James Brown had perfected his now well-known cape routine. Becoming seemingly consumed by sweat and emotion at the end of a performance, Brown would have someone throw a cape over his shoulders and begin to escort him off the stage. He would take a few exhausted steps with the cape on his back before throwing it off and running back to the microphone, straining his voice to the final levels it could reach while the audience went wild. It was the old dancer trick, which is the old beef trick, which is simply an old crowd trick: let the people believe you can’t take any more, and then give them
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