Monday, November 5, 2012

Make Sure Your Audience Enjoys You

“I don’t accept the judging of process.  It doesn’t matter that you like to rehearse with your nose up against the flat...saying lines...that doesn’t matter...We’re all trying to get to the same island.  Whether you swim, fly, surf or skydive in.  It doesn’t matter.  What matters is when the red light comes on...Our job is not for us to enjoy it.  Our job is to make sure they enjoy it.”-Jerry Seinfeld with Michael Richards in Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (12 min mark)

I’ve often said that actors and performers have a sacred and high calling.  Performance in its purest form requires joy and truth and often leads to an unexplainable cosmic connection between performer and audience.  There is just something magical when a group of people respond to a performer with applause, shock, laughter, or tears.  In those quick moments, a mutual understanding occurs often without any words.  Strangers become best friends and enemies become allies; all because of the power of the performance.  The opposite is true if the performance is poor.  Either way, there is always an end result with performances.  

Sometimes performers knock it "out of the park," other times we strike out swinging, and sometimes we may not even get in the game.  I find so many performers get caught up in the end result of our performances instead of the power of the performance itself. That's what I love the most about Seinfeld's comments from the wonderful web series "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee."  The problem with many performers is that we get too caught up with our own feelings that we forget the feelings of our audience: we become (as Michael Richards says) "selfish performers instead of selfless performers."  Being selfish means that the performance is all about us: our look, our insecurities, our ego or our pride and self-esteem.  When we are selfish, we gauge a performance on how much we enjoyed our performance.  When we are selfless, we put our insecurity, discomfort and anxiety aside so we can focus on truthful, human, and expressive performances that inspire and move audiences.  


This dilemma between selflessness and selfishness comes down to a question of focus.  Who are we paying attention to?  Are we so caught up with our own issues, shortcomings, successes, failures etc. that we fail to focus on the reality of the performance right in front of us?  Too often performers worry about image, look, status and career growth instead of truthful, honest, REAL, and engaging performances.  I would make the strong case that audiences want to see the latter, instead of the former.  Audiences want to see performers that are enjoying themselves.  They pay to see performers give their all like the hardest working athletes in professional sports.  They cheer and reward passion and commitment to the performance.  They jeer fake, false and safe performances. 

The other strong piece of advice given by Seinfeld is that the bickering about who has the best “process” or “theory” is pointless and truly misguided (review this past entry on theory) The preparation, the process, the pre-performance ritual is important and often sacred to many.  What ultimately matters in the long run is when the “red light” goes on or when the director shouts “action.”  What separates the amateur from the professional is not how much or where you have studied, but rather what you can do when the cameras are rolling or the show opens.  The preparation and process are necessary elements of the performance journey but they should never make us lose sight of the true destination: honest and truthful performances.  

The preparation and process can only take us so far.  After that, we should lean on that foundation for support when we need it and trust our instincts and natural honest responses in the performance at hand.  It is then and only then when the connection between audience and performer becomes sacred.  It is in that connection where both audience and performer reach mutual understanding, and mutual enjoyment.  

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