Hitting the small time:
The "Occasional" entertainer
Want to quit your day job?
Me neither.
I’m what I would call an “occasional” performer. I do a couple of show per month – more at Christmas – and I’ve never had the urge to make performing a full time career. Quite frankly, I don’t enjoy the business side of show business or the solitary lifestyle.
I do, however, love performing. I’ve been entertaining with juggling and magic at various events, street corners, functions, tourist attractions, and festivals for over fifteen years. Throughout this time, my attitude has been that an audience does not care if I only perform once a month or a hundred times a month. They expect and deserve the same professional caliber show from whoever is on stage.
If a performer does not have the ability to provide a professional show, they have no business charging people to watch it.
That being said, the occasional performer has a built-in disadvantage compared to the full-time pro – lack of experience.
The only way to become a strong performer is to spend as much time on stage as possible, monitor the audiences’ responses, and modify the act accordingly. The occasional performer does not have that luxury. The very fact that they perform infrequently means that it is far more difficult to hone the skills needed for a high quality show.
This core problem – lack of time in front of an audience – manifests itself in different ways. If I only perform once a month and a new routine flops, how can I tell if I just had an off night or if the routine needs to be scrapped? How can my performance character evolve when I’m not performing? How can I learn to structure a half hour show when I don’t have the luxury of trial and error? How can I be comfortable in front of an audience when I haven’t performed in a month or two? These are the challenges an occasional performer must face.
I want to stress that even though it seems like a circular argument – you shouldn’t perform professionally until you have a professional quality show – it really isn’t. First, for the purposes of this discussion, I will define a professional quality show as the same level or higher of the full time professionals currently working in your area. Second, your first attempts at performing should not be paid ones – or at least, not well paid. Do a couple free shows for charity. Perform on a street corner. Run for office. Most importantly, invest as much time in thinking about the art of performing as possible.
Despite the fact that most performers fall into this part-time status, I have not read any practical advice aimed at solving the unique problems they face.
Over the next few posts, I hope to outline my thoughts on thriving as an occasional performer. I don’t claim to have all the answers. Instead, my goal is to ask the right questions. Feel free to ignore my own answers to these questions, though, and come up with your own. What works for me in my town may not work for you in yours. At the end of the show, the only true measure of success is the reaction of the audience.
Let’s make sure they’re laughing and clapping and asking for more.
