The Earl - Live!

[TheEarl]

Tonight I will mostly be - talking on stage.

There's an open-mike poetry, prose and song thing at a pub near to me and I'm going with a few mates to see if we can perform. The interesting thing about this open-mike thing isthat it's performance only - no reading aloud. No paper, no cheat notes and definitely no transcripts.

It's about keeping the oral tradition alive. Fun, fun, fun all the way and I have found a piece (non-erotic) that I can do without reading. However, I was wondering whether the great and good of Lit had any thoughts or advice on performing your stories for a live audience.

The Earl

 

[English Lady]

Go for it Lad!

hmm, not sure i have any useful wisdom, talk a little slower than you think maybe you should and enunciate everything carefully as you want everyone to hear what you've got to say.

When i speak to a group I move my head as I speak, scanning the audience, a bit of eye contact with you will help folks to concentrate (I used to do this in a youth group setting,so i might have just been making sure no one was mucking about mostly *L*)

So yeah, go for it!

 

[Salvor-Hardon]

I've only ever done it twice, and not sure how I rate on the good or great scale, but its definitely everyone should do at least once in their lives.

I have had plenty of theater and acting experience before the poetry performances, but what got to me was that in this one place at least, the stage was not so much a stage as it was a designated performance area. No lights to obscure the audience and let me sink into character as I was used to doing.

I found what helped me in that case was finding two or three faces I particularly liked (never met them never saw them again just nice pretty faces) and made eye contact with them as I spoke. Ignored the whole rest of teh club and just shifted from 1 to 2 to 3 to 1. It let me feel more intimately connected as I gave out each line and from what I heard later it gave the reading a more personal and "real" feeling as well.

Hope it goes well for you Earl, it really is a great experience!

 

[Salvor-Hardon]

And on a selfish note...... I'd love for some club to sponsor an erotic poetry open mike night!

Ah if only.......

 

[AppleBiter]

Yay for you, Earl! I'm sure you'll do great!

Tips on public speaking: Keep your head up, make eye contact, keep your hands at your sides (not in your pockets, don't cross your arms, and make sure not to wave them all around), if there is a podium, do not lean on it, elevate the volume of your voice marginally and be sure to enunciate, stand up straight, practice what you are going to say in front of the audience over and over so that when you get there, you will not only remember what you're going to say, but you will have rehearsed how you're going to say it. Most of all, have fun!!

 

[Honey123]

It's about keeping the oral tradition alive.

Here! Here! I positively love ORAl traditions and presentations

Seriously...good luck!

 

[TheEarl]

Here! Here! I positively love ORAl traditions and presentations

Seriously...good luck!

Honey! Where've you been hiding?

The Earl

 

[Honey123]

Honey! Where've you been hiding?

The Earl

under your bed....I finally found the key to the handcuffs...

 

[Liar]

under your bed....I finally found the key to the handcuffs...

Dammit, Earl. You hid them in the same room? Amateur.

Oh, and kick ass at the open mike thing.

 

[Honey123]

Dammit, Earl. You hid them in the same room? Amateur.

Oh, and kick ass at the open mike thing.

He had not choice...the blindfold was keeping him from going far

 

[sweetnpetite]

cool!

would love to be there.

Good luck.

I hear that it sometimes helps to have a 'prop'- it gives you something to do with your hands, and I think it focuses the audiences attention- so you don't feel like everyone is staring at you

 

[gauchecritic]

Yay for you, Earl! I'm sure you'll do great!

Tips on public speaking: Keep your head up, make eye contact, keep your hands at your sides (not in your pockets, don't cross your arms, and make sure not to wave them all around), if there is a podium, do not lean on it, elevate the volume of your voice marginally and be sure to enunciate, stand up straight, practice what you are going to say in front of the audience over and over so that when you get there, you will not only remember what you're going to say, but you will have rehearsed how you're going to say it. Most of all, have fun!!

Good tips for public speaking but not all good tips for public performance. They will be looking at you, do something for them to watch. It's a story. Do the voices. Whisper when necessary, shout appropriately. Hand gestures are fine if not too flamboyant. When the protagonist looks sharply to the left because he heard a noise: look sharply to the left. Use props.

Nobody will actually be listening to what you say, they will be watching what you say.

Break a leg. (and an arm and at least 3 ribs)

Edited to add: Modulation is key. No-one listens to a bee.

 

[TheEarl]

I was the only person there to say 'fuck'!

I was first up to perform, due to my natural extrovertedness (God I missed being flamboyant when I was depressed) and I wasn't exactly sure of the kind of work that his storytelling circle liked/were used to. I knewthe story roughly and varied little bits and descriptions and it just so happened that this version of my story had my character saying "Oh fuck." in the first paragraph, insted of "Oh God" as it was originally written. I think I startled some people and then again when my character said it twice again later.

They seemed quite taken with the story as a whole though and they were quite chuffed that I was new and that I'd brought along original material. Good time.

The Earl

 

[mlady_france]

I was the only person there to say 'fuck'!

I was first up to perform, due to my natural extrovertedness (God I missed being flamboyant when I was depressed) and I wasn't exactly sure of the kind of work that his storytelling circle liked/were used to. I knewthe story roughly and varied little bits and descriptions and it just so happened that this version of my story had my character saying "Oh fuck." in the first paragraph, insted of "Oh God" as it was originally written. I think I startled some people and then again when my character said it twice again later.

They seemed quite taken with the story as a whole though and they were quite chuffed that I was new and that I'd brought along original material. Good time.

The Earl

Good for you! Glad it went well.

 

[Hulder]

Sounds like you had fun. Good for you!

 

[English Lady]

Sounds funky Earl Love good for you!

 

[Honey123]

YAY!

What a rush, huh?

 

[TheEarl]

YAY!

What a rush, huh?

Thanks. And pass me the riding crop will you? I think I still owe you a flogging for daring to escape.

The Earl

 

[Honey123]

Thanks. And pass me the riding crop will you? I think I still owe you a flogging for daring to escape.

The Earl

I was just going to get some water!!

 

[TheEarl]

I was just going to get some water!!

How dare you answer me back? On your hands and knees. Now.

The Earl

 

[Guest]

Ooooh.

He's so - dominant - today, isn't he?


(Well done Earl. Wish we all could have been there!)

 

[Honey123]

How dare you answer me back? On your hands and knees. Now.

The Earl

Yes, sir!!

 

[Salvor-Hardon]

Rock on Earl!

Kudos to you man, and I hope its just the first in a long line of great performances from you.

 

[TheEarl]

Yes, sir!!

The Earl ran his hands over Honey's legs, allowing his fingers to linger as they slid along her thighs. "Remember, not a sound," he cautioned her.

Honey closed her eyes as his fingertips worked at her skin, drawing slow, languid circles on her inner thigh. Her pussy pulsated against the cotton of her g-string and she struggled to hold herself still, to stop from pushing herself onto his hand.

Still his hands moved, sliding closer and closer to her pussy with every stroke and Honey bit her lip, trying to suppress the moan that lay just one more touch away. Then his fingers were on her, pushing away her thong and playing over her throbbing quim.

She cried out, overwhelmed by the shudders of ecstasy that thrummed through her body, unable to resist the sensations and unable to control herself. Then down came his hand, palm smacking firmly against her buttocks and she cried out again as the sting and burn mixed with the delicious heat that radiated from her pussy.

"I told you: not a sound. That'll be ten strokes."

The Earl

PS. Thanks all.

 

[Guest]

The Earl ran his hands over Honey's legs, allowing his fingers to linger as they slid along her thighs. "Remember, not a sound," he cautioned her.

Honey closed her eyes as his fingertips worked at her skin, drawing slow, languid circles on her inner thigh. Her pussy pulsated against the cotton of her g-string and she struggled to hold herself still, to stop from pushing herself onto his hand.

Still his hands moved, sliding closer and closer to her pussy with every stroke and Honey bit her lip, trying to suppress the moan that lay just one more touch away. Then his fingers were on her, pushing away her thong and playing over her throbbing quim.

She cried out, overwhelmed by the shudders of ecstasy that thrummed through her body, unable to resist the sensations and unable to control herself. Then down came his hand, palm smacking firmly against her buttocks and she cried out again as the sting and burn mixed with the delicious heat that radiated from her pussy.

"I told you: not a sound. That'll be ten strokes."

The Earl

PS. Thanks all.

Fuck.