TRAP 7: “KITCHEN SINK-ING” YOU: “I have TOO MUCH to say! I can’t seem to fit everything I want to say in the time I have. People need to understand the entire picture of who I am, to really get me. Help!” ME: “If you want me to give you a Read more…
I went to a plein-air poetry night on Saturday and was invited to read. Didn’t think about preparing. Found a story I’d written and only performed once, back at the Zen Center in SF. A modern-day parable, mixing The Princess and The Pea with The Prodigal Son. About coming home. Read more…
5. It’s a pain in the butt. Solo shows are so much work. You gotta decide what you’re going to talk about. You gotta get over the fear of not being good enough. You gotta put in the time to write it. You gotta actually write it and not just Read more…
Ok, here's the good news… finally! Turns out learning your lines is really not so hard after all! I started writing and performing one woman shows in the last six years, and all you have to do to learn your lines is put the time in. That’s really it. My Read more…
I wanted to be an actor when I was a kid. Really intensely, starting around when I was 8 or so. But two things stopped me. Or rather, got the way of me thinking I could be successful at it, which in turn had me thing maybe I want to Read more…
Next thing you do is get an email list provider. Why? Cause you can’t sent two hundred emails out from your Gmail account every time you have a show. Doing that triggers spam filters and then your email doesn’t show up in regular inboxes. Oh, and if you don’t give Read more…
Next thing you gotta do is invite EVERYONE. It’s like a coming-out party. It’s a way to say, “I’m really in this. It’s really happening.” It’s scary. It could even be terrifying. But if you put the work in and you do your best, you can get over it. Letting Read more…
There are several ways to “incentivize” people to buy tickets early. If you can get them to buy in advance, they’re committed, whereas if they buy them at the door, they could get to that moment in the evening and just say, “I’m tired… let’s stay home and watch a Read more…
A big part of producing your solo show is having people see it. Which means… selling tickets. If you’re thinking, “Ugh.” Think instead, “Selling tickets to your show makes it professional!” If it’s your first solo show ever, and you’re starting out, try selling tickets for $5. Cover your expenses. Read more…
There are several ways to get stage time. As a comic, I spent a dozen years honing my craft and got on stage about 1000 times doing standup comedy at open mics, showcases, road gigs, clubs, etc. There are so many opportunities to get stage time. Some are more appealing Read more…