Speaker 1Shut up, and sit down. Welcome to Being On Stage, the only podcast that gives you motivation, inspiration, and confidence to be better on stage. No matter how you entertain, sing, dance, band, comedian, public speaking, MC, drag, burlesque, performance art, or street performer, this is the show for you. Hey Rockstars, it's Reggie Dawson, your host of Being On Stage. Welcome back, welcome back. First and foremost, thank you for listening. Secondly, if you haven't done so yet, please head over to iTunes and drop a five-star review. And then on your way out of iTunes, you can head over to beingonstage.com, pick up your free book, and check out the other episodes of this podcast. Today is the episode I've kind of been waiting for since the beginning of the podcast. And it's kind of a shout-out to how I started. I started performing, and the people that I performed with. So today's topic is lip-sync as an art form. I'm talking knowingly lip-syncing on stage in your performance. And it's not something that you only see drag queens and drag kings do. It's not something that you're only going to see on RuPaul's Drag Race. There are, you know, females, born female, that are considered drag queens. There are men that are born men that do drag. You know, drag is becoming a lip-sync style of art. And I wanted to do a focus on it because that's what I know. Like, that is where I came from. I was, I did drag as a man. And, you know, I dressed as a man. I performed as a man. I lip-synced as a man. And it was the most fun I think I've ever had on stage. So one of the first things I want to say, and I know a lot of people don't consider lip-sync an art. A lot of people don't consider drag an art. And I'm here to say, you're wrong. It isn't art. It's not a form. And I'm going to tell you why. And later in this episode, I'm going to tell you why every single person, every performer should perform as a drag performer. And by drag, I mean lip-syncing. When you lip-sync, it's not just mouthing the words. I mean, yes, it's part of it. You have to move your mouth to the words and you have to, like, you have to make it appear as if you're actually singing the song. So you're not actually lip-syncing the words, you're lip-syncing the sounds that the words are making. And I know that sounds a little messed up, that sounds a little backwards, but think about it. Think about songs that you really can't make out the lyrics, or maybe they sing with an accent, or maybe they have a different tone or a different pitch or a different inflection in their voice than you would. You have to change the formation of your mouth to match the sounds that they're making, not necessarily just the words. It's great to know the words, but lip-syncing is more than knowing the words. It's about forming your mouth to the sounds. The sounds of those words. In order to look like you're singing, learning to lip-sync, the best way I can probably say to learn to lip-sync is learn a song in a different language. And the reason is, is when you learn a song in your native language and you're going to lip-sync as a performance, you have a tendency of looking up the lyrics. And that's, to me, that's a false step. You shouldn't look up the lyrics unless, one, you already have your lip-sync down, and two, you're looking them up to determine the meaning of the lyrics. You're looking up the meaning of the song so you can convey the song correctly. The reason I say don't look up the lyrics while you're learning to lip-sync is, again, you're not lip-syncing the words, you're lip-syncing the sounds. You have to make your mouth look as if the words are actually coming out of your mouth. When you focus on lip-syncing the words, you're going to form the words how you would say them. And in order to lip-sync properly, you have to form the words as if you're the one singing them, as if you're singing the sounds coming out of the other person's mouth. Some of the best ways to learn lip-sync, again, lip-sync in a different language, it helps you learn it, learn from drag queens. Watch RuPaul's Drag Race, check it out. Watch how they lip-sync and how they form their mouths. I've worked a lot with drag kings, I've worked a lot with drag queens, both women performing as men, men performing as men, women performing as women, women performing as men, men performing as women. I think I covered all of it, I'm not really sure, to be honest with you. Lip-sync is everywhere, guys. Don't understand why a lot of people don't view it as an art, because it truly is everywhere. It's in commercials, music videos, lip-sync battle, the game show, it's everywhere. So you have to know this art form. Other ways to help you lip-sync better, watch yourself in the mirror, record yourself on video. Actually, there's an app, and a lot of people already use this app, especially in the younger generation, Musical.ly. Look it up, Musical.ly, it's like M-U-S. I-C-DOT-L-Y. Anyways, this app, it plays clips of songs, and you lip-sync to them, and you can slow it down, you can speed it up, you can do all sorts of different things, but either way, you can lip-sync, and you can watch yourself, and you can share it, and it actually would be really good for like drag queens and drag kings to use for promotions as well. Now, here we are. Why everyone should try performing in drag: One, when you lip-sync, and when you perform in drag, you actually have to perform. You have to truly perform without relying on your voice, or your jokes, or your dance moves. You only have what you can do on the stage, and the reason I say everyone should do this is, if you're a singer, or a dancer, or any kind of mainstream art, you can learn a lot from performing in drag, because when you sing, or when you play an instrument, and you're up on stage, your focus is going to be singing or playing that instrument. When you perform in drag, and when you lip-sync, you're going to be singing or playing that instrument. When you perform as lip-syncing, your focus has to be on the performance that you're presenting, and that's what this podcast is all about, is the performance. No matter who I coach, no matter who my client is, the very first performance they will ever do, maybe it's just for me, maybe it's for me and a couple of their friends, but the very first performance they will ever do as part of their training is lip-sync, and that is exactly why, is because the focus is on the performance. The focus is on the audience. The focus is not on what's coming out of your mouth, because there's nothing coming out of your mouth. The focus is not on the instrument that you're playing, because you're not playing an instrument. The focus is on what you can do with the stage that you have, and what you can do with your body. The movements you can do with your body, the facial expressions, the timing that you can convey, working the parts of the stage, and navigating around the stage, and truly connecting with your audience through a performance. Another reason everyone should do drag. Drag. You perform for tips. That's how you can kind of measure your approval rating with the crowd in a way, is through tips. So drag queens and drag kings, they perform for tips. All the lip-syncing and the outrageous costumes that you see on the TV shows, and the hair and the makeup, all of that is for tips. Now I've seen people walk away with $100, $150, $200 in tips off of a five-minute song, because that's the audience. They're showing their appreciation for them. So they work for tips. Everyone should have the experience of having to perform for only tips. Because trust me, that will get you out into the crowd. That will get you interacting with people. When those people are literally paying your bills, you will interact with them more. When there's a dollar in it for you, you'll walk up to them. You'll kiss their hand. You'll interact with them. You'll smile at them. You will be more personable with your audience if they tip you. Last reason. The reason that everyone should do drag, is it helps you communicate emotion. Again, the focus is on the performance, but when you have to lip-sync, and you can't convey with your own tone the emotion, and you can't convey with just the sound of your voice or the movement of your body, you have to actually convey someone else's emotion through you. So you have to connect with the song that you're performing, and then you have to provide that connection to the audience, so you're like the middle man. You're like the middle man. You're the middle man between the audience and the song, and in order to connect them, you have to show your emotions. Everything that I preach about on this podcast comes from my experience in doing drag, working with drag performers, and lip-syncing. Yes, I've worked with singers. I've worked with dancers. I've worked with all sorts of different performers, but it all comes down to the same thing: performing. I can't say it enough. When you step on that stage, you have to perform. You can't just get up there and strum a guitar. You can't just get up there and play. You can't just get up there and tell some jokes. You can't just get up there and sing, or dance, or twirl a baton, or mime, or twist some balloons together like a clown. You can't just get up there and do whatever it is you're going to do. You have to perform. That's what being on stage is all about, performing. I know this is a lot to digest, and maybe this is going to make some of my listeners view me a little bit differently, and that's okay, because you know what? My journey is my journey. I've been posting on social media all day today. I've been posting on social media all week. I've been posting all week about your journey, and your art, and your focus, and my focus, and how everybody has to develop their own things. If you're interested in seeing more on social media, you can connect with me. I'm on Twitter. I'm on Instagram. I'm on Facebook. Twitter and Instagram. It's @BeingOnStage, just like the podcast, @BeingOnStage. Facebook.com/BeingOnTheStage. I post videos, and motivational quotes, and sometimes a story here and there. So this is a lot to digest. I know some people may view me differently. That's okay, because I'm on my journey. You're on your journey, and this is where I come from. This is part of my history. This is part of who I am, and this is part of why I do what I do today that allows me to sit here in this podcast in my studio that is actually in my closet and allows me to bring you this podcast is my experience and my past performing drag, performing with drag queens and drag kings and all sorts of entertainers. I've seen people audition for all these crazy shows. I've worked with singers that have auditioned for American Idol, America's Got Talent, The Voice, all sorts of performers that have auditioned for all these shows. I've seen it all. Some of them I've gotten the privilege to help. Some of them have actually helped me, which I'm grateful for. But it all comes down to one thing, and that is the focus in all the performers that I've worked with, the focus is always on the performance and how it's presented. And that's one thing that anyone can learn from a drag queen or a drag king is how you present yourself on stage. It's important because that's how the audience connects with you is through your presentation. Watch yourself in the mirror, record yourself, and please, if you have the opportunity, like a talent show or even if you know of a local bar that does lip sync contests or anything like that, you should enter. You should give it a try. Even if you're a singer, even if you have an amazing voice, there is things that you can pick up from lip syncing that you may never discover on your current path. I encourage each of you to give it a try because it's out there and it is an art form. Again, those three reasons. You're performing for tips. That pushes you a little bit further. You have to truly perform and rely on different things than you do when you're doing your own art. And, you know, thirdly, you're learning to communicate emotion. All of these things are reasons that everybody should lip sync. So when you're learning to lip sync, just a little recap, when you're learning to lip sync, don't look up the lyrics. Just listen to the song over and over and over and over again until you know what your mouth is supposed to look like. Record yourself. Watch yourself in the mirror. Perform to yourself in the mirror. All these things are going to make you better. And even if this is not what you do, even if you're not a drag queen, even if you're not a drag queen, even if you only lip sync once in your life, make it awesome. Make it amazing and perform because that is what it's all about. Anytime you step on stage, it's all about the performance and how you present yourself. Send me an email if you want more information on lip syncing or working with me as a coach because I do coach people on performing. You don't have to be a drag artist, but I do coach people on performing. The email address is reggie at beingonstage.com. Speaking of beingonstage.com, you can also pick up your free e-book at beingonstage.com. Connect with me on social media. Let me know what you want. I'm here to ask, what do you need? Let me know, at beingonstage. You guys have a great day. day have a wonderful week and keep on shining
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