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Your stage persona

#41
skygzr said:
i made a comment in another thread that my stage self is much more confident than my regular self. I suppose the stage is a contained environment and you have license to be whoever you want. You expect a performer to be bigger than life.

I suspect many theater people are like this, too.

You?
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I have always been an outgoing person and am certainly outgoing on stage. I fell into a habit recently of bringing out my really bad Scottish accent at our gigs and it has been very well received.

I actually started using that accent many years ago with my son and then again when I started doing Rev War reenactments in VT. There were a lot of Scots in the Vermont area in the 1700's and I do have a bit of Scottish ancestry, so I started doing that. Folks always seemed to enjoy it, even when I was doing one on one explanations of history or historical techniques. That, by the way, is where the Scottish Tam I wear came from. Liked it too much to only wear at reenactments.

So that bad Scottish accent just seemed to pop right out there at my gigs too. It is a very exaggerated Scottish accent (nothing subtle about me on stage) reminiscent of Austin Powers' Fat Bastard. Just canna hep myself! Normally they are short little quips here and there as well as pointing out when someone really needs a refill (pub owner likes that!).
 
#43
Many is the time I've been told I'm the same person no matter what I'm doing or where I am. Which works for me, because I think that's the way I am too.

Guess what you see is what you get when it comes to me.
 
#44
2fgbzr.jpg
 
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#45
My poor guitar player was so traumatized by his last bass player's stage schtick that he's fighting even giving me (and the keyboardist, for that matter) a mic. That will change as I'm getting slowly worked into backup vocals, but damn, he is gunshy about it. Can't blame him. The last guy was pretty embarrassing and not the godsend to vocals he thought he was. Which is largely why I'm the bassist now.
 
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#46
My stage persona is what I would call relaxed, most of the time. What's important to me is showing interest in what the singer and other players are doing.

It's wierd what I do sometimes. The other day we were playing outdoors at a winery and while we were playing I literally turned away from the band and was watching a table full of people that were sort of around the corner while I was playing. When I caught myself, I realized that I was communicating out front that I wasn't really in the game. I was playing well, but sometimes I really space out I don't think that's good.

The positive comments on my playing usually include that I just look comfortable, in the background, in the groove, smooth. I don't get too wound up usually.

I sing a few songs, and get a little more jacked up then.
 
#48
I like being onstage. I don't have a shtick or anything, but one-on-one conversations and regular, small-talk socializing feel awkward to me. Giving a toast at a wedding or doing some other kind of speech is no more difficult, and probably easier. Being onstage with a band is the same. I'm a pretty good frontman in that I feel less like I'm under a microscope when I'm onstage with a mic then I do when I'm trying to converse. When all I have to do is play, it's easy-peasy.

My daughter, who is a much better performer than me, is the same way, so I can see the phenomenon through someone else's eyes. All the little tics that she does because she's slightly uncomfortable, like running her hands through her hair, look like rock star things when she's on stage.
 
#49
I am pretty much myself, but myself having a good time. So I come off like I am enjoying myself, as a number of folks have told me over the years.

I don't move around that much because most of the places I play are small, so I am just see to more or less staying put. When I get on a bigger stage I try to make a point of moving around a bit, but I need more practice to be better with that.
 
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#52
skygzr said:
i made a comment in another thread that my stage self is much more confident than my regular self. I suppose the stage is a contained environment and you have license to be whoever you want. You expect a performer to be bigger than life.

I suspect many theater people are like this, too.

You?
Click to expand...
I'm actually kind of an introvert. I'm fine talking one on one with people but absolutely hated taking public speaking/communications in college. My shyness has been mistaken for arrogance here and there and to fix that I put a lot of effort into how I interact with people at shows and do everything I can to let them know I appreciate their support. But when it comes how I am onstage Before we go on I get myself pumped up. Very much in the same way that I would for football and wrestling in high school. So I'm a kind of an animal onstage. And sometimes it shows in pictures.
1A06CDB7-9535-4C8E-94DF-745993528CB5.jpeg
 
#56
skygzr said:
i made a comment in another thread that my stage self is much more confident than my regular self. I suppose the stage is a contained environment and you have license to be whoever you want. You expect a performer to be bigger than life.

I suspect many theater people are like this, too.

You?
Click to expand...
All I know is when I step on stage it's a different world
 
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#57
skygzr said:
i made a comment in another thread that my stage self is much more confident than my regular self. I suppose the stage is a contained environment and you have license to be whoever you want. You expect a performer to be bigger than life.

I suspect many theater people are like this, too.

You?
Click to expand...
I've included my upscale stage Image and my real self just relaxing!!!
BFE7BB99-295B-4C3D-B8F8-BF0B34125BE4.jpeg

D2B78E40-98BF-4976-9B9C-16317B8A20BA.jpeg
 
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#59
I force myself into audience perspective so that every gaze, stroke, twist, grimace, leg kick foot stomp, arm swing etcetera is there to make people think:
"Damn! This dude is a serious badass -who -could make it look easy, but instead chooses the road less traveled, and strives to take the audience right along with him. The other 22 hours of the day I'm a mild mannered reporter for the daily planet.
 
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#60
Everybody has a different idea as to what they find entertaining. Eric Clapton is not very animated on stage, neither was John Entwistle but people find both of them to be entertaining. I would rather see a band of great musicians who just stand still than a band full of people jumping around who do not sound good. I am pretty much the same on stage as I am off. I move around a little but am not very animated. I interact with the audience and crack some jokes when appropriate just as I do when I'm offstage. I think sometime people try too hard to be different on stage. When they do, it usually looks fake or forced, sometimes to the point where it's uncomfortable for the audience. Just be yourself. Otherwise, you're just faking it.
 
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