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In last week’s installment of this series, I discussed the need to develop a trademark action or saying that our audiences will permanently associate with us and thus, remember us. For example, the hundreds of cannibal jokes that “Cannibal Cannon” used more than three decades ago that still ring in my memory today.
This final chapter of the article will focus on two more qualities we can infuse in our characters and performances that will help create lasting memories with our audiences.
Click here to read part 1:Create a Memory and Stay Ahead of the Competition.
Click here to read part 2: How to Become a More Memorable Performer.
The first quality is what I will call an approachable persona. It is the quality of being vulnerable or lovable. This is somewhat hard to describe; however, we are easily able to identify the opposite qualities. The opposite of this attitude is the wisecracking, smart-alecky entertainer. Consider Groucho Marx and Harpo Marx. Most of us would feel safe around Harpo while we would be somewhat fearful around Groucho. Why? Because we would be on edge waiting to be the brunt of one of his jokes or the recipient of one of his sharp retorts.
Who receives the punch lines of your routines? Our jokes are much funnier when they are on us. In fact, when things go wrong for us, it creates a certain empathy for us with our audience. Consider something as simple as a wilting flower. Typically we smell the flower with no problem. When our helper smells or blows on the flower it wilts. Consider how this makes the child feel. He is embarrassed and his friends may even tease him. We can easily reverse the routine so the flower wilts when we smell it. Then our helper can be the hero and cause the flower to be repaired. Now how does the helper feel? He is the hero and caused everything to turn out okay. Who would you rather have for a friend? Who would you ask to come to your birthday party?
The third and final quality I’ll mention for this series is the ability to entertain children and adults at the same time. Sure, adults will enjoy seeing children having a great time, but this only lasts for a short time. What are adults doing at your performances? Do you have their full attention or are they disrupting the show by talking and carrying on side conversations? The solution is to provide enough material geared toward adult level humor. By this I don’t mean off color material, but rather material that only adults will understand and appreciate. A great example is the Three Little Pigs routine made popular by Dave Risley. If you are familiar with the routine, you know that the material has kids howling, yet there are enough adult lines to hold the attention of the older crowd. One instance is when he says the pigs were watching their favorite movie on the VCR. . . Silence of the Hams! Kids will laugh at the idea of three pigs watching a VCR. Adults react to the title of the movie. (One that we hope most six year olds know nothing about!)
Well, there you have it, three relatively simple things you can do to create positive, long lasting memories with your audiences. By creating a trademark saying or action, making yourself the brunt of negative punch lines, and entertaining the adults as well as children you’ll go a long way toward creating memorable performances . . . performances that will cause people to remember you for years to come.
Click here to read part 1:Create a Memory and Stay Ahead of the Competition.
Click here to read part 2: How to Become a More Memorable Performer.
About LouPage
Lou started his career working his way through college as a magician and clown. Somewhere along the way he managed to become a school principal! Along with Steve Kissell, Lou co-founded the Circus Magic Convention. Lou is the webmaster at CircusMagic.com, a site dedicated to helping clowns, magicians, face painters, and other family entertainers improve their performing skills.
Contact Lou at: lou@circusmagic.com or Visit Lou's Website
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