Musings on Performance

This Saturday,at an event sponsored by MNORML,I will be giving my first solo performance in over 2 years. My last solo performance was held at the Mercury Cafe in Denver. It was received pretty well by the audience,but I remember feeling a little off during the performance..a little feverish with dizzy spells. Little did I know at the time that I had cancer. I would find out 2 months later. I'm feeling much better now.

I look at any type of live performance as akin to skydiving. No matter how much one knows or rehearses the material,anytime one steps out in front of the audience,it becomes it's own experience to be shared with the performer and audience alike and one never knows what's going to happen. It's all in the moment. Scary and thrilling at the same time, That's the magic of performance.

With solo performance,that feeling of being without a net is heightened. No actors to bounce things off of..no bandmates to hide behind. The show flies or fails because of YOU.

I always admired the late Spalding Gray for his theatrical monologues. It was his personal input that led to the development of my own monologue Black Hippie Chronicles.

Saturday's performance is not a monologue,it's more of a weaving of poetry and stories into a coherent narrative,but I feel Spalding Grey's spirit in its preparation.