This was a great resurrected thread. Thanks for bringing it back! I must
have missed it the first time; it was probably during NAUCC.
Yes, to be a performer is not to simply do hard stuff. Especially in a
"street" situation. You need to establish a relationship with your
audience, and build on that. For a small and simple school performance,
the best approach is probably to show how fun it is, and approcach from
the point of view of "Look what *you* can learn how to do!" The worst
approach is to be something like "Look how clever I am; I can do this
and you can't." That will get you beat up after school.
With more lead time, you can do an "act." But this requires preparation,
choreography, music, etc. The demonstration format originally described
by Tyler is probably the best way to show unicycling in a school
environment with no act. I should know, the vast majority of my
performing experience is in schools (but with an act).
joe said:*He said that the other guy with the devil stick was too good, and not
enjoying it enough.
It don’t matter how good you are, as long as you enjoy it!*
Too true. Or, more accurately, as long as *your audience* can see you
enjoy it. Ever notice how some performers have fairly lame skills, but
everybody still loves to see their shows? That's because they are good
performers. And on the other side of the coin, some of the best
practicioners of any skill are boring to watch, because they don't know
what to do with an audience.
I remember once watching a performance by an IJA champion. She (sorry,
that's a bit of a giveaway) was at a renaissance faire, and her act
included reading Shakespeare while juggling five clubs. It was the most
boring thing I've ever seen. The juggling skill was extremely high, but
she didn't know what to do with it.
So to be a "variety arts" performer is not so much about what tricks you
can do. Tricks are important, but they don't make the act. Watch other
performers. Learn how to work an audience.
Chirokid,
What a sad story you told about your flower trick, and the sad faces on
your female victims! Aww. And where Mikefule's suggestion was great,
here's another approach:
Remember some of the basics of a traditional clown character. If he
"plays a trick" on you, the laughs should be on everyone, not at a
victim. Or they should be at the clown. So how to remove the victim from
this situation? It's something we used to do in our school shows with a
spinning plate. You get the thing going, then offer it to a kid from the
audience. Then you walk away with the plate spinning on your finger,
while the kid is left holding a stick.
Big laughs, but then what? Not ha-ha at the kid, but you pretend you
don't know where it went!
So, I'd hand the flower to my victim with my left hand, extended out to
my left side. Then I look to the right, to the opposite side of the
street or whatever, as I lift up the flower and turn away. I circle all
the way around as a gesture to show off what a gentleman I think I am.
As I circle back to the woman, my head is still turned away from the
hand, which is still holding the flower up high.
Now I get another laugh as I react to the stem the woman is holding.
Everybody knows it's my fault, but I get to spend some time wondering
where the flower went. I can gesture at her with moves that say "Where
is it?" or "What happened?" I can look around her, at her feet, behind
her, all the while holding the flower up high in my left hand. I might
even look in her mouth "Did you eat it?"
Eventually I will notice I've still got the flower, with a big
double-take. Oh! The joke's on me. Though it was on her briefly, I have
transferred it back, so she's not left as the butt of my joke. Then I
can give her a token, or just head on down the street, as parades
generally keep moving. I can't give her the flower now, as it's no good
without a stem.
If there were more time, a typical clown might produce or make her a
balloon animal. I never learned that skill, as I was always surrounded
by others who could do it. Plus, I could never inflate those stupid
things with my own lung power!
--
johnfoss - Walkin' on the edge
John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com
"Read the rules!" -- 'IUF Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/rulebook/) -- 'USA Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/usa/competition/)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
johnfoss's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/832
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/27013
