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Matthew W Inner circle New York 2456 Posts |
I was asked by my friend that teaches a workshop to perform at the show his students are putting on. There are only for kids in the workshop, so he is performing for the remainder of the show. He told me he wants to have me perform.
I never had much of an act as I never had to do a stage show. I put together a routine based on the color red that features a few different effects all put to the song "Eclipse" (yeah I know, its overused). The thing is I have never performed in public before and am really, really, nervous. How did you overcome stage fright for your first performance? The effects I am doing are: Appearing rose I came up with(did I?) Mirror glass with red water to red silk. Silk vanish and reappear from inside the rose. Appearing and jumping knot. Diminishing cards ending with a throw streamer.
-Matt
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calamari Elite user The San Francisco Bay Area 429 Posts |
I don't know how others did it but I looked at it not as fear but as addrenaline (sp) so I would think of it as a physical response to stress and not nerves, that helped me to start mentally breaking it down and trying to use it for possitive energy. I have been performing for about 14 years now and I still get a few butterflies sometimes but for me anyway my mental excercise of it's not nerves it is just energy, helped me Psychologically to chanel it into possitive energy, I hope you find your way of dealing with it, if nothing else there's always alcohol LOL
Rich
"I came, I saw, SHE conquered." (The original Latin seems to have been garbled.)
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Doug Higley 1942 - 2022 7152 Posts |
Remember Don Knott's act of being a nervous person...if your not old enough to remember the Steve Allan show (is anybody?) maybe youtube has some video. The interviewer would ask Don: "Are you nervous?" and obviously agitated and fearfull he would answer with a terse 'no!'.
Now let's meld that with a very good piece of stage direction I once got: If you want to act drunk, TRY and act Sober. Of course if you are realy nervous and try to act not nervous you will probably emphasise the fact that you are nervous. So...make THAT part of your act. Find some old Don Knott's and you'll see what I mean. Overcoming stage fright takes a long time and supreme confidence and sometimes it never comes...so use what you do have at the moment of the performance....terror. :)
Higley's Giant Flea Pocket Zibit
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Billgussen Elite user Central Japan 497 Posts |
Put the effect that you are most confident with and takes the least amount of "moves" at the very beginning of the show. If possible, it should be an effect that is not affected by sweating palms.
Nerves is normal. Nobody walks on stage the first time without at least some anxiety. But only you know what your body does when it's anxious, so think about every bodily reaction you normally have when you're anxious and take it into account. The biggest thing is to get through the first effect successfully. After a success, your nerves tend to settle a little (no, you will not be calm, but you will be able to pretend that you're calm a little better). So get your first trick down pat, and the rest of the performance will proceed better. Good luck, Bill |
MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Just get out there and do it! Pick a couple of people in the audience and decide to perform only for them, the rest of the people just happen to be there. You'll do fine.
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Al Angello Eternal Order Collegeville, Pa. USA 11045 Posts |
Remember what Calamari said, when you learn to channel your fear it becomes a great bid addrenaline kick in the butt.
Al Angello The Comic Juggler/Magician
http://www.juggleral.com http://home.comcast.net/~juggleral/ "Footprints on your ceiling are almost gone" |
gsidhe Inner circle Michigan 1725 Posts |
Just imagine the audience in your underwear...
Wait...No... Imagine that you are performing in your underwear. Urm...Imagine that you are performing in audiences underwear? Imagine that your underwear is performing in front of the audience. Underaudience performing in your front wear...ugh. You'll do fine. Just use the nerves to blast completely out of your shell (But not your underwear), and you will blow them away! Gwyd, who actually misses getting nervous before shows |
rossmacrae Inner circle Arlington, Virginia 2477 Posts |
Well you COULD imagine the audience in your underwear, but then there's this temptation to keep looking into your underwear to see if they're still with you. Bad idea.
Stage fright? It happens, but ... who's the boss, you or that darned stage? You gotta remember, it's not an arena for a steel-cage deathmatch, it's HOME. They're not opponents, they're dying to see you. Your routine isn't a courtroom interrogation or the Bar exam, it's what you do best. |
Matthew W Inner circle New York 2456 Posts |
Thanks, the more I re-read your posts, the more comfortable I feel. I will try to get a video of myself doing the performance.
So far I have practiced the routine about 120 times. My mom says the music is getting annoying.
-Matt
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gsidhe Inner circle Michigan 1725 Posts |
Ok...Enough with my underwear silliness.
Here's a tip. Practice is very very good, but there is something you might want to add. Visualization. It sounds cheezy, but it works. Take some time and just envision the entire act beginning to end, picture it all going perfectly. Spend a lot of time doing this, and get detailed with it. That way, when you are doing it for real, you will expect it to go well, and the nerves will fade a little. And visualization can be almost as effective as real practice. Best to do both. Gwyd Who feels like some kind of zen hippie all of a sudden |
Matthew W Inner circle New York 2456 Posts |
I actually enjoyed your underwear jokes. Thanks for the relaxing laugh.
-Matt
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Matthew W Inner circle New York 2456 Posts |
The show is just a few hours away, I am glad he is doing a rehearsal first. I'm scared....
-Matt
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Al Angello Eternal Order Collegeville, Pa. USA 11045 Posts |
If you are having fun so will the audience, when they feel sorry for you all is lost, so have fun.
Al Angello The Comic Juggler/Magician
http://www.juggleral.com http://home.comcast.net/~juggleral/ "Footprints on your ceiling are almost gone" |
CJRichard Special user Massachusetts 542 Posts |
My seven year old daughter is having her first gymnastics "show" in a couple of hours. She doesn't really understand the concept of stage fright, but two nights ago at dinner she said, "I'm a little afraid that on Saturday somebody might do something wrong."
It was interesting that she really did not seem to think she would have a problem, but that somebody might. Break a leg Matthew.
"You know some of you are laughin', but there's people here tryin' to learn. . ." -Pop Haydn
"I know of no other art that proclaims itself 'easy to do.'" -Master Payne Ezekiel the Green |
Matthew W Inner circle New York 2456 Posts |
Quote:
Break a leg Matthew. Oh please no, I already sprained my ankle two weeks ago "levitating" down the steps. I wish her luck.
-Matt
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Blindside785 Inner circle Olympia, WA 4541 Posts |
Try this, lol worked for me..may only work for me.
But after 2 years I've finally learned to channel my fear into my pocket. Letting go of all tremors in the voice and shaking hands. Close your eyes,deep slow calm breaths, and truly believe your character as being a David Blaine (calm) persona. I've learned to do this now I can easily deal with crowds of 20+ |
Matthew W Inner circle New York 2456 Posts |
Well, I did it. The show went well. The few photos I got don't show what I was doing. I went a minute too fast and ended really early.
The audience liked my rose production and the cards the most. The cards will likely be leaving along with the rope, because I am getting some new stuff that will flow better. It was a good experience and I am glad I did it.
-Matt
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rossmacrae Inner circle Arlington, Virginia 2477 Posts |
Hurray! We told ya you could do it! Yay!
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