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On Stage Banter

#22
For gosh sakes don't say "the drunker you get, the better we sound". It's just not funny any more.

I'll never forget the "frontman" of a band I saw in Hollywood in the 80s. It was one of those clubs where even the door guy had eyeliner on. This "frontman" had one theme, and only one. It was "who will give me a BJ?" He mentioned it between just about every song, and went on at length about it several times. He literally had nothing else on his mind. I guess he was one who believed it never hurts to ask... and ask... and ask...
Somehow I doubt he ever got one.

So yeah, I advise you not to do that...
 
#23
I'd say that less is more. Insider jokes between the band members is lame and confusing for any audience member and I'm all for keeping a groove going. Never stop the music, watching people on a dance floor waiting for the band to get it together and start another tune is painful, give them something and for sure always mention & compliment the staff on hand...To me that's more important than even mentioning individual band members...
 
#25
You can either live good or die horrible flaming death with stage banter. After all this time I think it comes down to making the audience feel comfortable & "part of the fun". Never ask what they want. Tell them what they want. It's ok to be funny-I do a bit with my vocal processor where God informs Moses about the "11th Commandment"(circumcision). But being funny is difficult to do all the time & I only try when I feel it will work. Try to stay away from inside band jokes. They are not funny to civilians & it excludes them. I totally stay away from politics, even at political gigs. We're there to entertain....period.
 
#27
Scripting is obvious to the audience, especially if they attend more than one show. It's ok to have a solid idea of what you might talk about, but actually writing out the words seems a bit much. If you are able to stand up there and play you ought to be able to speak off the cuff successfully for short periods of time. If you get up there & act scared or uncomfortable & they smell blood, that's it.
 
#29
I hate it when someone in the band needs to tell you the history of each song and everything else. I worked at a bar where one girl would come in and do an accoustic act. She was very good, but between songs she would go on and on about anything and everything. It got so annoying I began to razz her a bit by pretending to take notes- then I would ask her to repeat things because my pen ran out of ink and stuff. It bordered heckling, but she did ease off on the monologues and lessons.
 
#31
COOL AND DEADLY said:
I hate it when someone in the band needs to tell you the history of each song and everything else. I worked at a bar where one girl would come in and do an accoustic act. She was very good, but between songs she would go on and on about anything and everything. It got so annoying I began to razz her a bit by pretending to take notes- then I would ask her to repeat things because my pen ran out of ink and stuff. It bordered heckling, but she did ease off on the monologues and lessons.
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THIS drives me nuts. I've seen acts that spend more time discussing/explaining their songs than playing them. :rollno:

A guitar player in one of my bands was also incredibly cringe worthy. He did backup vocals so he had a mic, but tended to ramble and make inside jokes. Just terrible. We've all but shamed him out of it after a while, but it drove me nuts in the interim.

I saw Mike Doughty a few months back and he does shows with just acoustic guitar and his bassist playing a small scale upright. Lots of talking/banter with the crowd but not excessive. Just entertaining. Made it a much better show IMO. But I also saw Bob Mould years ago and I think he said less than ten words the whole time. Also a great show. So it really depends. The key is not to force it.
 
#32
I did some gigs with a good friend in the months following 9/11 and he insisted on mentioning it on the microphine. It made me uncomfortable and I hinted that we were there to temporarily take peoples mind off of that stuff. Eventually he ceased talking about it but I was sure uncomfortable when he was.
 
#33
gweimer said:
Working an audience is an art form all its own. A really good front man can talk between songs, and entertain the audience while he does it. It takes being able to read the crowd and work with them. As with musicians, there are more people doing it than are actually good at it.
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Last showcase we did, the pretentious singer/songwriter introduces an original tune dedicating it to 'the future Mrs. G" (His last name begins with G). I quipped to the drummer "wherever he is" and the band just cracked up on stage, very funny.
 
#34
Our singer usually pulls out some guy/girl from the audience and has his arm round there shoulders whilst singing one of our songs(punk band) so it does get quite rowdy lol. He did it a few weeks ago and asked the guy his name he said "My name is Dick" singer goes "Dick? Thats your name??, boy it sucks to be you" crowd errupts in laughter and the guy came up afterwards and said it was a brilliant show and thanked the singer lol
 
#36
Depends what type of band your in.... If you just do all your own songs. nothing worse than the whole band talking in between songs...

Keep it short... song names, and that should come from whoever the main singer of that song is... It's hard enough sometimes to understand what the frontman is sayin... when 3 or 4 people are all talkin on stage it's impossible.

Another thing is, if you are playing to people from a different country... they wont understand 90% of the things you say...

This is advice that was give to my band by out tour manager... and he's tour managed some pretty huge people...


And that comment, you want to come off cool... it's the daftest thing i have ever heard...

Long story short... people pay to see a band for the music... not because they are stand up comedians.
 
#38
We used to try this. It did not work.

So we simply cut the dead space entirely and worked on transitions from one song to the next instead. To compensate for broken strings, lost picks, tuning, etc. etc. the drummer and I simply launch into a drum and bass groove that the offending guitard will join in on once they're done doing whatever it is they're doing.
 
#39
After reading many suggestions in this thread I can see why this area of performing is so bad most of the time. My suggestion would be to simply have something to really say and be yourself and try to really communicate to the people. Do not try to practice some prefab shtick. Just be honest, talk to the house like you would talk to a friend. If you have something to say then say it. If you don't then don't say anything. If there is a technical reason the show has to be held up(like tuning)then just say that. The more real you are the easier it is for you and the audience will respond. Honest communication builds rapport. Cheesy cliches makes you sound like Bill Murray in his SNL bit.
 
#40
613 laws....but I bet the others aren't quite as horrifying as that one. Can you imagine what the 1st guy was thinking when they whacked his pp? Yeah, it's a funny bit, but I don't do it all the time. I can only imagine what a stand up comedian must go through. Tough job for sure. When it's going right it's the easiest thing in the world. But then there's the rest of the time. With singing and playing, you can kind of hide behind the band or material. With comedy you are just on your own up there......yikes!
 

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