PRE SHOW RITUALS I just had my first session with a voice c..
Published: January 10th 2023, 11:12:49 am
PRE SHOW RITUALS
I just had my first session with a voice coach which is, admittedly, 12 years too late. But you know the saying: The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The next best time is this morning at 10am. So that's what I did.
I'm very much a 'hold your breath from the moment you wake up till you fall back asleep' kind of person. I like to keep my tension all piled up in my entire body. I prefer to take teeny tiny breaths and never fully breathe out.
A director once asked me, 'How many times do you breathe on the way to the stage?' and I laughed in her face. No times! Of course, I don't breathe walking to the stage. I start walking towards the microphone, holding my breath. I then take my first breath as I say the first sentence.
All of this isn't ideal. Obviously. Sometimes we get away with a lot, as comedians. Musicians have to tune their instruments, singers have to do voice warm up, dancers have to stretch and otherwise warm up. Sometimes there are costumes or suits involved that people have to change into.
Comedians? We can just sort of turn up and then go onto the stage and have a chat.
I've rarely seen comedians do any kind of warm up before going on stage. Maybe people do it from home or in the bathroom where no one can see it, but I never hear them talk about it.
To be honest, it makes me feel silly. Voice warm up and stretching doesn't look cool. But my GOD, does it make you a better performer.
I believe we should probably all figure out what makes us perform better. Psychologically and physically.
This is something I'm working on at the moment, so I don't have many answers myself. Yet.
One thing is voice training. Hence the course I'm taking. We did an hour where I stretched, massaged my jaw and did a very sexy tongue exercise and even though it was just the first session and it was brief, I already feel the difference. Something shifted in my body - some tension was released, some muscles relaxed and I guess... My tongue... is... better? Not sure what the tongue thing was about.
I fantasise about the Perfect Warm Up Routine. The perfect Pre Stage Ritual. I want to be the kind of performer who drinks a bottle of lemon water, lights a scented candle, stretches, does voice exercises, says a mantra into a mirror, breathes deeply, meditates and then goes onto the stage and has an amazing show. All... Zen and holistic and annoying. That's the dream.
As for now, it remains a dream, as I figure out what my THING is.
Open to ideas.