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, rock stars, it's your host, Reggie Dawson. Again, this is the Being On Stage podcast. Welcome back. Thank you so much for tuning in. Can I ask you a favor right off the bat? I know I'm asking for favors, but can I ask you a favor? Can you go into iTunes and drop a five-star review for this podcast and subscribe while you're at it? I would greatly appreciate it. It helps other people find the show. It also makes sure that you get all the latest episodes, and there is so much more to come. You will not want to miss it. Speaking of not wanting to miss it, if you want to get it, Insiders look at more behind-the-scenes podcast information. You can go to beingonstage.com slash group, and you can join our free Facebook group. I'm in there every day. You can network with other performers of all different types. We've got a good group going, so come on into the group. We'd love to have you. Greatly appreciate it. When you get in there, make sure you introduce yourself using your name, your stage name. What's in a name? What is your name? When you step on stage, what do people call you? Do you go by your legal name? I'm sort of against that. If you do, I'll tell you why here in a few minutes. I just want to dive in a little bit and get you kind of thinking about it. If you don't have a name that you specifically go by, you may want to consider coming up with one after this podcast. All performers should have a name on stage. If you go by your legal name, I get it. There's an attachment there. You want to be authentic. I'm all for authenticity, but I'm also all for people remembering you because as authentic as you are, they may remember you, but if they can't remember your name or if they don't know how to spell or pronounce your name, they're not going to be able to find you when they do remember you. And thus, the chances of them coming to another show or subscribing to your newsletter to see what's going on with you and where you're going to be or finding you on social media, they're just going to have to try and maybe run into, another performance that you do at some point. So, it's easy to help people remember you if you have a name. A name that is easy to pronounce, easy to spell, kind of like spelled like it sounds kind of deal. It's kind of like an author has a pen name. A performer should have a stage name. Now, I'm not completely out of the blue coming up with this. There's performers of all different types from all different eras, eras, time periods, all different time periods, that have had stage names. This is not a new concept. You think about, you know, the more modern performers. You have, you know, Katy Perry. You have Bruno Mars. You know, Nicki Minaj. All these names are stage names. Miley Cyrus is a stage name. Although, I think she did legally change her name. Even people going back a little bit, you know, Shania Twain, Dido back in like the, you know, early 2000s and 90s and everything. You know, Marilyn Manson was not his stage name. Then, going back a little bit. Going back even further. You got, you know, David Bowie. You got people like Marilyn Monroe. Like, this goes way back. You have people like Marilyn Monroe. Even other, other styles of performing. You know, performers like Fred Astaire. Bozo the Clown. Like, come on. Harry Houdini, also not his real name. Even people like Judy Garland. Like, these are all people that have had to, you know, shorten or modify or, you know, completely come up with and create a stage name. A name that they use to perform. I, myself, had a stage name. And I'm going to share it. For the first time, like, publicly. I'm going to share my stage name. You know, my stage name. I wanted it to be something playful. I wanted it to be flirty. The style of performing that I do, you know, is a little dancing. And the persona that I chose and that I created. And I'm going to get into stage persona in the next episode. It's kind of like a little two-parter. So, even another reason to subscribe. When I was kind of designing my character and my persona and who I'm going to be on stage. I wanted a name that I could use. A name that kind of represented who I was. Now, on some levels, I wanted to be regal. I wanted to be majestic. I wanted to be respected. You know, I wanted a name that was kind of noble. But on the other hand, I wanted something playful and flirty. And, you know, kind of representative of a part of me that I never got a chance to be. Because I was very shy as a child and as a teenager. Very shy combined with being very sheltered. I didn't get a lot of chance to be that party, flirty, playful type of guy. I wanted to kind of represent that. Because that was the person that I was choosing to be on stage. That was the persona that I created. But I wanted to play off a little bit of my name. And I wanted something playful and majestic. So, you know, I kept Reggie. Reggie is something that's kind of been with me since the beginning. So, I kept Reggie. And then I just played off of, you know, what could I go that was a little majestic and a little regal. And, you know, I played off a couple of different things. I thought about a couple of different last names and everything. And then I chose to have a middle initial because I thought it was a little more, you know, noble. And I chose the middle initial of B. So, Reggie B. Then what? I chose Coxworthy. I thought it was noble. I thought it was regal. So, my stage name became Reggie B. Coxworthy. And that's who I was on stage. That's how I was announced. I love the way it sounds when it's announced. I love the way that it just kind of rolls out. And I also love the way that I can sign my name. And it's like, I love everything about it. I absolutely love my name. So, that's what brings me to my next step. My next thing is when you're creating your name. Now, first step is you got to have a name. There's no way around it. You got to have a stage name. If your name is easy to pronounce and easy to spell, that's fine. But you really should have a stage name. One of the reasons I kind of push people to have stage names is let's talk about safety. You know, like you're going to be in front of people. And at times, there are people that are going to try to view you as more than a performer in a way that you may not appreciate. There are people that, I mean, let's be real. There are entertainers out there that have had and will have stalkers. And if you're using your legal name on stage, it makes it all the more easier for people to find you. Like the real you. Not the stage you. Not the person that you are when you're performing. I'm all about authenticity. But there's also a line. You know, if you're a fan, you're a fan. That's great. If you're a friend, you're a friend. That's great. I'm all for being friends with my fans. But it doesn't mean I want them finding me. I want them finding my house and my family and that kind of thing. Like that's the level that I'm talking about. So there are people out there that will be like that. I've had it happen. You don't want a fan showing up at your house. So one, you've got to think about safety. Especially if you've got a family. I'm always very much pro stage name. Think of something. It doesn't matter if you use like part of your name. You can use pieces of your name. You can shorten it. If you have a longer name, you can shorten it to something a little easier to pronounce. And that's what these people did. You know, they chose something that was a piece of their name. Whatever it is, you've got to put thought into it. You don't just want to pick something on a whim. You don't just want to like think of something funny when you're, you know, drunk or whatever. And just go with it. Like you want to put some real thought in it. Because think about this. Somebody, five, ten years from now. Somebody may remember your show. And if they remember your show and they liked your show. I've seen this happen, folks. Like not a joke. Ten years down the line. If they remember you. And there they drop the stage name. Now let's say you're like, you know, you're like 35. And you chose the name Baby Boy. True story. Had an 18-year-old performer. Wanted to go by the name Baby Boy. Yeah, you're 17, 18. I get it. That is great when you're 17 or 18. What about when you're 35? This happens. So when you're 35 and someone comes up. Hey, aren't you Baby Boy? Dude, you're 35. And here's this name popping up. How's it going to make you feel? Are you going to roll your eyes at it? Are you going to be sick of hearing it? Or are you going to roll with it? Hey, yeah, yeah, I am. Thank you very much. This is my family. You know, I don't do that anymore. If it happens to me, I roll with it. Hey, yeah, thank you very much. Yes, that is me. I did perform there. This is my family, my wife, my kid. And, you know, I roll with it. But you don't want that to happen. Like, you don't want to be 10 years down the line. And you're just like, ugh. I hate that name. I can't believe I was so stupid to choose that name. That's why you got to put real thought into it. Something that may work in the moment may not work for you 5, 10 years down the road. Let's think about if you are still performing 15 years down the road. You still going to go by Baby Boy? Like, come on. You got a freaking beard. You're going gray. You're going to have to eventually branch out and change it. And that brings us to the next topic when it comes to your name. Changing your stage name for any reason is real dangerous. The last thing you really want to do is change your stage name. And this is why you got to put so much thought into it at the onset when you're coming up with your name. Because changing it is drama. And if you want to hear about drama, go back a few episodes. It's called The Big D. I was in a dark place. That's all I'm going to say. But you know what? It's a drama. - Yeah. your name can bring on some drama because, you know, people are going to question why you're changing your name. You're going to hear that a lot. Hey, I thought you went by this. Why the change? People are going to question it. Rumors are going to flare up as to why you changed your name. You could tell nobody that you even changed your name. And next thing you know, there's some rumors about how you changed your name because you went through a bad breakup and got addicted to smack and you've never done drugs in your life. But that can actually happen. Change your name. People will make up reasons in their head as to why you changed your name. So then you have to live with the questions. You're going to be explaining why you changed your name over and over and over again. Think about that performer that saw you two years ago when you went by something else. Yep, you're going to have to explain your name change to them too. Some people are not going to understand. Let's say you change your name for a legitimate reason. Like you went with the name Baby Boy. Your career exploded. You didn't know that you were going to be performing so long. You really changed your name. Cool. Legit reason. Change your name, but be ready to explain it. But some people may not understand reasons why you change your name. Like if you change your name for your reputation, that's dangerous. That's a dangerous path. I've actually known a guy and I don't remember his name. I wouldn't want to name drop this on here if I did, but I actually know a guy, knew of a guy that changed his name because he had such a bad reputation for his first stage name. I mean, bad. I mean, performers didn't want to work with him. Promoters didn't want to work with him. Clubs didn't want to work with him. Nobody wanted to work with this guy. Nobody. And so he changed his stage name and he got like 20 bookings. He just called up and, you know, nose to the grind, like hit, hit the pavement, called people. And, you know, he set up like 20 bookings under this new stage name, shows up. Every single one of them is the same person. And they remembered who he was. That was some serious crap that he got into. Like if you if you mess up, if you've done some some really crappy stuff, you need to really make it right. Changing your name is not going to erase what happened. You got to own it. You got to stand up and say, you know what? I was wrong. That's where I had to be. I spoke a few like a lot of episodes back. I spoke about when I created a brand of hate, like I created this hateful slogan towards a group of entertainers. I was young. I was dumb. I was jealous. I was pissed off because they had said some things negative about me. But instead of manning up and like having that adult conversation, I created this brand of hate. Like I created this this cesspool of hateful, negative energy. And you know what? A couple of years later, I ended up owning it. I walked straight up to the to the main performer and I said, Listen, you know, I'm sorry. I was a can't say this on the podcast, but basically I was an ass. You got to own your stuff. You know, don't go changing your name. Let me recap, because I went through a lot of stuff very, very fast. One, you got to have a stage name. No matter what, you got to have a name that you go by on stage. I do not under any circumstances recommend using your real name. A piece of your real name. Yes. A shortened version or a modified version. Yes. And I'm not just talking about something that's easy to pronounce. It also needs to be easy to spell. Now, of course, this depends on where you are and what your demographic is. Like, let's say you're in Japan. You don't need to have a name that's easy to pronounce in English unless you're trying to reach an English speaking audience. You want your name to be easy to pronounce the people that you want to reach. Next, of course, you know, again, you don't pick it on a whim. Put thought into it. You want it to really mean something because somebody is going to remember your name even when you may have forgotten it. Like, put some serious thought in your name. It's going to be with you for life. Lastly, we talked about changing your name. There's really only certain situations in which a name change is appropriate. And even then, if you put some serious thought into your name, you should never really have a reason to change it. You never, ever want to change your name for reputation purposes. In that regard, you need to own your stuff and you do the right thing and have these conversations. Lastly, and this is what I'm going to leave you with. You want to think about how your name is going to sound when it's announced. Welcome to the stage, Reggie B. Coxworthy. My name sounds awesome for what I'm about to do. Your name needs to be the same. Now, it doesn't matter what your you're doing. It doesn't matter if you're singing, playing an instrument, if you're doing lip sync art, if you're a street performer, it doesn't matter. Maybe you're a comedian or a burlesque dancer or a drag queen or a ballet dancer or an aerial artist. It doesn't matter what you're doing. Your name needs to be there. You need to have a solid name that represents who you are. Your name is your brand and that's something that's going to stick with you forever. Head into our Facebook group. I want to know what your name is. Share your name with us. Head into the Facebook group. Introduce yourself. Tell me what your name is. Tell me a little bit about yourself, what you do. Post a video. I don't care. www.beingonstage.com slash group, G-R-O-U-P. I look forward to hearing from you guys. Thank you so much again for tuning in and no matter what your name is, no matter where you're from, keep on shining.
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