Yesterday there was a folk duo at the fair I’m performing at, and we are on the same stage. In between shows, the lady commented that she likes how I ” randomly make fun of people“. I had to correct her, because that’s not what I do. Yes, I do make fun of people, but … Continue reading “”

Yesterday there was a folk duo at the fair I’m performing at, and we are on the same stage. In between shows, the lady commented that she likes how I ” randomly make fun of people“. I had to correct her, because that’s not what I do. Yes, I do make fun of people, but it’s not random.


I make fun of peoples actions, never on how they look or what they wear, and never out of the blue. There is always some choice that the person has made that will cause me to comment. It could be a teen texting in the audience, or whatever, but there’s always an action that causes it.


Currently our society really looks down on bullying, and randomly picking on people in a Don Rickles sort of way is a great way to alienate yourself from your audience.


Here’s an example of what I don’t do. Recently I saw the Lance Burton and Friends tour and Fielding West does a bit where he scares someone from the audience by asking them to touch something, then making a sudden loud noise and startling them. In my mind that’s an old school thing, that I think works with his character, but not some much with younger people. That sort of thing is considered inappropriate by most modern performers.


What I’m trying to convey is that it’s OK to comment and play, but not okay to bully.

Play With Your Props

Playing with props instead of trying to learn a routine really makes a routine yours. You end up understanding the props much better than if you simply followed directions. Yes there is a place for following directions and learning from the people that came before you. Personally one of the ways that I create material … Continue reading “Play With Your Props”

Playing with props instead of trying to learn a routine really makes a routine yours. You end up understanding the props much better than if you simply followed directions. Yes there is a place for following directions and learning from the people that came before you.


Personally one of the ways that I create material is to start with the prop that I want to use. I then learn the technical end of the prop and then start playing with it. The play helps me come up with ways to use it that are more based on my mannerisms and movements. Now that I understand the prop a bit, I’ll start to learn all I can about the prop or effect. How do other people do it, and why do I like or not like they way that they are doing it.


After playing with the “silk thru mic stand” a lot yesterday a routine has started to take shape. My routine uses something other than a mic stand, but essentially the same trick. I’ve got three phases for the routine, and that I think gives it a sense of build and each phase has a different texture. These phases came as a direct result of playing and then research, try it, you’ll be surprised at the results!