...have your show taped.

All four of my recent grandstand shows were taped. I watched them and thought...holy crap! Do I REALLY look that heavy? Why the heck am I doing that stupid gesture with my hands? What was I THINKING in phrasing my instructions to the volunteer THAT way? Why is it taking me so long to get to the reveal...for Pete's sake get ON with it already!

Okay. Maybe that's a little over the top. I can see from these videos what I'm doing well. But more importantly, I can see where some of the stuff I'm doing isn't working. I can hear the audiences as I "sit" among them in front of the screen.

I learned more in watching these videos -- sometimes laughing out loud...and sometimes cringing -- than I have in the last four books I read.


AND if you REALLY want your shows to suck, don't Ever under ANY circumstances invite other performers that you trust (including your wife) to come and give you a serious critique. We're not talking armchair performers...we're talking about other people who make their living on a stage and close-up with audiences...and those that know how to direct other performers to do what they do just a little better.

I got great feedback -- again -- things I thought I was saying and doing that I wasn't. I got tips on how to better present myself...how to streamline presentations. I heard some things that made me mad -- until I considered the source and realized they were my friends, honestly trying to help by giving me the kind of feedback I can't buy anywhere.

I watched the progression through the shows as I implemented some of the "SERIOUSLY??? You actually MEAN THAT?" advice -- most of it coming from Sheree...but from other sources as well. And you know something? My shows got better.

We (okay...I) tend to work in a vacuum. I know when they laugh. I know when they're shocked into silence. I know what I'm doing well. I know which routines really work for me. Now I ALSO know many of the things I no-doubt-about-it suck at so that I can fix them. Funny how there's a blind spot centered around the stuff I simply couldn't see or hear.

Honestly watching myself...and honestly listening to feedback was humbling. I don't like to hear or see that I'm anything less than perfect on stage. (Go figure. )

But it may have been one of the most useful exercises I've done in years.

Try it. You won't like it...but it may just make you better.

David

This is another great piece, David. A lot of people hate how they look and sound when they are first recording themselves. I know I did. It takes getting used to. But once you've recorded yourself enough times, you get over the strangeness of seeing yourself on video. And that's when you get even more out of watching it. That's when you can gain some objectivity and see the good, the bad, and the ugly with greater accuracy. When I was recording myself at the Original Improv in New York in the early and mid-'80's, I couldn't believe anybody was booking me. Then I went out on cruise ships and agonized over the first recordings there. But once I got over it, I was not only more able to correct things that were wrong. I was shocked to be able to see and appreciate the things about myself that were charming and more successfully build on those. It was a major insight. I even went back to previous tapes I'd hated and went, "Ohhhh. Now I get it. That piece is really good. That's why they're rebooking me. I can do more of THAT." Things that I had always taken for granted about myself started to become more obvious to me, and I got stronger and stronger in those areas AND better at adjusting the things that were not working as well. But I just wanted to emphasize that it's really worth going through the agony of getting used to watching yourself.

I realize I may be stating stuff you've already discovered, but hopefully the thoughts will add something to what you've articulated so much better than I.

Cheers.

David could not have said it better, as a speaker I always tape myself and re watch what I do and it's scary the things you sometimes do on stage that you are just not aware of once you get into performance mode!

Thanks for the great tip and advice mate

Recording yourself is essential. As you say, you won't like it. I remember the first time I appeared in front of a TV camera. They had a monitor set up to the side and every time I looked at it I cringed. Great read, David.

As a TV and Film Actor, I can say watching yourself perform will always make you better.

But I for one get all sorts of weird watching myself onscreen, but it's a bitter pill to swallow to get better.

As a person who has been involved in regional live theatre for over 40 years, I can say without a doubt... get a professional director to critique your performance. Believe it or not, it is easier to teach an actor how to do magic then tutor a magician on how to properly act the part of a magician on stage.

I wrote a full two act play back in the 70's called "Poof!" which is a play with magic, sort of like those zany mobsters/abbott & costello/madcap movies which takes place in a rundown variety theater. I've produced the play 5 times in the last 30 years, and each time I've mounted the show, I've hired an actor to play the part of the magician rather than hire a magician to play the part.

An actor understands blocking, how to walk on stage, how to make eye contact with the audience, how to play against other people on stage (in the case of a magician, those other people would be any spectators you invite on stage), how to pace oneself and so on.

These are skills that many magicians do not have. A magician is concerned with the magic part of his/her act, and forgets that they are actually an actor playing the part of a magician.

Find a good local theatre director and ask him or her how much it would cost you to have them watch your act, take notes and help you with your stage presence. They have a good eye and ear for what works, even if they don't know anything about the mechanics of the magic.

It's the best money you could spend if you are really interested in refining your stage presence and acting ability. Why do you think professionals like Copperfield, Burton, those magicians working vegas showrooms etc. have a team of theatre folks framing the show and putting together the act... whether you work as a single or work with a team of assistants.

Try it... it will make a world of difference in your performance.

Al, that is the best advice anyone can give.

Thanks. I don't offer that advice as a pipe dream. I know what works. If more magicians would just realize that they are actors playing the part of a magician, it would make a world of difference in their performance.

When I watch my old videos of when I started to perform in front of real people I always think "please shoot that guy on stage..." such a terrible performance... But it's great if you have material of a few years and you can see a diffrence!
To watch how you become what you are now and how you become that is a very nice experience...

Great advice.

I enjoy reading your postings David. I personally have found that for me, audio recording my performances is more helpful. The reason why you have touched on already. Since we are not used to seeing ourselves, we become distracted by looking at ourselves. Oh, my pocket flap was out... my tie was crooked, I crossed in front of the spectator.

Assuming that the act is blocked and rehearsed to a professional level, listening to your delivery and the reactions of the audience is very helpful without the distraction of watching yourself. I agree that video can help early on, but once the act is polished, listening can be more helpful.

I use a small digital recorder that picks up my delivery and the audience response. The other advantage is that I can listen to the show on the way home from the gig when the performance is still fresh in my mind. Either way you choose, recording and reviewing your performances is essential for growth as a performer.

Great post David, I remember years ago I was working at the Benidorm Palace which has the largest stage in Rurope, somebody videoed it and sent me the tape, oh how I wished I could go back and change things. I think to see yourself from the outside is a great help, you will often be amazaed at the things you do repeatedky like touching your nose of coughing at key moments, until you see the tape you have no idea you are doing it. Great post.

Sound advice David. Watching a video is a bitter pill to swallow but the medicinal effects are worth it.

I had a show recorded in 2011 and learnt a lot from it. One thing that may interest some was my opening stage routine which begins with me removing a piece of index card and a pencil from my pocket to do my opening swami routine. However, on the night my pencil was not in my pocket, I'd forget to put it in there, so I had to walk back to my open briefcase stage left, remove a pencil, walk back centre stage and then proceed to "write something" behind my back.

It was only having watched that genuine mishap like an audience member, that I realised how much more convincing it was in the subconscious mind of the audience that I must be writing something or why would I have bothered walking back to my case to get a pencil! It was a very little thing, but now every show I do, I scriptingly (is that a word?) realise I don't have a pencil on me and go get one from my case

Andrew

For about a year I recorded all of my shows, and it is amazing how the audience can be thoroughly entertained yet I can only see where I messed up, where I said "um" and "now" way too many times.

Bobby

The presence of a camera increases um's and uh's, causes a less-than-ideal BMI, stumbly performances, etc. It irks me when I see myself shifting my weight for no good reason while standing in place.

Every time someone says, "can I see footage of your work to show my boss?" I wonder when I'll have a showreel that I like?

While I don't disagree at all, it's important to understand that an audience that has never seen you before sees you with different "eyes" that what you see on a video. They (I hope) are caught up in the excitement and fascination with the effects and stage presence. They don't notice or care about that stupid little hand position or what to you is an obvious tell. Video can't capture the energy of the show, the flow of the show, the way an audience "feeds" off of your energy and you "feed" off of theirs. None of these and other intangibles that make live performances exciting can be recorded. In other words, use taping to improve your show but instead of thinking, "That's terrible, I look stupid, I did this wrong, my timing was off, the staging is bad, etc., use the video as a way to determine how you can improve:

*don't be hypercritical. *

Great points about the audience being what's important. However, I think video DOES capture some of what's going on between the audience and the performer. Once you've watched and decided how awful YOU are, watch it several more times and pay attention to the AUDIENCE. Just as your attention needs to be on the audience rather than yourself when you're performing, the same is true to some extent when you watch the video. Watching it from the audience's point of view will give you much greater perspective and even artistic integrity.

The painter has to be able to back up from the painting to be able to see the work in progress and determine next moves. Don't just focus on yourself when watching the video. Back up and listen to how the audience is reacting. If they laugh, study what exactly is making them laugh. It's not usually just your line. It's your timing, your gestures, and your facial expression. If they're inappropriately quiet when your delivering your patter, figure out why. Perhaps it's even because you were too wrapped up in yourself while you were performing. There's so much to this.

I sometimes teach acting to mentalists and magicians, but I don't deal with characterizations or voices or "being theatrical." I teach how to be totally present in the moment and get your attention off of yourself or memorized lines and onto the volunteers and audience members. I take them through listening exercises and a "moment exercise" that show how to use whatever is going on internally or externally and feeding it into the performance, thereby making it more alive and exciting for the audience. An audience craves seeing something that is alive and has never happened before, but rather is happening now for the first time just for them. So when you're watching your videos, look to see if that aliveness and connection to the audience is there, or are you just keeping the attention on yourself?

I've never written about this before, so forgive me if it's fuzzy. I hope this perspective may offer a new way to watch the video where it's not all about you. After all, you are only one element of the performance. There is also the process of performing as well as what is performed. And then, of course, the audience. If you pull that off, you'll no longer be wrapped up in hating how you look onstage. You'll be engaged in the real work of creating a more alive and engaging experience for your audience.

Bill, I think you make some great points.

I especially like your approach to the acting for mentalists. Were I teaching from that point of view I'd have each performer come up with a complete backstory of important and some minor events from birth up to the presentation. It may be just the performer's current life or it may included some imagined or totally imagined events. Then, coming from that background, they need to be present in the moment as the character they're presenting.

As you point out, being aware of the audience is also vitally important. I remember giving a workshop a couple of years ago. I had planned it for weeks. In the middle, looking at the audience, I realized I was giving out too much information: a "data dump." I immediately change everything and went extemporaneous.

I learned I had a bad habit of "squinting" to try and raise my glasses higher on my nose (usually needlessly).