We want to talk about the little things that you should be watching closely. Your puppet can be a plus for you or it can be a negative that can draw attention away from where you want it to be.
Example: The night that Darci Lynn used Edna Doorknocker on Americas Got Talent, we immediately saw a problem with Edna. Yes, we were looking closer than most folks were since Edna was one of our creations.
As soon as Darci came out on stage, we could see that Edna had a problem with her right ear being bent over. This was not a defect in the ear, but merely it was a result of the ear being bent while she was in her travel case.
Fortunately, Darci’s performance was so strong that she overcame the small defect and nothing was ever said. The bad part is that the same thing for most folks would have been something that would have been a real negative problem. Not everyone has Darci’s stage presence to hide a small problem.
The bottom line is this. Each and every time that you get ready to go on stage, you need to take just a few second to look your puppet over for anything that might be out of place.
Are his/her clothes on just right? Are the glasses on crooked? Is the hair looking the way it should? All of the things that could be wrong need to be looked over and made right before you go out on stage with your puppet.
Darci is an amazing talent and so she got away with the small problem, but don’t count of doing the same thing. This is just one more thing that you need to add to your list of things to check.
Don’t let little things detract from people enjoying your talent and the funniness of your act.
We will talk again next week,
Steve and JET
I might imagine that people may have thought thats the bent ear was just part of the figures characteristics. In any case, you are absolutely right. Doin a once over before going on stage is a must
I always set the characters up in the trunks during show set up. Adjust glasses, fix hair, etc. It prevents minor slip ups later.
Totally agree… It’s all about the details! There are still pros and amateurs who bring out their puppet character from a duffle bag or trunk ON STAGE. This was thought to amusing for Vents in the 1940’s in Vaudeville. Unfortunately, there are many opportunities for the dummy to make it’s appearance disheveled. Most importantly, the “magic” of bringing the character to life, in the audience’s perception, is already greatly reduced.