I never feel like going when I am supposed to be there. Yet, something incredible happens when I arrive and the show starts…It’s like a whole new person seems to take over and suddenly, I’m so glad that I am there.Tonight’s shows were good. I had friends come, which made it so much better than it might have been they not been there. When somebody comes to the shows I feel like I’m doing the show specifically for them. It makes all the difference.
Tonight’s show was fraught with those things which make me laugh out loud…of course it always helps when there are people playing whom you enjoy watching.
I’ve had several folks ask me why I don’t perform on stage anymore. I wanted to respond to this…there isn’t any deep reason; I stopped simply because I felt that I wasn’t so funny anymore.
Let me explain...
When I am standing before a group of kids (say, in a classroom) I can say things which they’ll take home to their parents, “You’ll never guess what Mr. Z said today...” This is usually followed by laughter or comments of, “It was so cool!”
Yet, with adults you don’t always get the same results.
Not that I can’t be witty, eloquent, or entertaining. It’s just more of a challenge when somebody points at you and says, “Okay, be funny...ready? Now!” It’s just more pressure than I felt I really wanted.
As a result, I opted to try out for Mr. Voice—which I’ve now done for over four years. I like it a lot. I’m still a part of the show, but more of a “background” object. When the audience is watching a scene where the players are camping and the cricket chirps come in or the grunt of a large animal, it brings realism to the scene and makes the audience feel more so like what they are witnessing is real.
That’s what I do.
Am I still funny?
Just ask a 12 year-old.
