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,
Speaker 2this is the show for you. Hey, rock stars. It's Reggie Dawson, your host of the Being On Stage podcast. Welcome back to episode 38. We are making this thing, and I have to tell you, it's been a really exciting ride so far. I appreciate all the correspondence. I was thinking the other day about when I decided to start performing and when I really got that bug to get on stage, and it's quite a story. You know, I went to an event, and I saw someone performing in a way that I've never seen anyone perform before. And. I made my approach, I made my plan, and I made it happen for myself. I'm going to dive into that story in detail today. Before I do, I mentioned that I like the correspondence. I'd love to know your story, what you do, and what you enjoy. Send me an email, reggie at beingonstage.com, and let's talk about you. Let's see what you're doing. You can also join our free group on Facebook, the Being On Stage group. You can get there by going to beingonstage.com slash group. It's completely free. It'll take you right into Facebook. You don't even have to opt in or anything. You just got to join. So my story of when I started performing, when I really got that itch to get on stage. I have talked previously about my history of performing. I started out as a child. You know, I had severe stage fright. I got on stage at a mall for a talent show, and I completely froze, shut down in front of, God, probably like 150 people. I eventually moved on to performing behind a stage on a puppet team. And then gradually got out in front of people, and I'd done a little bit of interpretive dance and some drama with the church that I was involved with as a kid and as a teenager and on some mission trips that I had done. But I'd never really done my own thing, performing. I'd always done something that someone had me do as part of a mission. I never explored my own creativity until I was 18. And how that happened, I went to an event at a local nightclub, and I saw this entertainer performing. Lip-sync art. And it was a male entertainer performing lip-sync art. Like, the outfit was something that you probably would think of Elvis if you saw it. And the makeup is something that you would probably think of like Broadway or ballet. So it was like a mixture of interpretive dance and interpretive performance. And it's really what it was. It was interpretive performance and lip-sync art. And I was immediately enthralled because where I was at that point, you know, I had started doing karaoke. I had done a little interpretive dance with church, and I knew. For a fact that I was not dancer material, and I really wasn't a talented singer. As a matter of fact, I had someone with American Idol tell me that I wasn't a talented singer. So when I saw this new art form, at least new to me, I was immediately infatuated with it, and I wanted to learn more. And so the only thing I could think of is, you know, approach the person who was on that stage. I mean, it was an awesome performance. I'm talking, like, it just draws you in. The things he did. The moves he made, and that intensity in his eyes, and facial expressions, and just, like, how he carries himself, it pulls you in. This event turned out to be a pageant, and he ended up winning the pageant. So afterwards, I wanted to approach him and say, hey, you know, congratulations. This is incredible. You know, I've never seen anything like this before. You know, is there anywhere I can learn more about this or see more? And, you know, just kind of make that approach. And I'm sure as performers, like, I look back at my career. And this has happened. Like, I've had people approach me saying, hey, I want to do this. You know, where can I learn to do this? And that's when I started coaching people. You know, that's when I started training people on performing. But looking back, like, I've had that happen to me numerous times. And not only to me, I've, you know, I've approached celebrity entertainers, like, at concerts and events and everything, and gotten autographs, and always got real nice personality, real nice and everything. And so when I was approaching him, that's kind of what I was expecting. You know, I've made these approaches before. I've talked to people about their art and their performance before. I, you know, kind of knew what to expect. But he completely threw me. I made the approach. And I said, you know, I said, hey, excuse me. And he turned around. And I said, you know, I really enjoyed your show tonight. It was incredible. And his response is what really just got to me. He said, oh, yeah, you want an autograph? Signs his picture, hands it to me, thanks me for coming. And I was like, you know, you know, I don't know if this is the right thing to do, but I'm going to sign it. And he's like, yeah, you know, I'm going to sign it. And to me, it was, it struck me as egotistical. It struck me as cocky. It also struck me as unwilling to help people. And just didn't have that personality that I was used to when approaching performers. And I was completely just, I was blown away. Like, I stood there for two or three seconds, and I'm like, I was embarrassed. Like, his girlfriend or his wife or whoever it was looked at me and kind of, you know, I was like, I don't know. Kind of like, why are you still here kind of look. And I was completely embarrassed and humiliated. I walked away. I ended up leaving after that. Like, I didn't even say bye to my friends or anything. I just left. And after that, I decided, who gives a shit? Why do I need his help and his permission to do what he does? Obviously, he's in a contest competing against other people. So, obviously, he's not the only person doing this. I approached the only people that I knew to approach, and that was some other entertainers at that nightclub. And they happened to be dreads. And when I approached them, I asked their advice. Like, how would I do this? How do I get involved in this type of performing? And, you know, they told me the best they could. They told me where I could find his website, and I think it was MySpace at the time. But I saw some videos and some pictures on MySpace and everything. And, you know, we're talking like 2004, 2005 time. We're talking, you know, 13, 14 years ago. This was October 2004, actually, is when this happened. And, like, it stuck with me that much that someone could be that arrogant. To just assume I'm there just for an autograph and not want to hold a conversation and not want to, you know, accept the praise and the compliment. And not only, like, not only the praise and the compliment, because you shouldn't be the performer that just expects people to compliment you. But not even to engage in any sort of conversation. Like, let me back up a second. If you got to be escorted out by security because there's, like, a mob after your show, I get it. But we're talking, this is a nightclub environment. Like, you're not going to be escorted out by security. You're hanging out and having a drink after the show. You don't expect people to want to engage with you. And, you know, I've seen performances there before. I've seen, you know, music acts. I've seen, you know, drag acts. I've seen burlesque shows. And those artists, they engage with you. And this is the first time I've ever had this type of just complete and total shutdown and turn off. And it kind of fueled me a little bit, you know. I wanted to perform like him, but I didn't want to be like him. I never imagined myself doing this. And after I got that advice and after I started working at it, you know, I engaged with my friends that I had met through karaoke. They had done chorus and, you know, they knew a little bit about show choir and show moves and props and stage management. I engaged with my friends that had done theater and, you know, had been in plays and knows about makeup and everything. I talked to other drag performers. I did find a group of entertainers that did this type of interpretive performance and lip sync art. And I engaged with the community that I could find online because this was limited. Limited stuff online at this time, 2004, you know, kind of limited. I found whatever I could find and I made it work and I put it together. And I, you know, I went to costuming stores and I went to any place, forums online where I could find ways to do makeup and my hair and outfits and crafting and prop design and show design. And I learned from a bunch of different resources all because I got shut down by the person that I wanted to emulate. Now that I've, after I've done, gotten all my help. And after I've done, I've gotten all my help. And after I've learned all this stuff years and years later, I've helped create a community around this here in my hometown. Like this guy was from out of town when I met him. But now I've created a community in my own town around this same type of performing. I was so determined to make something of myself and to become that performer that I saw myself as being instantly that night when I met him. I became so determined that I threw myself into this and I did not stop until. I was the premier entertainer in my area for this art form. And I did that. I accomplished that. And I'm not saying I'm the best there ever was, but I'm saying for the people in my local community, I became that guy that everybody knew. And I was the person that people went to when they wanted to perform the importance here. And I guess the lesson of my story and the reason I wanted to share this part of me with you is to tell you, like, no matter what happens and no matter how you've been shut down and no matter how many times. You hear the word, no, you have to keep going because wherever you see yourself, the only way that you're going to get there is if you get yourself there. Nobody's going to hand it to you. Nobody's going to come hold your hand and pull you along the way. You have to get yourself there. Yes, you can have a support system. And I want you to have a support system. If you are in a position where you feel like you're beaten down and you're broken and you need some encouragement, I implore you to join our Facebook group. We will be there to support you and encourage you. Share your pictures, share your videos, videos, we accept you the way you are and whatever performing that you do. And you should be accepted. And the best way to get acceptance and the best way to keep moving forward is to first accept yourself and build onto that. You are the foundation of your performance. You are the foundation of everything that you're going to create. It's all about you. The process and the creativity is all about you. And I talk about it being about the audience. And it is when you step on stage, you do have to engage your audience because they are the ones that are going to end up being your support system later down the line. To get you started though, sometimes you need a mentor. Sometimes you just need someone to stand beside you and say, you know what? Yeah, I agree. You can do this. Keep on shining.
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