MSLEXIA BLOG LINKED POST | STAGE FRIGHT

This links in with my last blog for Mslexia...


Stage Fright
I fear some of you may feel a tad shortchanged with the lack of performance advice and tips I've given out in this blog, so I have written a few bullet points on my own personal blog for you.
If you you want to develop a spoken word show speak to arts council and literature funding bodies in your area, as well as new writing theatres and the people already doing the sort of thing you want to do. They should point you in the right direction. The Apples and Snakes website resources section has advice on performing poetry, slams, marketing yourself, preparing a 20 minute set, taking a show on tour, and performing at Edinburgh.You will need a sample of your work or wannabe show in order to get money or gigs or feedback. Try open mic nights. Try making a short video and popping it up on Youtube. At the very least, put pen to paper, or have a good writing CV to show them, something to spark their interest, to impress them.Go and see other shows. Meet other spoken word artists. Get a feel for what you do and don't like, what you do and don't want to do yourself and what is possible. If your area doesn't have many, drive or get a train or a bus to somewhere that does, get out there. Personally, I don't like taking part in slams, but you might love that. Find what you love. Pursue it.Consider taking time for research and development, for rehearsal. It is probably a good idea to have a director, most of the people I spoke to who are doing good, touring spoken word shows have a director. Collaboration is also not a dirty word. Why not get another performer in. Yes it means you have to split any cash you make, but it also makes things easier. Things like shifting your set from gig to gig, and filling in dreaded funding forms. Things like helping to keep your morale up on a long, stinky tour of small venues. Things like covering up that bit where you fall over, or fluff a line or get abducted by aliens.Learn your words. I repeat, learn your words. Record them onto your phone and take them out for walks in fields or parks where no-one can hear you muttering along to the tracks, or where no-one cares. You can read new stuff from the page, especially if you are trying it out at an open mic, but in the majority of cases I find it is frowned upon if you read poems in longer sets these days.  I blame the comics, and the musicians. If you get stuck, try rhyme and refrains. Try stage movement to jog the hashtag storage of your memory. Try anything and everything until you have learnt your words ;)If, for one reason or another, performance doesn't come naturally to you -- whether down to nerves, or a need to find your voice, or a lack of self esteem and confidence -- look into workshops and courses in your area. Many theatres and new writing centres offer acting classes and voice workshops and there are various public speaking, confidence and self-esteem boosting classes available through colleges, adult learning centres and possibly even through your day job. These can often be one-on-one too. If you attend a writing class or group, why not consider clubbing together to get a good performer to come in and run a workshop with you.Quick. Watch the BBC4 Evidently John Cooper Clarke documentary on iPlayer before it goes. He is a star in my eyes, who proved that poetry could be both intelligent and fun and performed in pubs and clubs, where I still think it sounds best. Four decades on,  the legend who 'outpunked punk' is still touring. Write, write, write. Then write some more.