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.
Speaker 2Hey Rockstars, Reggie Dawson, your host of the Being On Stage podcast. Welcome, welcome, welcome. I'm going to start off by just throwing a question out there. Get your brain working, you know. Get you thinking about some stuff. When was the last time that you took a risk on stage? Now I don't mean you risked hurting yourself. I'm talking about took a risk doing something new, doing something different, something unique. Putting yourself out there in a new way. When was the last time you did that? I've met a lot of performers in my life, and being one myself, I feel like a lot of us, we get comfortable on stage. And when I talk about being comfortable on stage, I don't mean your comfort level with having people watch you or with performing. I mean your comfort level in what you're doing. Are you comfortable? Do you find yourself doing the same things over and over and over again because it's comfortable? I mean, hey, you get a reaction one time, you might as well do it every time it gets a reaction. It's a comfortable thing to do. It puts you in your comfort zone. But when's the last time that you challenged yourself and got outside your comfort zone? Because, you know, no one has ever grown while remaining comfortable. We have got to get uncomfortable on stage. We've got to take risks. We've got to try new things. We've got to put ourselves out there in a way that our audience. In a way that our audience may not expect, in a way that our audience may not even understand, but it's new, it's different, and it's something, it's growth, it's change, and most importantly, it's taking a chance. Name me one person that is living out their dream that didn't take a chance on stage. Yeah, you may take a chance and fall flat on your face. Absolutely. 100%. It is to be expected. Now, you know, we don't put expectations in. We don't put expectations in anything, but you can pretty much bet that at some point you're going to take a risk and it's not going to turn out the way that you want it to. It's going to happen. That's why it's called a risk. But if you continue doing the same things, if you continue to stand still in your career, then think about this. You're not moving forward. You're not growing. You're just reliving the same show, the same performance over and over and over again. It may be different choreography. It may be different. It may be different jokes. It may be different songs. It may be different sequences. Whatever it is you do on stage, it may be a different performance, but it's the same show. It's the same to you because you're comfortable with it. If you only stick to what you know, you're never going to learn anything. And if you're not learning, then my friend, you as a performer and your career as a performer is doomed. I mean, doomed. You've got to continue learning. You've got to continue progressing. The only way that you're going to learn is to take risks. You know, you go out there, you learn something new, you take a risk, you put it on stage, you reevaluate it. You know, the last two episodes, I just talked about how to reflect on your show and how to learn from it. So you take a risk, you try something new, you reflect on the good things, you reflect on where you could do better. And then you take more risk and you experience more growth. That's how you move forward as a performer at some point in your career. And it could happen tomorrow. It could happen next week. It could happen in five years. But at some point, you are going to have to make a choice. You're going to have to make a choice to stay in that tiny little box that you've built yourself where you're comfortable and, you know, you can kick your feet up and relax. It's like being at home. It's comfortable. It's like wearing your PJs. Stick yourself in that little box or. Or you're going to make the choice to break down the walls of that little box, try new things, experiment, take a risk, take a chance, show them something new, show them a different part of you, show them something that they would never expect to see from you on stage. That's what a risk is. You got to stop reliving the same show over and over and over again. You were born to be a unique individual. If you continue. To stay in that little tiny box and stay comfortable, you are not living out your potential. You are not performing at the level which you could be performing. Get unstuck, get uncomfortable on that stage. You owe it to yourself. You owe it to your audience. This is something that a lot of performers just cannot grasp. So let me let me share with you the results. OK, so, you know, you've heard me go on for about five minutes and. And I've talked about what you need to do. And, you know, you've heard my passionate speech. I mean, I got this vein like throbbing out in my throat because I'm like getting so into this inspirational moment. So let me let me share with you, you know, there are performers and listen, you you may be one of them, but there are performers who find a certain groove, a certain a certain style that suits them. You know, it goes over well with the audience. They get a good number of bookings. It's a great thing they can do on the side. They really enjoy performing. And they get comfortable. They get really comfortable with their, you know, two or three bookings a month, maybe four or five. It's a nice little side gig, a couple hundred bucks here and there. They get really comfortable with it, you know, and what starts to happen is the audience gets really comfortable to, you know, the people that they came to see them at first, you know, they start missing shows. OK, and so you stay comfortable, these performers, they stay comfortable, you know, they they got this groove. They're relaxed. They're wearing the PJs at home. Feet kicked up on the couch. They're comfortable. They're in the zone. And then something happens. This other entertainer, something new. Got this little fire inside of him. You know, he starts coming out. He comes out to an amateur open mic night or talent show or whatever it is you do. It doesn't matter what you do. He comes out, you know, young gun, young buck. And when I say young, I mean, inexperienced, not an age. He comes out, you know, whatever it is you do, it doesn't matter what you do. He comes out, you know, whatever it is you do. Okay. He comes out. He starts doing his thing. And he's doing some things that you ain't never seen before. He's doing some things that just don't seem quite right. It's not the way that you would do it. Therefore, it ain't the way it should be done. He's doing some things that you ain't never seen before. But let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. He's taking a risk. He's putting himself out there. Those performers that come out taking risks, you know, flying by the seat of their pants, wearing their heart on their sleeves, you know, not even, they have not a care in the world. They're just not taking a risk. Those performers, those are the ones that are going to get noticed. Those are the ones that are going to rapidly become popular. And let me tell you something. If they figure out what I'm talking about in this podcast episode, if they can figure out that they need to keep taking risks, they're going to explode in their career. And you're going to be sitting there with your same two or three bookings a month and maybe, maybe, I mean, maybe, let's be real. What are you going to do? You got to get out there. You got to explode. You got to take risks in your career. You got to experiment. So what if you fall flat on your face? Who cares? If that hasn't already happened, you're not living. You're not really performing how you should be performing. You should have all those experiences of, you know, disappointment, heartache, you pour your blood, sweat, and tears into a performance and you get one person that goes, whoo, at the end. Man, that is pain. That is heartache. That is torture. It's bound to happen. The important thing is that when it does happen, you don't let it stop you. You don't let that come up and stand in your way from taking another risk, trying something new, or continue trying the same thing until it works. I mean, listen. Yeah, I know. Thomas Edison said, you know, if you keep trying the same thing, expecting different results. But listen, if you keep trying the same thing, expecting different results, you're not going to be successful. If you keep trying the same thing, expecting different results, you're not going to be curve, curve, hill, hill, hill, going, driving, driving, driving. Now that's what's supposed to happen. You are sitting in the parking lot. Is the engine even on? Is there anything exciting going on in your show? That, that's the analogy. That's the best thing I can tell you is if every other performer is driving down that road, different speeds, different obstacles, different hills, different roads, whatever, every other performer is driving. If you're sitting in the parking lot because you're comfortable, maybe you got the engine running, you got the AC going, you know, munching on a burger or whatever, but you're comfortable. You're not moving. You're not going anywhere. Chew on that for a bit. I'll see you inside the Being On Stage Facebook group every Monday and Wednesday for some motivation and inspiration. You can get there by going to beingonstage.com slash group. It's been real. Like this, I gotta say, this was probably a pretty real raw episode. And I think I'm going to be giving you a little bit more of that. So let me know what you think. Hit me up. Email reggie at beingonstage.com. Instagram at beingonstage. Looking forward to it. As always, my rock stars, keep on shining.
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