by Mark Wade
We've all heard the old adage.."Practice makes perfect!". Not true! According to my own long-distance business mentor, Harvey Mackay of "Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive!" book fame, this adage doesn't hold true any longer. If you are practicing the wrong things over and over again..that's not good!
You need to watch yourself, have others critique you, and make notes on the good and the not so good things you do. When you practice, practice with a purpose. KNOW what you want to accomplish..where you want to go. Make a list of areas of improvement and get to work on them.
I realize that sometimes it's an ad lib that makes the difference in a show, so when this happens remember to write it down and then work on practicing it in your set routine.
The new adage should be "PERFECT practice makes perfect!"..and that to me makes PERFECT sense! Practice over and over again the act in it's most perfect form and you will grow as a performer. Guaranteed!
Wise advice... from a master.
ReplyDeleteMark is somewhat right! The problem is most ventriloquist lean from tapes, cd or book. If they are doing something wrong there is no one to correct them. They learn on their on. In a perfect world He is right.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to answer Anonymous, you are right, the majority of vents learn too quick from books, tapes and even the convention, it is over as fast as it started. The sad REAL problem is that most vents will not listen to help. One of the best things that happened to me years ago is a client told me I was not very good. That hit me like a ton of bricks but it also made me better. If it weren't for that comment, I would be doing the same bad show after bad show. So if some client said that your show is not that great, what would you do?
ReplyDeletetell them to go suck an egg (under your breath) or actually look at your show from the audiences view and change for the better
Just another way to practice is to see yourself as your aud would see you. by using a full length mirror or by video taping your routine and watching it for imperfection and be honest with yourself and make those necessary changes where needed...you know what your capable of, if you run into a wall snag, then thats where you need to work, I am constantly working on my lip movement and one very important lesson I have learned 'GO SLOW',FIRST OF ALL IT HELPS YOU LEARN CORRECTLY AND SECOND OF ALL LESS OF A CHANCE OF SCREWING UP... your not in A RACE....
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