Thought For The Week December 7, 2009

"To be an idiot, you have to be an expert. It has to be so relaxed that it seems natural." - Rex Nolan

"For failure to work as a tactic it must be fresh and never forced. The trick is to make accidents seem as if they've never happened before." - Avner Eisenberg

Recently a family of entertainers attended a show where I performed my Torn and Restored Mismade Message routine. In the routine I "accidentally" drop a decoy packet of paper that the audience thinks contains the torn pieces. The daughter believed that I really had accidentally dropped the torn pieces. Afterwards she told her mother, "I can't believe that he fooled me like that. We perform that trick."

The reason that she was fooled is that the drop happens automatically during the action of opening the restored piece of paper. (The method is described in detail in Creativity For Entertainers Volume Three.) I never think about dropping the paper. I am not sure the exact moment that it is going to fall so I am actually surprised by when it happens. That little mental trick makes it seem to the audience that it is happening for the first time. Because I have become an expert at performing the trick I am completely relaxed while performing it.

Why is it important to be relaxed? Tension is one of the subtle cues that tell your audience that you are doing something. They may not understand what you are doing, but they unconsciously realize you are making an effort. Tension makes it seem forced and unnatural.

Muscle tightness is one of the effects of tension. Each person has a different place that they send their tension. I personally send it to my shoulders, as the muscles become tight my shoulders raise. Counteracting this tightness is one way of releasing tension and relaxing. So, if possible I do some brief stretching exercises back stage before a performance so I am relaxed when I start the entire show. One of the stretches that I do is allow my head to drop forward. Then with my arms hanging loosely I allow my spine to bend so my hands become close to the ground. Something I learned from Karen Hull Montenaro is that when you are stretching there should be "no ambition." She means that you shouldn't force the stretch, for example, trying to touch your toes. When you force the stretch you increase tension instead of releasing it. You can actually pull a muscle if you force a stretch too much.

A key is your breathing. When we concentrate on a task or are tense we tend to hold our breath. I am particularly aware of this when I am sitting in a dentist chair. That is the opposite of what we should do. In a mime class that I took in college I learned that our body fills with energy when we inhale and releases energy when we exhale. Releasing energy is relaxing. When I am stretching my back and shoulders, I consciously exhale which relaxes me allowing my muscles to lengthen so my hands come a little closer to the floor. I take a breath. Then a long, slow exhalation releases tension and gravity pulls my hands a little lower. I don't think about stretching. I concentrate on relaxing and the stretch happens.

When my act is announced I do a long slow exhalation to relax, and then a quick inhalation just as I make my entrance so I am full of energy when the audience first sees me. When I am aware that I am tense on stage, I purposely pause and take some deep breaths and exhale.

The best way to be relaxed on stage is to prevent tension in the first place by being thoroughly prepared. That provides confidence allowing you to relax making your actions believable.

When you need to do something accidentally, how can you make it happen automatically as part of the action of doing something else? Are you surprised when it happens?

Are you an expert at what you do? Are you confident in your ability to perform the technical aspects of your show? How can you relax while on stage? What can you do before your entrance to help you relax?

Are you aware of your breathing while performing? How can you use an inhalation to be filled with energy at the right time? How can you use an exhalation to relax at the right time?