Monday night at the fair was another experience in how audiences differ. My first show fell flat. The audience didn't respond, they just sat and watched. When I started my Human Puppet routine, the first adult selected, refused to help. This created a cascade effect. The "If he didn't want to do it, I'm not going to do it" mentality. I managed to save the moment, it wasn't the first time I've experienced this.
After the show, the audience got up and drifted off to other events. Was it a bad show? They stayed to the end. I'm certain they enjoyed the program. They just didn't respond.
My second and third shows were a night and day difference from the first. The audiences got into the show. Laughs flowed and the crowd packed the tent with standing room only outside. Some of the people from my first show were at these shows too. They must have liked it to come back. And this time they were laughing along with everyone else. After these shows, people stayed to talk.
It was a different moment, a different mindset, a different "audience". A few days ago I blogged about unrewarding shows - the last two shows of Monday night were the ones you love to have.
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3 comments:
We all live for those great audiences, that make all the hard work pay off, and dread the ones that sit there like a painting. It's the good ones that keep us doing what we do.
We enjoyed your show. My son later told me how funny it was. I appreciated how difficult it is to perform in front of people -- laughing or not!
As a kid, I had a Charlie McCarthy puppet (still do, as a matter of fact) along with the record teaching you how to "throw your voice." I never mastered it, and the puppet mostly just scared the heck out of me when I imagined him coming to life.
Uh oh. I just looked at him on the shelf. And he's looking back...
Thanks again for a lovely show!
M
Thank you very much! I appreciate you taking the time to not only watch my show, but also to find me on-line.
Charlie was a pretty nice character, so I don't think you need to worry about him. If you had a Chuckie doll, I'd think twice!
Again, thanks,
Tom
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