Forums > Social Chat > Being laughed at vs getting applause...

Posted: 9th Dec 2001
Personally, I always prefer applause. It is an amazing feeling when every one is clapping and cheering for some thing you are doing. I think it is probobly the sole reason most performers perform. BUT, if I should happen to do some thing stupid, I always prefer to have some one there to see it, because I feel a hundred times dumber if I am the only person there. At least with people around you can laugh it off and make a joke about it. By myself I just have to shake my head and say "goddamnit that was dumb"

Jesus helps me trick people.

Posted: 10th Dec 2001
Whether alone or surrounded by people I usually laugh my head off when i fall or mess something up ... well...provided I don't knock myself unconscious, which nearly happened with poi, or when the pain is too strong (silly me hitting my frozen(4degrees here !!!) thumb nails with full speed staff and crying (I am a woos) and laughing at the same time. But in terms of real performance, unless you are a real masochist, you definitely prefer applauses. Yet if i do something wrong, and I know it, I'd rather have someone come to me and say "that was not so good, maybe you should (constructive critique)... bla bla" rather than "that was soooo cool", know what i mean ?And one last thing I discussed with a friend who is a professional circus artist and juggler : he says and I pretty much agree, that it is essential for an artist to experience one real fiasco (I don't mean money wise or this kind of terrible issues, I mean, you not being able to do the tricks or for clowns when people just DO NOT respond or laugh or cry... it is like an initiation...it did make sense to me, what do you think ?Shine onCassandra[This message has been edited by cassandra (edited 11 December 2001).]

"I want brown bread... no, that is diesel oil..."
"So I was raised in Europe, where History comes from ..."
"NON !!! La Plume de mon oncle n est pas Bingibangibungi !!!"

Posted: 10th Dec 2001
Cassandra, that made perfect sense. Fiasco's do a few things...they help to keep ego's in check and help to maintain humility, they enable you to laugh at yourself and to also really re-evaluate what you are doing to make sure the passion is still there and if it is, then it allows you to see what went wrong and grow from there. Fiasco's also let others know you are a very real person, not some elevated super god thing either, you know? When performers make mistakes, the audience can identify with you but still can't necessarily do what you do, which makes it more amazing to them.Funny this is brought up now. I recently had dinner with a veteran performer (actor/singer) and we had an extremely interesting conversation about this and I really took to heart what was said because it really gave me a new perspective on my relationship with my audience.Clapping hands together is not an automatic response. You have to think to do it and therefore applause and sometimes cheers can be forced and not heartfelt.Laughter, crying, even silence are automatic responses that come from emotion. Have you ever been stunned to silence and tried to talk, or tried to stifle a laugh or sob? It is hard to control. That is the effect that I, as a performer, want because it is sheer emotion.Keep in mind there are varients to that as well, there is joyful laughter, but there is also nervous laughter. Tears are generally associated with sadness but people can also be happy and be moved to tears. Silence is the hardest one to guage and the hardest one as a performer to take, it can be from awe or disdain. Usually those little gasps from the audience will let a performer know but when dealing with fire, it's hard to hear them over the roar. When I started performing, of course I went for the laugh becase in my mind I equate it with joy. And it worked for me. Many times I still do go for the laugh. But in recent years in some of the shows I do, especially the christmas one I have been involved with for three years, there are several people who cry, out of love, comfort and joy, not becaus I made them sad. I touched them in some way that triggered the smile with the tears. Because of the character I play I get alot of genuine laughter but I also get alot of nervous titters, because people don't know what to make of her until I spend a few minutes with them, then it turns to happy laughing (and there is a huge difference in how it sounds). When I started fire dancing no one applauded and I thought they hated me. No one moved at all. I ended to a crowd of silence, and that is very hard to swallow. Then I talked to Whipping Boy (my safety that day) who pointed a few things out to me...that I couldn't have been all that bad since each time I started up I drew crowds away from other performers and it took less than two minutes to gather no less than 40 people each time. There were some people who were back for every single show and that the audience was so in awe (which you could tell by facial expression) that they literally forgot to applaude...which is a bigger compliment really than 100 people clapping.I've learned since then to look at the audience and read them for my fire spinning the way I do for my acting, which is a skill that comes with time and experience.Don't get me wrong, I love to hear the cheers and applause. There is an energy that comes from that just gets me pumped for more. But the subtle responses are the ones I appreciate more now because I know they come from an emotion, not necessarily a good thing (as when they laugh when you fall...but hey, if you can laugh at yourself then why worry), but in this time of social numbness and "I've seen it all, nothing impresses me" attitudes, you made them *feel* something, and that is a real achievement.Many regards,Pele------------------Pele Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir...https://www.pyromorph.com

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK

Posted: 11th Dec 2001
i prefer laughter... cause then i hand it to them and watch them knock out a few cavity fillings.... MUAHAHAHAHA... it ain't as easy as we make it look sometimes... and non-poists can't tell how to even get one hand sometimes... never mind two to do a figure eight... over this past week i've been laughed at WHILE doing tricks RIGHT. I love seeing them try it though... ::gets out his popcorn and hands his poi to the big rough tough girls basketball players:: LET'S SEE HOW THAT SMILE LOOKS NOW!------------------~ Tiger, Tiger, burning bright... ~

"The Q is talkin' to me!!!"

Posted: 11th Dec 2001
I like laughter when that's the reaction I want, I don't like laughter when it's at me, but i've got this great sad puppy dog face I can pull if things are getting tough.Applause is always the best. But Pele is right, sometimes people are too awed or impressed to spontaneaously applause.I get around this by telling people when to applause, ie before trick, whent he wicks go out, and any time I drop.It's a matter of letting them know whatyou expect from them, and they are usually more than happy to comply...------------------Charles (INFERNO)newdolbel@hotmail.comhttps://juggling.co.nz

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Posted: 10th Dec 2001
Some where between booing and applause there is the absolute worst. This is when they do nothing at all, and you have absolutely no reaction by which to gauge your performance. It's really kind of creepy.By the by, nice book you posted Pele. Very informative, and too true. But those bad performances, especially early on, can be very discouraging. I had one last night and I had to literally force myself to pick up my staff today. Very depressed over the whole deal. But I suppose that I must press on, eh?

Jesus helps me trick people.

Posted: 11th Dec 2001
Hey Charles, you've GOT to put a pic up of your sad puppy face in the Mug Shot gallery...Sometimes people seem to laugh when you do something that they completely don't "get". For example when I was at the Arches in London this guy (Matt I believe) started doind contact juggling with 2 balls WHILST doing liquid!! Me and my friends laughed in dis-belief. Granted it wasn't pointing and laughing of the sort you get when you've set your crotch on fire, but it would be more satisfying to get this response than some clichéd, half-hearted applause... People will clap anything, it takes alot to wow people into laughter.

Burner of Toast
Spinner of poi
Slacker of enormous magnitude

Posted: 11th Dec 2001
Durbs, Thank you! I'd forgotten about that sort of laughter. It's pretty much what I do whenever someone else does impossible tricks in front of me, I laugh in an aproving way.I sometimes get that reaction from mountain-bikers when I'm doing trick on my uni, but, come to think of it, haven't had this reaction (audibly) when I'm doing fire yet...------------------Charles (INFERNO)newdolbel@hotmail.comhttps://juggling.co.nz

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Posted: 30th Nov 2009
Originally Posted By: Psylentzi prefer laughter... cause then i hand it to them and watch them knock out a few cavity fillings.... MUAHAHAHAHA... it ain't as easy as we make it look sometimes... and non-poists can't tell how to even get one hand sometimes... never mind two to do a figure eight... over this past week i've been laughed at WHILE doing tricks RIGHT. I love seeing them try it though... ::gets out his popcorn and hands his poi to the big rough tough girls basketball players:: LET'S SEE HOW THAT SMILE LOOKS NOW!

------------------
~ Tiger, Tiger, burning bright... ~
Very agree on this. I've performed for family/friends 3 times with LED Poi and that's it and twice I have had friends pick up oi and try it. OMG IT'S TOO FUNNY when they can even take one poi and spin it at their side without hitting their leg. But I love letting people do it because those are the people that afterward really appreciate what you do and how hard it really is. They see you do all of this crazy and then they try it, then they just give you this look, this look of either amazement of what you do, or just a real appreciation of the art. Letting people try it is really a way to convert the people who don't appreciate it because they go "lol I can do that!" into complete awe, even more than other people who do appreciate it because they just see that it looks cool, they don't really know how hard it is.

The only luck is bad luck.

Shut up before I stall my poi up your ass