Friday, May 7th, 1999 - 9-12 PM

TEST SHOWS - CD 101 BIG ROOM

 

SETUP

 

I took my time since I was at work anyway. Once 5:30 hit I went at it. I was so excited you cannot imagine. 6 months ago this was a little idea I thought about and now for the first time I was putting the TVs onto their stands and getting ready to perform. When everything was set up I hit play and basically sat and watched. For about an hour that's all I did. Then I turned around and 20 people were already there. I wanted to watch the TVs!

 

THE FIRST PERFORMANCE

12 SECOND VIDEO CLIP (285K)

SETS: RHYTHM - OPEN 1 - LOVE - BURG - HARRY

 

I screwed around some more. The people knew that this wasn't a formal performance, and I was just as curious as they were. I did do one set specifically for them and then went from there. No real order, just seeing if it all fit. The room was pitch black and we had a flood light on me. It was impossible to open my eyes. Just incorrect lighting, no biggie. I had fun seeing how it all worked, where I needed to stand...how I needed to act. It felt pretty good.

 

THE REACTION

Everyone seemed to harp on the same thing. I wasn't looking at the audience enough. I tried to explain about the lights, but they kept saying "you need to learn how to deal with bright lights" (sigh) I've been on stage, I've been on TV, I've done LIGHTING for TV, I understand how bright lights work. These were incorrect. You don't use a huge flood light 4 feet from a performer. We did it because we had nothing else. Oh well. To tell you the truth, it was a bit annoying. Many people treated it like this was an actual performace and seemed to question my ability to interract. I know when I have my first show this will not be a concern, but I took their critique and got to the good stuff. The good stuff being the interraction! "WE WANT MORE INTERRACTION!" Absolutely. I felt the same. These were the first 5 sets I even tried. It was hard enough to get everyone to sing at the right places, let alone speak to each other and make it seem like 5 different people. From this point on the sets will be more comedy oriented. Heh, what a tough crowd friends are. I loved them for coming down and seeing it, and I hope they come and see the first REAL SHOW and see what can really happen.

 

THE SECOND PERFORMANCE

SETS: OPEN 1 - BURG - RHYTHM - HARRY

 

Ahh, there ya go... Finally an actual performance. 5 more people came aftrer the first crowd left, and though my voice was killing me, I had to do it again for them. And this time, I actually got to start with the first set, and treat it like a performance. Much smoother. I still couldn't look at them 'cause of our flood light (which they eagerly pointed out...heh heh), but it went nice and smooth. Then I had to run and jump on the air because I was doing my show! We played Nintendo all night on the 4 TVS. IT ROCKED.

 

Anyway, we used these test runs for the promo tape that I sell and give to establishments. Hopefully the next time I turn these babies on I'll get paid for it!