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 here. Welcome back to the Being On Stage podcast. Thanks for tuning in, I greatly appreciate it. Wow, listen, so last episode I just kind of like downloaded and just kind of like grabbed the microphone and just started talking. I'm pretty sure I sounded like I was on speed or something, which I was not. But I just like, I grabbed it and went, man. I just like let her rip. So listen, this episode I want to kind of dig in a little bit and talk. Talk about that experience that I mentioned at the tail end of last episode. And how you kind of make your performance into an experience. And I've been doing a lot of reminiscing. And my wife says you're like very nostalgic lately or whatever. She always like picks on me when I start thinking about the past and like reminiscing. I do get nostalgic, but you know what? I feel really good about the performances that I put out there. I feel really good about the experiences that I gave the audience. And there's one. There's one show in particular that I would have to say anyone who is anyone who's watched my career and I'm not this is not a bragging thing, but anyone who's watched my career and kind of kind of been there or there's just one show that I did that sticks out and probably everybody's mind and it was when I won my title. I did win a local contest. I did like a choreographed dance number. I had 11 people in my show and typically there's only like one or two people in this type of dancing we do. It was lip syncing and dancing. It's like think lip sync battle. That's kind of what I did. I put together this this phenomenal what I consider what to be a phenomenal production. And I had so many of my friends come on board and like help me out and just step up and be a part of this and like they didn't get paid. They didn't get I didn't I couldn't buy them drinks. I mean nothing, but they all stepped in and they were there for me. They came to rehearsals. They showed up early to the show. They actually ran through a final rehearsal. Without me even there. So when I was putting together this show and I I call it I guess I call it Reggie's mega mix. I don't know. But I mixed some songs together and there was a basic story that I wanted to communicate. You know, I wanted to communicate go from like no money poverty poor to like having money able to get anything I want and like making it rain. Like that was the thing. Like I wanted to to show that I could I became somebody and I became somebody of importance. It was a transitional or a transformational performance that I put together and it started out with money can't buy me love and I came out and all black, you know, and I just came out and I was very like emotional and like money can't buy me love and and I kind of like conveyed that emotion to the audience and made them really feel like like I felt that way. Like I don't I have nothing to give but love kind of deal then all hell broke loose. I'm talking like sirens gun like in the in the show guys in the show not in the club in the show all hell broke loose sirens gunshots horns more sirens on top of more sirens and out poured all my 11 friends and they formed this like barrier around me and they're like carrying money back like it looked like we all they're like bandanas over their face carrying what looks like money bags. They all got fake guns like the water guns like like it looked like we all. Just like committed this huge huge bank robbery. Okay, and I know I said this is like a transformational show. Yeah, it starts with the bank robbery, but it's about like you got to look a little deeper than that. Like it's it's really about me becoming this performer that I know that I can be and that I should be and that's where it is. So there's sirens everything like people swarming around me and everything and and like so I'm I'm a duck down and there's 11. 11 people surrounding me and there's music going there's beats going sirens are still going and everything like that and all of a sudden it goes into sexy can't there's like a back and forth. I did between the song sexy can I and yeah, but usher and immediately as soon as it starts all 11 of them all together drop and I rise up wearing a solid white suit. With a white hat holding big bags of money. I mean you want to talk about shock factor with the audience. It was like well, I went from all black emo looking like I just I look like I shouldn't have been somebody like I was torn up sweater torn up jeans things like that and all of a sudden I'm come out white suit looking dapper as you know what all right, so I do my dance I go through the whole thing. So this is this is what I'm talking about when I talk about. Making an experience for your audience so they experienced emotion in the beginning and then they experience shock and surprise and they're a part of this like as people swarming the stage and running all around and their sirens they don't know what's going on there. They're like on the edge there their heart starting to beat and everything they're starting to get excited about what's coming and then all of a sudden I'm transformed into this like dapper suited up rich looking dude. Okay, and as I'm dancing outcomes. A motorcycle on stage like a real freaking motorcycle in the club on stage like I just stole it that's my ride you know I'd go about doing my dance and everything and about probably like one minute before the end of the show it goes into I don't even know this know the name of the song but it's like if you got money and you know it take it out your pockets and throw it at that moment I swear to God the entire audience wins nuts because those 11 people. That were. Around me they broke off and they went into the audience and 11 different directions and later in the show what happened when it said throw money in the air there were literally 500 $100 bills fake ones with my face on it thrown into the air in this club so all you saw was fake money falling as I'm dancing on the stage the audience went nuts they went crazy. Crazy because they're they're experiencing this they're experiencing the fact that. They're they have things happening around them it's almost like a 4D effect like you know when you go on a ride and they have 3D but then they have 4D which is where you actually feel like the water droplets and like alien encounter at Disney World in Orlando perfect example like it was 3D but there was also like you could feel the breath from the back of your neck you felt the water droplets you felt something crawl across you all simulated. Kind of like that level of experience so. I brought them through a ride if you will the audience went on a ride with me at the end of the show I hopped on the motorcycle and I had someone throw a solid white fur coat over my shoulders as I quote unquote wrote off into the sunset I didn't actually ride because you can't start the motorcycle in a venue because you know fumes and gas and all that but that performance marked a critical moment in my career it. Marked the. Moment when I transitioned from a performer that came out and had nothing to a performer that had everything that I needed to give my audience and experience and take them on that ride and that journey with me and that is what you're supposed to do when you step on stage you know maybe you want them to feel excited I want them to feel I wanted them to feel excited I wanted them to feel excited and adrenaline rush I wanted them to feel like they were on a roller coaster with me and we were going through this journey. Together and we made it that's what I wanted them to feel maybe you want them to feel sadness or pain maybe you want them to feel any emotion really any motion or feeling that you want them to feel you can do that through an experience so you don't have to go crazy with props and everything I mean you can and and really you should consider it in some cases but like an outfit like something like that can make a huge difference and what you're communicating to your audience. That's how you make that connection it's it's how you appear the facial expressions the movements the experience you those interactions that creates the experience it all rolls into that experience it's how the audience feels while you're performing what are they experiencing you gotta keep that in mind when you start putting together your show what is the audience going to experience. Let me round this out so Edgar Degas he's an artist you know he painted. Oh my god he's a brilliant brilliant painter and I know he did more than painting but you know brilliant painter brilliant artist he he said something that just kind of stuck with me and I'm gonna pass it on to you and it kind of rounds out what I'm talking about here. Art is not what you see but what you make others see. As an artist it is not what you see it is not how you see your performance I mean you have the vision yes. But you have to create the vision based on what. You want to make them see. That's what makes it an experience. So when you're blocking and you're staging and you're figuring out what you're going to do, keep that in mind. I challenge you to keep that in mind. Keep in mind the experience that you're going to give them. I'll tell you, after that show, there's probably like 250 people in the audience. After that show, me and my 11 friends that were in it, we gathered together. They all hugged me and told me what a great job I did. My girlfriend at the time, very proud of me and everything. And my current girlfriend actually was there and got to be in the audience and go on that experience. And she's one of the ones that tells me, you know, best show ever. Although there was another one that I did that had another similar experience and storyline. But that one was the one that most people remember. And this is how impactful it was on the audience. I brought 11 people with me. Well, maybe like 13 because they had spouses. I brought like 13. So out of the 250 people. There may have been 20 people that were directly connected to my show. So very small percentage. This contest was based on a vote. At the end of the night when they were announcing the first place or the third place and the second place and everything like that. When it came down to announcing who the winner was, everybody knew it was down to me and this other performer. Everybody knew it. There was without a doubt. At that moment, it sounded like 250 people began chanting. Chanting my name. It was incredible. That's how I know that I gave them an experience. That's how I know that my vision for what I wanted them to see was executed properly. That's how I know they got it. And let me tell you, if you ever have that time when the entire audience erupts for you, standing ovation, just screaming and hollering for you, chanting your name, whatever it is. It is such an incredible moment. It is such an incredibly humble feeling in that moment. Because I can't even describe why. But when you would think that having those people scream your name would make you feel like you're the best of the best of the best. It is completely humbling. But it's an incredible feeling to know that your vision is what they saw. So take into consideration the audience experience. Because when you do it properly and your vision is done out on that stage the way that you intend it to be, it is magic, man. It is magic. So I don't even know if I did this performance justice by talking about it. But man, I got to tell you, it was. God, thinking back to it, I still get this incredible feeling about it and just feel so grateful that I was able to put such adventurous performances out. To my audience. Wow. All right. Let me wrap this up. Listen, I didn't say this in the last podcast, but I just want to let you know I have a being on stage group on Facebook. So if you ever, you know, looking for some motivation, inspiration, if you need a confidence boost, some encouragement, hop on in there. You can get there being on stage dot com slash group. Made it pretty easy. Join us, please. I'm in there once in a while. I do a video. Dive a little deeper into the podcasting and everything like that. So. You can also like us on Facebook being on stage. Instagram at being on stage. Love the DMs. And I love the emails. Reggie at being on stage dot com. Thank you so much for keeping in touch while I was out for those 10 days or so. As always, keep on shining, rock stars.
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