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Potty the Pirate Inner circle 4632 Posts |
I've noticed many times over the years that a real audience improves my performance. It's especially noticeable when I practise - just having someone to try out a new trick on can give me that "edge" that turns the trick into a performance. Sometimes I'll go to a gig and not be in the mood to perform, but as soon as I have the audience in front of me, something inside fires up, and I'm all ready to go. It feels as if there's a flow of energy during a live performance, from the performer to the audience and back again. I'd be interested to know how this phenomenon is perceived by other performers, and to know if anyone has any ideas of how to best use that energy? I think this energy flow helps create the excitement in a performance. In my case I sometimes feel possessed, as if it's no longer me in front of the audience, but some crazy spirit that animates me! Am I really crazy, or is this something others can relate to?
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Danny Diamond Inner circle Connecticut 1400 Posts |
I can relate 100%.
My best shows have been my bigger school shows, and my weakest have been little birthday shows with 5 kids. It's natural to feed off of the energy of the crowd. And the reactions from a big crowd, are obviously louder and more enthusiastic than a small group, so that motivates me too.
You don't drown by falling in the water;
you drown by staying there. - Edwin Louis Cole |
Al Angello Eternal Order Collegeville, Pa. USA 11045 Posts |
Ah yes adrenalin it always makes me perform better in front of an audience that I do at home.
HAVE FUN Al Angello
Al Angello The Comic Juggler/Magician
http://www.juggleral.com http://home.comcast.net/~juggleral/ "Footprints on your ceiling are almost gone" |
Steve V Inner circle Northern California 1878 Posts |
Well...of course. If no audience it isn't a performance. Odd question.
Steve V |
Scott O. Inner circle Midwest 1143 Posts |
I have notice that I tend to get paid better when I have an audience in front of me. (lol)
Do not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time you will reap a harvest, if you do not give up. Galatians 6:9
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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
I always feed off of the energy of the audience. I am sure others can relate. If I really connect with my audience early on, I just get more relaxed, more comfortable and I get so much more into the performance. the energy level of the audience directly affects me and how well I perform. I feed off their enrgy and excitement.
Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
Lee Darrow V.I.P. Chicago, IL USA 3588 Posts |
Up until recently, my average auience was about 250 to 300 people. Then I was booked to work Lipscomb University and wound up in front of 1,100 cheering students, standing on the arms of the auditorium chairs as I stepped on stage.
There is NO better way to get yourself in the right head space for a killer show than to get an opening reception like a rock star's! Lee Darrow, C.H.
http://www.leedarrow.com
<BR>"Because NICE Matters!" |
Danny Hustle Inner circle Boston, MA USA 2393 Posts |
Potty,
You are spot on. Best, Dan- "MT is one of the reasons we started this board! I’m so sick of posts being deleted without any reason given, and by unknown people at that." - Steve Brooks Sep 7, 2001 8:38pm ©1999-2014 Daniel Denney all rights reserved. |
honus Veteran user 354 Posts |
Longtime theatre guy here.
In the rehearsal process of every play, there comes a time when the cast NEEDS an audience. Rehearsal is vital, of course, but you reach a point when you have poured so much energy into the show that you are physically and emotionally exhausted. Then comes the audience. Their energy pours over the footlights and recharges the cast like NiMH batteries. You can FEEL it happening. How to best use it? Send it back. Give that energy right back to your audience, and they will double it and send it back to you. At the end of a performance that works like that, you'll wonder why anyone ever does anything else, because you'll be on a high you won't believe. |
Bill Nuvo Inner circle 3094 Posts or 2742 Posts |
I always say that one can only be as good as one's audience.
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Potty the Pirate Inner circle 4632 Posts |
Honus, that's exactly how I feel! I've been a performer for about 40 years now (since a very young age), and now when I have an audience in front of me I feel quite at home. If my show runs exactly as planned, that's great, but can be slightly "ordinary" from my point of view. On the other hand, when unexpected things happen, or I have the chance to improvise, I'm taking that energy flow and re-directing it someplace new. Using the energy flow in this way creates another level of excitement, and makes a show stand apart.
When working routines I know intimately, the patter, blocking, and moves all happen without conscious thought. Mostly when performing, my mind is on where the audience is at. Is everyone looking at me? Can I inject some impromptu humour? My conscious brain is free to think like this, since the show itself has become "self-working". Magicians and musicians are all familiar with this feeling to some extent. When I play the guitar, I can watch my fingers with awe as they dance over the strings. THEY KNOW what to do, I no longer need to think about it. The same is true when I perform magic, ventriloquism, or sing. I believe it's the same energy that causes "Stage Fright", you get that when you're bombarded by the flow of energy from the audience, and you don't know what to do with it. My first stage experience was when I was three, and I stood on a stage in front of several hundred folks in Weston-Super-Mare. I was TERRIFIED! Couldn't recite the poem I was going to, just froze up. The nice host gave me a lollipop anyway. I started performing the next year, and I never had stage fright again. |
nucinud Inner circle New York, New York 1298 Posts |
Quote:
On 2006-06-21 19:12, magic4u02 wrote: I agree. With some audiences, I have to make myself have a good time and with others. we are all having a good time.
"We are what we pretend to be" Kurt Vonnegut, jr.
Now U C It Now U Don't Harry Mandel www.mandelmagic.com |
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