This is for entertainers pivoting.
I’ve been a “Hard to follow act” for a long time, and maybe I’ll write about that at some point, but right now, I’d like to talk about what if you’re the act that hasta follow?
Right now, a lot of bold people are shifting into a new way to entertain and it’s tough. If, for example, you’re moving from doing live magic shows (where audiences have seen maybe two live magicians in their life) to doing zoom magic shows, you’re following a hard act. Zoom shows are a combination of video games and tv, so you’re kinda following all the great video games and tv that has come before. You don’t have practice, you don’t have the resources of a big studio. You don’t even know what it’s supposed to look like.
I want everyone to be awesome
Being in a lot of lineup shows at comedy clubs, burlesque, circus, whatever… I love killing. That’s the reason I do it. It pisses me off, though when an act after me in the lineup decides that I’m a hard act to follow and they give up. They decide it’s impossible to entertain. I don’t give up when someone kills. Badasses that follow me don’t give up when I kill. We say to ourselves in some way “This act has just expanded what I can do with this audience. I can take everyone even further now!”
I followed Dane Cook at the improv and had a total blast after people were literally falling out of their seats.
You can be competitive
Entertainment is not a race. As far as a competition, it’s kinda a science fair judged by the attendees who are all drunk and will forget. There isn’t a set of rules. The goal is to entertain, but that’s not a place or a time or an image.
Step 1: change the channel
You need establish immediately we are not playing the same game. If I’m making a TV show and people think it’s trying to be Seinfeld, they’re gonna hate it. No way around it. If a standup is following a magician who just brought down the house with insane visuals (as often happens at Scot Nery’s Boobietrap) that standup will change the channel or drown.
To change the channel, we need to send signals that are new to the audience or so contrary to the other signals that it’s impossible to define what we’re watching. As soon as an audience can label a thing confidently, they will be in a critical mindset which is not fulfilling for you or for them.
When I’m following Dane Cook, I change the channel.
- Low energy physicality, emotionless approach,
- I stand in a different position on stage,
- I take a different tempo,
- I’m shy and fast talking,
- Almost mumbling to bring the audience in,
- I’m mean,
- I tell surgical, quick jokes
Step 2: destabilize more
Offer danger in the form of physical danger or emotional risk or mental left-turns. This is how we tell the audience that this is a new realm. It’s not about them controlling it or taking care of themselves. They are still trying to figure out what’s going on and where is the safety.
Step 3: lead
They’re looking for a leader. BTW; All these steps so far can happen in the first minute of whatever entertainment you’re providing. Give them good things, show them you have confidence in this new channel, this new realm. You will keep them safe.
We’re in a new domain, everyone! We needed Dane Cook to lead us through the woods, but now we’re in the desert and Scot is our cactus expert.
Step 4: make your domain smaller
The smaller your domain, the bigger a fish you are. Benedikt Negro is a mime. Very few people have seen a mime. He’s a mime for adults. So, if people haven’t seen Billy the Mime (the other best mime in the world) they Benedikt is the best. Everything he does is new. He sets the rules of the game and he defines what success is for the audience.
When a new video game comes out, the more it defines what type of game it is, the more fun is piled on.
Step 5: escalate your domination of this channel
You are the master of this little realm you’ve created. This is your wheelhouse and we love to see people in their wheelhouse. Use every part of the wheelhouse. Explore the spectrum of everything that can be done in these bounds. This is how we keep surprising the audience.
The audience is never asking you to be the master of everything or even the thing they’ve seen before. They just want to see mastery.
Now you’re following
With this mentality, you’re not the dessert trying to be filling, nutritious, and savory. You’re doing the dessert thing. Let the dinner be awesome and you top it off.
As you may be stepping into a new genre of entertainment right now, carve out your super small, tiny, microscopic part. Own that, and you’ll have giant success.