Saturday, May 21, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Controlling Your Environment
As a performer who received much of my initial training in a theatrical setting, I have always placed a high importance on creating a mood. It’s one of my goals to create a mood from the moment someone walks into a theatre to see one of my shows until they leave. I think that proper pre-show music as well as proper lighting can build anticipation and get your audience excited about what is to come.
Some of my favorite moments when I attend shows are when you file into the theatre and feel the ambience. I believe that getting an audience into the right mindset to enjoy the upcoming show is just tremendously important.
I recently performed for a very high end corporate function and was immediately reminded why it is so important to control all elements of a production, especially the environment.
This specific event was lavish. It was in a beautiful hall that had been exquisitely decorated with the finest linens, flowers, stage settings, etc. Everything had been thought of and prepared perfectly.
I had been engaged to create an original, themed five minute sequence of magic that would add to the atmosphere. It really wasn’t a situation where I had very much control. I was a guest in someone else’s home, so to speak. I was supposed to come in, do my act, and that was that. Unfortunately I didn’t get to call the shots.
So, I arrived, set everything up, and waited until I was on. When I got my cue to take the stage, I took my place and executed my act. Everything went flawlessly. Unfortunately, nobody cared. Only a tiny portion of the five hundred guests paid any attention to what I was doing. It was painful.
Please understand this; I’m a very dynamic performer who commands the stage. I also have worked numerous events. I have had great success entertaining groups exactly like this one. This was an anomaly. But it’s the type of thing that drives me crazy and I just have to figure out what happened so it doesn’t happen again.
I’ve thought a lot about what happened and I have a few ideas on why it went so poorly. There were two major issues here. The first one was that I took the stage at the exact same time that the food was served. That one is really my fault. I shouldn’t have agreed to start the show when there was such a massive distraction. Honestly, I know better. I’ve known not to do that forever. Why I let it happen this one time, I’ll never know. Well, actually I do know, but I’m not going to lay the blame on other people. I’ll take the blame here. Chalk one more up to experience and things that I won’t let happen again.
However, in my opinion, the main problem here was that the environment was not controlled. If the environment had been properly focused on what was going on, this performance could have been a major hit. I really believe that it was as simple as dimming the lights. That’s it. If the lights in the main hall had been dimmed down to about 25% and the lights on the stage had been brought up to full intensity it would have been obvious that the program was beginning and everyone would have quieted down and started watching the program while they ate. You know, this one simple thing would have helped me, but it also would have helped the program chairs who went on immediately after me and were somewhat ignored for the first few minutes of their speech as well.
I really believe that it is as simple as that. If you work in corporate settings, please take a lesson from this. If you want to focus people’s attention on a show or a speaker, you must control the environment and give your program or speaker every chance to succeed.
Some of my favorite moments when I attend shows are when you file into the theatre and feel the ambience. I believe that getting an audience into the right mindset to enjoy the upcoming show is just tremendously important.
I recently performed for a very high end corporate function and was immediately reminded why it is so important to control all elements of a production, especially the environment.
This specific event was lavish. It was in a beautiful hall that had been exquisitely decorated with the finest linens, flowers, stage settings, etc. Everything had been thought of and prepared perfectly.
I had been engaged to create an original, themed five minute sequence of magic that would add to the atmosphere. It really wasn’t a situation where I had very much control. I was a guest in someone else’s home, so to speak. I was supposed to come in, do my act, and that was that. Unfortunately I didn’t get to call the shots.
So, I arrived, set everything up, and waited until I was on. When I got my cue to take the stage, I took my place and executed my act. Everything went flawlessly. Unfortunately, nobody cared. Only a tiny portion of the five hundred guests paid any attention to what I was doing. It was painful.
Please understand this; I’m a very dynamic performer who commands the stage. I also have worked numerous events. I have had great success entertaining groups exactly like this one. This was an anomaly. But it’s the type of thing that drives me crazy and I just have to figure out what happened so it doesn’t happen again.
I’ve thought a lot about what happened and I have a few ideas on why it went so poorly. There were two major issues here. The first one was that I took the stage at the exact same time that the food was served. That one is really my fault. I shouldn’t have agreed to start the show when there was such a massive distraction. Honestly, I know better. I’ve known not to do that forever. Why I let it happen this one time, I’ll never know. Well, actually I do know, but I’m not going to lay the blame on other people. I’ll take the blame here. Chalk one more up to experience and things that I won’t let happen again.
However, in my opinion, the main problem here was that the environment was not controlled. If the environment had been properly focused on what was going on, this performance could have been a major hit. I really believe that it was as simple as dimming the lights. That’s it. If the lights in the main hall had been dimmed down to about 25% and the lights on the stage had been brought up to full intensity it would have been obvious that the program was beginning and everyone would have quieted down and started watching the program while they ate. You know, this one simple thing would have helped me, but it also would have helped the program chairs who went on immediately after me and were somewhat ignored for the first few minutes of their speech as well.
I really believe that it is as simple as that. If you work in corporate settings, please take a lesson from this. If you want to focus people’s attention on a show or a speaker, you must control the environment and give your program or speaker every chance to succeed.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Adventures on the High Seas-Days 7, 8, & 9
Here are the last few days from our adventure at sea last December.
Day 7 - We spent the day in FL today. Most of my days spent in FL are used to catch up on email, phone calls, etc. Today was no different. We found a cool little Starbucks and I took care of some emails and made a few business calls. Afterwards, we had lunch at a fun Mexican restaurant and headed back to the ship early to prepare for that night’s show.
One of the fun parts of working on a ship is getting to know the crew/staff. Kristin and I found ourselves hanging out at the onboard piano bar/pub several nights after our shows and we befriended the bartender Dedi. Dedi is a huge fan of magic and we enjoyed hanging out with him.
Day 8 – Today we were back in Freeport for our final day in the Bahamas. Kristin and I decided to head into town and do a little souvenir/Christmas (remember this was back in December) shopping. I met a cool lady in the straw market who wove a bag that I bought for my sister. We finished our time off at the Our Lucaya Resort beach working on our tans.
We had a great final show tonight and got everything packed up and ready for an early disembarkation.
Day 9 – So we got off the ship nice and early, made it through customs and waited for our show props to arrive. We waited, we waited some more, and then we waited awhile longer. After waiting for an hour and a half, I finally discovered that our props had been delivered about an hour and a half earlier but were just sitting in the customs area waiting to be claimed. I must give a really nice lady customs officer some serious thanks for locating my equipment and then helping me get everything through the system so I could pack it up in the cargo van. After Kristin and I finally got everything loaded, it was pretty uneventful. We drove fourteen and a half hours back home to Nashville from FL. The next day I returned the cargo van to the rental company.
That pretty much wraps up my very first cruising adventure. I’ve found that every time I perform in a new setting there is a new set of challenges to overcome. That’s one of the major challenges of being an entertainer. At first, it was totally stressful and overwhelming, but I’ve come to enjoy it. In fact, I would say that I’ve learned quite a bit about dealing with the challenges of life from the challenges that I face as an entertainer. I hope that you too are able to embrace all the challenges that life throws at you and come out as a conqueror with some fantastic adventure to share.
If you just joined this little adventure, click here and start the journey at the beginning.
Day 7 - We spent the day in FL today. Most of my days spent in FL are used to catch up on email, phone calls, etc. Today was no different. We found a cool little Starbucks and I took care of some emails and made a few business calls. Afterwards, we had lunch at a fun Mexican restaurant and headed back to the ship early to prepare for that night’s show.
One of the fun parts of working on a ship is getting to know the crew/staff. Kristin and I found ourselves hanging out at the onboard piano bar/pub several nights after our shows and we befriended the bartender Dedi. Dedi is a huge fan of magic and we enjoyed hanging out with him.
Hanging onboard with Dedi, the bartender.
Day 8 – Today we were back in Freeport for our final day in the Bahamas. Kristin and I decided to head into town and do a little souvenir/Christmas (remember this was back in December) shopping. I met a cool lady in the straw market who wove a bag that I bought for my sister. We finished our time off at the Our Lucaya Resort beach working on our tans.
We had a great final show tonight and got everything packed up and ready for an early disembarkation.
Bahamian strawmarket shop owner who wove a cool little bag for my sister.
Day 9 – So we got off the ship nice and early, made it through customs and waited for our show props to arrive. We waited, we waited some more, and then we waited awhile longer. After waiting for an hour and a half, I finally discovered that our props had been delivered about an hour and a half earlier but were just sitting in the customs area waiting to be claimed. I must give a really nice lady customs officer some serious thanks for locating my equipment and then helping me get everything through the system so I could pack it up in the cargo van. After Kristin and I finally got everything loaded, it was pretty uneventful. We drove fourteen and a half hours back home to Nashville from FL. The next day I returned the cargo van to the rental company.
That pretty much wraps up my very first cruising adventure. I’ve found that every time I perform in a new setting there is a new set of challenges to overcome. That’s one of the major challenges of being an entertainer. At first, it was totally stressful and overwhelming, but I’ve come to enjoy it. In fact, I would say that I’ve learned quite a bit about dealing with the challenges of life from the challenges that I face as an entertainer. I hope that you too are able to embrace all the challenges that life throws at you and come out as a conqueror with some fantastic adventure to share.
Photo from the Our Lucaya Resort-Freeport, Bahamas
If you just joined this little adventure, click here and start the journey at the beginning.
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