Thursday, December 16, 2010

Stand-Up Comedy Part 4


A Bit Nerve-Racking

Anybody who has been through a performance contest knows that it’s a bit nerve-racking to wait through twenty or thirty people before it’s your turn. My biggest worry was that I would get distracted and lose my train of thought, as I have a horrible memory. But I finally got called up and made a big dealing out of shooing the MC off my stage, because I wanted the audience to be chuckling before I started. 

I spent a second or two grinning at the crowd, and then started my line, “How many of you have watched the Twilight movies?” and got a nice roar. Couldn’t believe how steady my voice was. Years before, I’d volunteered at the church I was attending to give talks for Mother’s Day, Veteran’s Day, etc. Every time, I was so pumped full of adrenalin, the knees would shake so hard you could hear them, and for the first few minutes, the voice would quiver like a violin string on speed. I’d make the pastor promise to drag me behind the choir loft if I fainted, and the chuckle I got out of that one calmed me down a little.
But up on that stage, my voice (and my knees) were rock solid; not a sign of nerves. I wasn’t at all scared, I was happy and having a great time with the crowd.

2 comments:

  1. I've had that experience. When I was a kid, any time I got up in front of the class to speak, or singled out to play my part in front of the orchestra, I'd freeze and feel like fainting. But now I can walk into a library full of teens and talk for 2 hours and feel very comfortable and engaged. I think it's a lot practice, but also confidence in what you are presenting. I'd love to hear you perform sometime.

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  2. Thanks for the vote of confidence! I will indeed keep readers up to date as to where I am performing, if you don't mind coming to Mid-Michigan. The goal is to give at least two performances of either stand-up or storytelling per month, but to be honest, I haven't set up anything yet for January. Had to get over the Christmas stuff.

    It's been suggested I put my acts on video and post on utube, but am not ready for that part yet. Since I have dial-up, utube won't work for me, so I've never even seen somebody else's work.

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