Performance FAQ
Below is a performance FAQ that KuddlePup and I (Rigel) wrote over the course of the past month. It's been reviewed, re-reviewed, and edited by a number of people who have a lot of experience watching, being in, and organizing the Masquerade at Anthrocon, but can be applied to most performance events. The content is derived from both experience (eight years, myself) and reviewing video of prior events. The purpose is to help make costume performance events at Anthrocon and other conventions better and more enjoyable for the audience. This document is gingerly being put forth to help, not to be torn apart, so while constructive discussion is welcome, please refrain from the “tearing-apart” bit (it will make us sad). It is also being posted to AC's message forums.
Masquerade Performance Tips (by Rigel & KuddlePup):
mas-quer-ade (n). A costume party at which masks are worn; a masked ball.
Over the years, there have been many fine masquerade acts at Anthrocon. There have also been acts that were not as entertaining to the audience as others. Questions have been asked as to what makes a good masquerade act and what does not. The following suggestions may help you to formulate a better performance for yourself or your group.
- Read the rules
There's nothing more heartbreaking than prepping a performance for months in advance with hard work and design, only to find out that your performance goes outside the boundaries of what's acceptable or capable - at rehearsal. If no rules are available, contact the event Director. If you're not sure if your performance is going to be within the guidelines, ask the Director.
- Avoid lip-synching a song
The first instinct of many people is to find a song and pantomime actions to it. While this may feel fun for the entertainer, it can be hopelessly boring to the audience. Watching a fursuiter improvisationally move and gesture to music can be done at the fursuit dance. This is not to say that a good act cannot be created from a song. But it does point out that what is frequently referred to as a “stand and jiggle” routine may not go over well with the audience.
* If you absolutely must lip-synch, try to pick a song with character. Make sure the lyrics are clearly understandable and have a meaning that can be performed to. Know the song inside and out, every refrain, every chorus, every drum solo so that you don't appear to be hearing it for the first time. With few exceptions, your performance should be based around the music's lyrics, not the music itself. You are the star, not the song.
- Put some thought into your act
An act that is created on the spur of the moment will more than likely appear that way to the audience. If you have the desire to perform in front of an audience, you should begin creating your act as early as you can.
- Have a goal for your act
What do you want to accomplish? Showing off a costume is more appropriate for photos or the fursuit parade. Remember, Anthrocon's masquerade is non-competitive. This means it is not designed to be a costume contest. So, that leaves the entertainment value of your act. Are you going for humor and comedy? Telling a story? Choreographed dancing? Maybe a combination of the above? Whatever you choose to do, make sure you have a game plan.
- Rehearse, rehearse, REHEARSE!
No one should underestimate the importance of rehearsal. Actors rehearse before doing a play. Musicians rehearse before recording a song. If you are planning to perform in front of an audience (and the Anthrocon masquerade can have an audience larger than that of some small theaters) then you NEED to rehearse your performance. If you are going to perform in costume, you must rehearse in costume. You cannot envision the pitfalls in a new stage environment until you experience them firsthand.
- Get input and feedback from others
There are some people who like to “surprise” everyone with their acts. If this means that you have not reviewed any part of your act with someone else, then you may not be getting a good perspective on how your act will go over with the audience. Have you ever seen a movie that was really bad? How about sitting through a speech or presentation someplace that was unbelievably boring? Remember how much you wanted it to end? Without proper input, your act may suffer the same fate. You want to get honest, and critical evaluation of what you are wanting to do from several people. If someone says that they don't “get it”, don't take it personally…and don't try to explain what you were trying to accomplish. You won't have the opportunity to “explain” your act to the over 1000 people that may be watching from the audience in the masquerade. Your performance should be self explanatory. If someone offers you a suggestion, listen to them. They may be seeing something that you could not. And if you get input from several people and they all say something similar…then you know that there is something you should address.
- Think “visual impact”
Ok…so you have your idea and you're going to perform. Think about what the folks at the back of the room are going to see. Remember, you are going to be in a costume that will in effect absorb about 40% of your movement. Small movements and nuances are not going to be seen. Your movements must be large and enthusiastic. So then what kinds of things will read well to the audience? Multiple characters performing the same motion will show well. Something large and unexpected will also grab the viewers' attention. Think about your stage presence. You can lose the viewers' attention as easily as you can grab it. If you are responding to a voice track (spoken dialogue), make grand motions in the character of the speaker.
This also goes for props. The person sitting in the back row will not be able to identify that you are holding an Altoid. Find some way to either make the props larger than life, or be blatantly identified, even if you have to hold up a sign on a stick, Wile E. Coyote-style, that says ALTOID with an arrow pointing to it.
If you do use signs with writing on them, remember that the people in the back row may be 100 feet or more away from you. Try your signs out on someone who is standing 100 feet away from you. If that person cannot read the lettering, then you should make it bigger.
boogi responds;
You're so right here. Many people tend to forget about the back audience. When I was doing deaf performances, we were always told to do everything big, meaning do our sign language big, make it easily understood and seen by the audience, even those at the sides. We had a fictitious character we called “Mrs. Johnson” that had bad vision that liked to sit in the upper back rows.
If you're going to make a sign, make it huge, make it readable to those in the back row. Posterboard and a black marker with thick letters can do it. Don't use too many words. If you need to say something, say it in 1-3 poster surfaces. I did this in one act, “Furstercard” a few years ago and found that even the back row could read it. I did it at another deaf reunion which used a theatre with steep stadium seating. It brought down the house since the letters were so large.
Even though you're not doing a performance for an audience with hearing losses, you still need to act big for the “Mrs. Johnsons” in the back. Always face the audience.
- Know thy costume's pitfalls!
On stage, you will have limited vision due to your costume and blinding lights in your eyes. You may be wearing paws or gloves that will restrict your ability to grasp or handle objects. Your costume is going to be warm…you may have difficulty breathing. You need to practice what you are doing fully in costume many times before going on stage.
- Know thy stage and audience!
Visual presentation is not limited to the descriptive performance. The audience also needs to be attended to. Make sure you do not turn your back on them at any time. If you need to interact with someone behind you, either have them move forward, or only turn partway. Additionally, do not stand directly in front of other participants - it blocks any visuals they may be trying to convey. Thirdly, try not to create a scene where you need to sit on the floor or lie down. Lastly, do not leave the stage. It's difficult enough for those unlucky enough to be seated in the back to see the performance as is. It becomes unwatchable if they can't see anyone on stage. The view of the stage itself ends only a few rows back from the front.
In addition to these visibility points, never leave the stage empty of performers (“dead air”) during your act, even for a brief moment. Also, never retreat to the back corners of the stage. There are frequently curtains or walls in the way that prevent one side of the audience from seeing you there.
- If you can't sing/dance/etc, maybe you should try something else
Yes, we all imagine that we can sing or dance well, but if you record your voice or plan to sing live, be sure you have practiced extensively. Nothing makes an audience groan quite as quickly as bad singing or dancing. Your best bet is to take a video or recording of what you want to do to someone who will give you an objective opinion. (You need someone to be brutally honest with you..and you need to be willing to take criticism without being offended). If your video or recording sounds really bad to them…chances are you will look or sound really bad to the audience. The last thing you want is people laughing not because your act was funny (ha ha)…but because it was funny (uh oh).
- Avoid “interpretive performance”
This could be roughly described as “theater of the mind”, where you need to fill in lots of blanks that the performance on stage leaves open. You should make certain that everything on stage is plainly obvious to the audience. A box on the stage could be anything….don't leave that open to question. If someone walks off stage and is replaced by another person or character….it will look like someone just walked off stage and someone else took their place. The point here is, any action that is viewable to the audience need to have a purpose.
- Avoid excessively long performances
Ok..what's worse than a boring 3 minute performance? A boring 10 minute performance! You should be willing to get your act cut down to a reasonable amount of time…usually 2-3 minutes. Also, the same type of action repeated for more than 20 seconds may lose the audience's interest.
- Avoid private jokes
If I were to walk up to you and say “Do you want some Fanta?”, what would your reaction be? If you knew what kind of personal running joke that is…you may think it's hilarious. If you had no idea about it…you'd either answer, or look at me with a blank stare on your face. This extends to masquerade acts. Don't try to do an act that only 4 or 5 people will understand. The more widely understandable, the better it will be received.
- Your costume will not carry the act
Sorry, no it won't. A great looking costume that stands there in the middle of a bad performance looks BAD. Making a dragon breathe smoke, having wings that open on a bird, or other technical costume innovations will not wow an audience all by themselves. They look like someone in a nice costume doesn't know how to perform in their costume. There are photo opportunities and parades that are better suited for presentations of that nature.
- Stage preparations are not a performance
When arranging your performance with the Director and A/V, the performance should begin with you on or entering the stage. Make sure you inform the crew that you will need setup in advance and find out how long it takes. Communicate this to the MC during rehearsal so he/she can keep the audience busy while prep is going on. That way, your act seamlessly flows from intro to performance without an awkward stage-ninja intermission. Be sure to identify how long it takes to clear out the setup, too. If it takes too long, you're performing with too much baggage.
- Humor is effective in theory, but not always in practice
If your skit is going to be a humorous one or include jokes, make sure they're funny. Check with someone who will give you their honest opinion, not necessarily your best friends who may be biased in your favor. Additionally, demonstrate the gags in practice rather than just explained. There's a big difference between describing it and being there. If your timing and execution aren't just right, a great joke can be just plain painful.
- Fight scenes rarely work
Fighting scenes are very popular in videogames and movies, but they don't translate very well to the stage. Hostility, even theatrical, doesn't go over well in a three-minute skit. Unless you have something particularly unique, try to avoid simulated physical assault if at all possible.
- Coordinate your performance to your audio track
There's nothing more awkward than a character on stage and dead air. Many costumes don't afford the opportunity for speaking, so ensure that you have audio of some sort during your whole performance. As well, ensure that it starts when you come out, and ends when you leave the stage. Timing is critical to make things look good. If possible, inform the audience that the performance is ending through the audio track with a fade-out or other useful tool. Perform with and to the audio, not because of it. Performing outside the bounds of your audio track will be confusing.
- Coordinate your participants to your performance
If there is more than one person in your performance, ensure that you both (or all) perform with equivalent energy level. All the performers should perform to the same exaggerated levels of the most exaggerated performer. If you have two enthusiastic participants and one less-than-enthusiastic one, they stand out like a sore thumb at best, and look bored at worst.
Additionally, the performers should be performing together. The more exactly coordinated the movements are to each other, especially if they're the same movements, the more graceful it looks. A perfectly coordinated routine is like an impressive ballet.
- Learn how to use a microphone
If your performance calls for it, ensure that you can handle a microphone in costume. It's not as easy as it looks. Keep the microphone close enough to your face at all times so that every word can be heard, but don't “eat” it. If the microphone is being passed around, don't start speaking until you have it. Anticipate you'll have no more than one microphone. If you are wearing a large head with your costume, be sure during rehearsal that you can not only be heard, but also be heard clearly. Nothing kills an act faster than incomprehensible dialogue.
- Try not to exit on silence
Design your performance so that you leave on a celebratory note, a great joke, or generated applause. Don't wait for it to die down; get off while the gettin's good. It looks professional and prepared, and is also efficient. Directors like efficiency.
- Don't wear latex or spandex without proper precautions.
Kinda speaks for itself.
- Be new and improved!
If you did an act last year, thanks for participating! If you are going to join us again, try to do something different. If you can't think of something brand new, then alter your performance so that it plays out new. If the audience has seen it already, then they'll use it as an opportunity for a bathroom break.
- Present your music to A/V in a format they can use
A CD that is appropriately labelled will work best. It is always best to confirm with the Masquerade director what types of limitations exist for music brought in for use in the masquerade. (For example, phonographs or 8 track tape players will probably not readily be available.) If you are not bringing a CD that will play in a standard (non-MP3) CD player….it is best that you check with staff to be certain your media can be used. It would be awful if you had a wonderful act that could not be performed due to media incompatibility. Remember…NEVER assume that the con will have anything other than a standard CD player available. It may, but making the assumption that your media can be played without checking first is just asking for trouble.
Stargazer responds;
When presenting the CD to A/V, because to 1) Identify your act, and 2) Identify the track you wish played. Nothing will hurt your act more than to get up on stage ready to perform your act, only to hear the strains of track #1 from your CD being played instead of track #5.
Ideally, burn a new CD with only the track you want played on it. In fact, burn the same track over and over, three or four times, onto the CD, and test playing it on several different CD players before you go. Make a backup of the CD as well. That way, when you give your CD to A/V, they can just pop it into their player and play it, even if the first track in unreadable to them, maybe the second can be read, or the third. If you somehow get a big scratch on the CD, don't worry. You made a backup.
- OK, now I'm worried. I don't know if what I want to do will work. What should I do?
Fear not! You have some great resources available to you. You can post a request right in the Anthrocon forums for feedback. If you don't feel comfortable detailing your act in the forum, you can request that someone contact you at your e-mail address and you can describe it more privately. Remember that getting feedback is really an important part of the development of your act. The AC staff won't develop your act for you, but they can tell you if what you plan to do sounds like something that may work well or not. (Assuming that they are not busy with other convention activities.) You can also reach out to individuals who have done acts that you like…and seek out their advice. Many performers are fairly approachable if you are polite about it.
Remember, you should always be open to criticism when discussing your act. You may come up with something totally new based on feedback.
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