Karaoke Forums

i spent a couple of years doing improv comedy so doing just about anything on stage doesn't bother me (except stripping--sorry, kappy), but karaoke turns me into a timid creature sometimes.

i have this theory...when i was doing improv (and stage plays and musical theater) the audience was there intentionally to see me and my cohorts. when i sing, they are there to sing themselves, play pool, drink, whatever. i can let loose in front of a paying crowd more easily because i know that they are there to be entertained, not wait their turn. go figure.

chuck and i had a friend once who was dreadfully self-conscious when he started singing karaoke. there was a monitor at the back of the stage, and he would turn his back to the audience and read the back screen. after a couple of years, he had gotten the confidence to wander through a crowded dance floor with a cordless mic and sing ballands. doggone him!

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[glow=darkorchid]Musica delenit bestiam feram[/glow]

I don't understand how "paying crowd" psychologically to you, translates into "less judgemental" crowd though.  I'd feel safer singing Karaoke than ANY aspect of comedy (assuming in both cases, I was the sole person on-stage), reason being as you mentioned,  With Karaoke,  if they aren't that impressed they don't look up from the pool table, or turn around, if they are there for themselves, they aren't your audience, so if you are good, they either will turn around and watch, or perhaps not turn around for long,,,  But there's usually no actual rejection in the setting you speak of... ANYTHING I do onstage (well almost anything) is much easier for me if I'm not the only one acting, performing... or I'm not the lead role.. Yet improv standup comedy ?  Either your extemporaneous wit is lightening fast, and you've become TOTALLY confident in such a setting performing (which still isn't common), or I haven't a clue as to why you'd find that easier than Karaoke... Unless it comes down to "you feel in control of the crowd" in a comedy type setting. and that's what allay's your nervousness.

I think the ultimate slap in the face, or rejection for the comedian is the audience that remains stone-faced.  GOD,  I'd be having nightmares for months...

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

I am like a deer in headlights when I get on stage for the first song... once I get going though I warm up. I guess there is always that fear in my head that someone is going to boo or something. It's hard for me cause I was basically an introvert for like 20 years. I love singing for an audience, it just takes some time to get up the gumption to do it.

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Te audire no possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure. (I can't hear you. I have a banana in my ear.)

I have to agree with GiGi on this one. In theater and in Improv I did feel like they were paying money to see me. In restaurants I felt that they were paying money to make my life miserable. In karaoke I get the feeling that if I'm not doing well hopefully they will have enough to talk about while I am singing and not notice that I am singing.

When I get done singing and the crowd starts clapping, I have to nearly run to my seat and plant my (@$%&#!) before my heart gives out.

I need to let you guys know that our only paying gigs in Improv I was not even on stage. I was doing lights and sound so I could control the mood from a hidden location, kinda like the wizard of oz.

Pay no attention to that fat nervous man in the booth!

Spike Jones for between scenes was a big hit.

kappy, you are very perceptive, and i am going to keep rereading your post to give me some confidence.

comedy comes easy to me, probably because i find humor in just about everything. i guess i still don't think of myself as a "singer" even though i get my fair share of compliments. sad but true. tears of a clown and all that stuff.

i am MUCH harder on myself when i sing.

a stone-faced crowd in a comedy setting can be tough. but, just like when you sing, you sometimes get a quiet audience that is nevertheless enjoying the show. you just gotta take the horrible, devastating, panic-inducing bad with the good.

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[glow=darkorchid]Musica delenit bestiam feram[/glow]

Back in my younger years I did a single folk act for a while.  One night I played a place in a small town in Iowa.  I figured I might be in for a long night when I drove up to the place and saw it was named, I swear this is true, "Knight Klub".

The previous week they had featured a female impersonator who turned out to be the biggest thing to ever hit town.  Who'da thunk it-a female impersonator right in the middle of the Bible belt.  Well . . . following him/her and his/her rabid following of farmers needless to say I couldn't do anything right.

Finally an old timer told me what had happened the week before and advised me not to take it personally.  I decided that if I could survive that night I could probably deal with anything!  There's nothing like a dose of humility to help you get things in prespective.  

Since that night I've figured that if I can reach even one person my night has been a success.  

Larry

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"Life is too short for diet soda and lite beer"