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Dear John

How do I expand my act for festivals?

First published 29th September 2005

Question:
I have a 20-minute speciality act that I would like to expand into something longer and perhaps perform on a bigger stage. I'm not aiming to make the Statue of Liberty disappear but I do think my unusual skills would make a good theme for a festival-type show. How would you advise me to move forward?

Answer:
Anyone who saw Johnny Vegas' original Edinburgh show which combined comedy with live pottery making will agree that with a little wit and creativity, any unusual skill can be incorporated into a show. The key words though are 'wit and creativity'. Having done a Stand Up Cartoons show for a number of years, one thing I've learned - besides just how many venues in the country that are 'L' shaped and not exactly ideal if you're using a drawing easel - is that an unusual skill in itself will get the audience's attention for a much shorter period then you might first imagine. After that you'll need to come up with increasingly entertaining and varied ways to use the skill.

As with any other act, the usual route for developing your act is to introduce new elements sparingly in the midst of material you know works. As with all new material, just because it doesn't come off the first time isn't necessarily a sign you should abandon it. It might be that an appropriate tweak makes all the difference. On the other hand, new material which goes down a storm with one crowd may not work nearly as well with another one.

Of course, not all of the extra material has to be directly connected with your special skill - in fact, there are quite a few jugglers, magicians and other performers whose patter in itself is as entertaining as the abilities they are displaying. Some of our top straight stand-ups started off with some other aspect to their performances. And, of course, in any mention of skill or prop-based comedy, it would be a shame to leave out acts like Tommy Cooper, who built their show around getting it 'wrong'. It is also a good idea to point out that, from the musical mayhem of Spike Jones to the jugglers who 'accidentally' drop a club or two, it is very hard to do something wrong in a way that is entertaining, unless you can do it not only properly but better than most people in the first place.

There are several comedy-related 'how to' articles by yours truly and others on The Stage website, which may also get the creative juices flowing. And, of course, any working act will tell you that the best parts of your show are likely to come about not so much because of pre-planning but as happy accidents while you're onstage. This is not a reason not to rehearse or plan, though - it's the preparation that creates the space for happy accidents, not the other kind.

You mention performing on a bigger stage. Whatever size of stage you perform on it is very important that all of the audience can see what you're doing if your act is visual. There's nothing that turns people in the back or in the gods nasty quicker then being made to feel left out of the show.

Remember, it's your responsibility to reach them, not theirs to tie themselves in knots trying to see what you're up to. A technique that a lot of visual performers use - and it's one that can be useful for singers and actors too - is to identify the worst seat in the house and find a way to create an entertaining show for the person in that seat. The thought is that if the person in the worst seat is enjoying themselves, everybody else should be having an even better time. Of course, you won't always get a chance to check out the venue beforehand, so the more variations you can work out to make your act work wherever you find yourself the better.

I hope the above tips help you on the road to your groundbreaking new show. It's only fair to point out that, nine times out of ten, whatever new innovation you come up with has probably already been done in some shape or form by some other performer years or even centuries ago. Which, I suppose if you're really serious about it, might be a good reason to see if there are any theatre historians or researchers who could use their 'special skills' to help you find some routines worth updating.