to grab some food or wash the dust off your hands. The weather can ruin you. On a good day, a hot wind blows dust over all of your props, your costume, the things you are selling. The "show" is continuous, but anybody can walk up and demand personal attention, which is great if they are having fun, but it also includes bored kids dropped off to hang around as long as they like, fundamentalist nut cases handing out tracts because we had a Gypsy Fortune Teller selling fortunes for $1, the guy from the bunko squad flashing his badge and wanting to see what we were about (OK, that part was fun), and other assorted troubles. When it looks like rain, the fair clears out, and in the quiet moments you can't help visualizing a pile of money burning away to ashes. Then the power goes out at night for perhaps 45 minutes. It gets very dark out in the country, and your shabby little setup starts to look like the opening scene of one of those slasher films aimed at teenagers. But of course, amidst all this, there are moments of glory, when all the dust falls away and you and a group of people are utterly transported. One time, when we were packing up for the night, my wife said to me, "I can't get the lid down on the cashbox." It was stuffed completely full of bills. I made her say that to me over and over again for the next few days. Even street performing is relatively easy compared to that. As for stage fright, as they say, everyone gets butterflies, the trick is to get them to fly in formation. Whether it's a single night of horror as in the case of Big Daddy Cool, or the accumulation of a hundred battle scars spread out over the years, eventually you get to the point where not only are you fully prepared, you can just size up the situation and say, "This isn't anywhere close to the time that..." Yours, Paul |
Chrystal Inner circle Canada/France 1552 Posts |
Hi,
I think the best advice I was given as a youngster and still follow to this day is asking myself the following question. "What's the worst thing that can happen?" next asked, "Would you be able to handle it?" You'll find 99.9% of the time you are able to handle any situation. Granted, there are times when you may not have forseen an unexplicable event let alone even guessed, but "what doesn't kill yah only makes you stronger", as my friend is fond of saying. Fear of failure prevents most people from even trying things they have a desire to do. Not me! Once I realized that people don't actually "die of embarressment", I was able to laugh off most of my faux pas. If I mess up, I accept it and see it as a learning experience and try to learn from it to prevent it from happening again. This only works however, if you are not a surgical doctor or head of a Nuclear Power Plant, I imagine. :O) Chrystal |
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