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On paper, I suppose some presentations seem more important than others. You could argue that some presentations are easier than others. Clearly, some are better compensated than others. Now, guess which presentation counts more than others? It’s an important question because the answer is the foundation for being a professional performer.
Recently, I had the privilege of seeing my son address that question. As a standup comic, he’s on stage a lot, but this particular trip to New York had a lot more riding on it. When he took to the stage, he was on fire, and he had every reason to be.
- He was performing in New York, a place where he not only went to school, but lived for a while afterwards, and he had a lot of friends show up.
- He was performing for the New York Comedy Festival with a lot of comedians in town, all trying to make a name for themselves.
- He was performing for a lot of family that came in from different parts of the country.
- He was performing in a big, beautiful venue, in front of a sold-out 160-person crowd.
- He was performing in front of a film crew he had brought in for a special he was putting together for later next year. It was standing room only and you could feel the energy; it was electric.
If that’s not enough to get you fired up, you don’t belong on a stage, and he was taking this performance seriously. The room wasn’t particularly warm, but the crowd was on fire. As with most great audiences, the more they reacted, the more they fed him energy. The more they fed him energy, the more power he was able to deliver back to that audience. Back and forth they went, and soon I could see him sweating, and it should be noted that I’ve never seen him sweat when he performs. He wasn’t sweating because the room was too warm, or he was running around physically. He was sweating because he was running around mentally. I eased back in my chair like a proud papa, watching my son wade into some rare performance air.
When he completed his set, the place erupted. At the end of the show, we embraced for a moment, but he had a mob around him and this was a night for his audience to meet him and connect with him. We planned to talk in the morning, and we did. When we spoke, we spoke about his amazing night, and we both agreed; it was a night he’d never forget. And then we spoke about his next gig.
It was a quick turnaround because he had a 6:30 am flight out of New York in the morning. By the time we spoke, he had caught his flight, made his connections, landed, and was driving to Moscow… Idaho. He was moving from New York City, population 8.5 million, to Moscow, Idaho, population 26,270. What’s in Moscow, Idaho, you might ask? Another audience to perform in front of, and an opportunity to really demonstrate what a professional he had become.
You see, his audience in Moscow, Idaho, didn’t have the friends he had gone to school with waiting for him, no family that had taken a trek to see him, no festival or film crew, and no big, beautiful venue. Not only did the venue not have a standing room only crowd of 160 to feed off of; he figured he’d be lucky to have 20 people in this audience. But none of it mattered to him because he’s a pro.
A pro’s job is to perform, no matter what the size of the audience, no matter what the size of the paycheck. The amateurs perform based on their mood. The pros perform based on their pride to do their very best. It becomes a personal challenge to give every audience all the performer has, regardless of any litany of circumstances the mind can create.
Please don’t think that the more rare, amazing events like the one my son experienced in New York are for naught. In fact, those moments are absolutely invaluable. That’s because just the thought of those moments can mentally, and physically, bring us back to those walks on the moon. Instead of an actual audience feeding a performer energy, the mere thought of that audience can feed a performer. The amazing Carol Burnett once said:
“The body doesn’t know when the mind is acting.”
I wasn’t there to watch him perform in Moscow, Idaho, but we sure talked about it, and knowing him as well as I do, I’m absolutely sure he brought the heat and gave that audience everything that the New York audience had seen. He’s a pro, and that’s what pros do. I’m even willing to bet that this young man was sweating on that stage in Moscow, Idaho, as much as in the big Apple!
Related: The Enemy of Action