stage fright

i looked for a thread on ilx about stage fright and didn't find anything. might as well see if anyone has anything to say.

1) stage fright as defined in wikipedia Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, whether actually or potentially (for example, when performing before a camera). In the context of public speaking, this may precede or accompany participation in any activity involving public self-presentation. In some cases stage fright may be a part of a larger pattern of social phobia or social anxiety disorder, but many people experience stage fright without any wider problems. Quite often, stage fright arises in a mere anticipation of a performance, often a long time ahead. It has numerous manifestations: fluttering or pounding heart, tremor in the hands and legs, sweaty hands, facial nerve tics, dry mouth, erectile dysfunction and dizziness.

2) if you must, the 2014 horror musical Stage Fright, starring Minnie Driver and Meatloaf

this is better

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs7PHsWzvwE

Oh god, I get this so bad.

wow i only needed 24 seconds of that -- must watch! is this new one a remake or just same name? if it's a remake, i have never seen the original obvs. i just googled for stage fright and saw that there was a terrible new movie with those two rather sorry actors.

how does it manifest itself emil.y?

do you think you're trapped in a loop where you anticipate anxiety and so boom, there it is or are you repulsed by the idea of being on a stage or other?

i assume the new one is a new thing? i haven't seen the Soavi one probably since it first came out on video but as i remember it was a well above average slasher

Soavi was AD on Tenebrae and Opera, so had a good pedigree. His next films, La Chiesa and La Setta, are both reasonably good but Dellamorte Dellamore was definitely his finest hour. He hasn't done much since, which is shame.

how does it manifest itself emil.y?

Tight chest, rapid heartbeat, feeling sick, inability to talk or concentrate, pacing, lots of pacing. Usually lasts from arrival at the venue until actually going on stage, though sometimes when I'm on stage I'll get tunnel vision and start thinking I'll never be allowed to leave and will have to play forever and ever and ever...

Sorry for interrupting film talk!

i don't think it's an interruption, i used to get pretty fierce stage fright but it mostly manifested in stomach cramps so i felt it best to avoid the subject

Tony Bennett:

I was pretty frightened, I was given a summer replacement for Perry Como on television, and I was left with kind of a bare stage and a very small orchestra and very few special guests. And it was the first time I took a chance and met (Frank Sinatra) backstage at the Paramount Theater for the first time. He heard that I was one of the new singers on the block, he was 10 years older than I was, but I was a big fan of his, and I took a chance on meeting him. When I went into his dressing room at the Paramount, he said "What is it kid" and I said "Well I am very nervous, I don't know how to stop being nervous."

And he gave me great advice that lasted my whole life so far. He said "The public if they see that you're nervous, they will support you, they will reach out to you, and when they reach out to you, just reach out to them." Never be afraid of an audience. If they are nice enough to come see you, they are fans. And he taught me that your fans are your friends, so that helped me so much that I was able to go through with it. And it stopped my being frightened of the audience. That was when I was brand new at the game.

otm

Aha! I loooove the look of those movies!
I'll have to write down that name

this is why i started the thread, so there's no interruption! did you guys have a bad experience on stage and it has haunted you? personally, i have a hard time telling the difference between self-consciousness and a sheer loathing of being watched. i'm not really nervous to perform the task, i just get really self-conscious about people looking at me. but while i'm up there doing the thing (teaching now, dancing in my youth) i am usually enjoying myself. i dunno. i was wondering if it was stage fright or not and so here we are.

i am reasonably socially awkward around strangers but pretty loose around people i know. have never really minded performing and tbh when i used to be in a band we were usually pretty tanked before going on but it gradually dawned on me i wd get terrible gnawing gut-ache almost invariably before a show, think this was secret psychosomatic stage fright

i get stage fright a few days before i have to be in front of people, it sort of creeps up on me until i realize my stomach is tight and i can't focus on anything. i can usually enjoy myself once i'm on stage but i worry about not being engaging enough.

anyone ever try the bananas as beta blockers cure?

no but i laughed when i thought about bananas solving any of my problems

got a problem? try this one simple thing! (bananas)

need to fall down? step on a banana!

need a potassium-rich snack? eat a banana!

got leg cramps? grab a banana!
feeling low? power up with a banana!

having a banana can solve any problem associated with banana-lack

who are the quintessential famous/well-known stage fright sufferers?

the only one i can think of for sure is cat power

Nick Drake allegedly

Barbara Streisand.

http://www.contactmusic.com/news/streisands-stagefright-prompted-by-forgotten-lyrics_1117130

I never get any kind of intense stage fright in either theatre or singing gigs, but during karaoke I feel anxious and timid as hell even tho I've been doing it for like 12 years. maybe it's cos I feel like the audience is judging my song choices or something.

carly simon

who purportedly deals with it by having ppl spank her bottom

Andy Partridge is a well known stage fright sufferer, he talks about it a bit here

http://thequietus.com/articles/07896-xtc-andy-partridge-english-settlement

Dimebag Darell hasn't been onstage for 10 years now

I used to combat stage fright (and all social anxiety problems) with alcohol. Which was very effective for the stage fright, but resulted in a hellish drinking problem instead.

I did eventually learn to banish the nerves, and just go onstage sober. But the weird thing is, without the adrenaline rush of nerves, and the corresponding sense of relief when it all went fine, going onstage stopped being fun in any kind of meaningful sense. That the fear and the overcoming it and the accompanying rush of it was the whole reason I kept doing it.

never got this rly but also never rly performed at best in front of a formal audience, rehearsals or whatever the notes were easier reached and surer etc, on stage I always felt as if I was grasping into a void for the next line/word.

but never nervous before I don't think

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6zqcT4V7lM

Used to have it badly. Tried beta blockers once before a very important audition; I hated them. Turns out the physical manifestations of nervousness are also the same things that get me UP for a performance, so I felt oddly bored and played boringly.

Bennet's advice is excellent; the other bit of advice I have gotten that has worked for me is that is you concentrate on the PERFORMANCE and not the EVENT -- that is, if you think about what you have to do and not why or where you are doing it -- there's less room in your head for terror. The guy who gave me the advice used that technique in a very detailed manner because his stage fright had been so bad (like not-playing-a-note-but-running-off-the stage -crying bad) -- for nearly every beat of the music, he'd give himself something technical to concentrate on, and on technically easy parts he'd just generalyl remind himself to keep breath support going. It worked for him.

Dimebag Darell hasn't been onstage for 10 years now

― arid banter (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, June 4, 2014 3:18 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

omfg, the guiltiest lol I ever loled :/

did you guys have a bad experience on stage and it has haunted you?

Didn't reply to this before, but no, this isn't it. I've had bad gigs, like everyone, but it isn't usually about the reality of playing, more a general feeling of "they're all going to laugh at you".

he'd give himself something technical to concentrate on

If I start concentrating on what I'm doing, I'm far more likely to make a mistake than if I let muscle memory do its thing, though. So I imagine this would be a terrible strategy for me.

I get what people are saying about adrenaline making playing the show worth it, but there is a mid-point between feeling dead inside and what is basically a panic attack.

i agree with the technical comments that emiL.y made - one reason I have so much trouble recording as a singer is whereas in live performance, I'm free and comfortable, because I know something is being committed to tape, I'm overthinking my technique. So if I were to do that during a live performance, I might flub a few notes. I remember one night during Jesus Christ Superstar that I hit a real flat note on one phrase just cuz I overthought it, until I settled down and focused on the scene I was in and let that take over.

In a way, that's why musical theatre was good for me - I'm often so focused on the acting part that the singing just happens naturally.

As far as a bad experience on stage, nothing disastrous (a few 'forgotten words', bad individual notes, etc), but similar to emiL.y, it's the feeling of being judged. As I developed as a singer and began garnering positive feedback from everyone, that fear subsided a bit, but sometimes even that fear converted to something else ("oh they're gonna laugh at me for getting so emotionally into this song that they think is cheesy").

Generally, before a performance of any kind (except my caroling gigs, obv), I tend to meditate and keep to myself so that my brain isn't distracted. Or , like last weekend, I drink beforehand and during. except for singing gigs, as I lose words very quickly when I drink.

Nerp. I get performance "butterflies" but only at the point where I'm standing offstage waiting to go on, not days previous.

Dancing though is really different for me from public speaking. With dance, I can't afford to get too comfortable--sometimes when I know the steps really well my mind wanders to the crowd or the heat or something, and then I'll miss an entrance or flub the next preparation. There's a balance between somewhere around "just nervous enough."

yeah the balance between relaxed and too relaxed is key.

only time I really outright get frazzled is when assholes in the audience are being disruptive. partially because it's distracting, partially due to fear of losing my temper. (some asshole was loudly talking to his wife at the beginning of my first scene last week and it literally took me out of the moment because he was so close to the stage).

i have been thinking about this lately and can't think of anywhere else to post it. seems to be related to stage fright/performance anxiety in a big way. i know the wiki has a whole section for criticism of the theory, but i find that the criticism focuses on the scientific methods used to obtain quantifiable results rather than the theory itself (maybe this is common, idk anything formal about social psychology tbh)

anyway enough with the disclaimers -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotype_threat

kind of resonates a bit. a lot of the acting i've done has involved auditioning in front of really posh british people. i don't generally feel too conscious of my race in london, but i guess i often feel quite in opposition to british theatricality, like i am not a posh british person, i am not particularly lithe or like a classical mover, it does lead to me going for comic or more grotesque roles, or villains, i think i'd be much more self-conscious if i auditioned for something like hamlet or a leading man type role.

a few years ago a director was p dismissive and critical when i read two pieces to join this one company, because they were both irish plays. that kinda stayed with me as confirmation of the type of feelings you don't want confirmed. i mean not that she was racist, more that i figured i'd choose two pieces in my own accent so i could focus on proving my acting ability, and not be judged for acting an accent, but it backfired in a kind of weird way.

i never used to get too nervous before auditions but i do these days - i think there's something about physical performance that keeps making it hard to believe you have the ability, or you are not embarrassing yourself. i mean, i have an audition tomorrow and i am mad nervous today - sort of nervous about not getting it but also nervous about getting it. my physical health isn't always great or under my control, so i fear success a bit too.

but there are ways around it - people upthread said to focus on the technique, that really is the key. "trust the work" is like a mantra my diploma teacher used a bit - it's good cos it allows you to actually focus on it like a technical task, breathe right, do your warm-up routine, do the task you've been preparing.

i like auditions for nervous characters too :)

At least you haven't let it get to you to the point where you're entirely inhibited from attempting the activity/aiming for inclusion.
Break a leg!

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/03/i-cant-go-on

I liked this line “Stage fright is passion energy that’s stuck in the body,” one therapist tells Solovitch.

I still think it differs substantially from camera shyness but both rely on the fear of being watched or observed.

fear and disgust

when i get stage fright, it's usually when i am at a table discussing something and then everybody quiets down to hear what i have to say. sometimes i instantly crumble. being on an actual stage tho is so removed from normal reality that it doesn't affect me. you have lights, monitors, other performers, all this activity going on. it's easy to ignore the audience compared to sitting at a table with a half dozen people.

I actually struggle to play instruments on stage because of this. my nerves get so bad my hands spasm and misplay. this happened in high school too at times, though I usually fought it with excessive rehearsal. playing the ukulele on stage this year actually wigged me out as I hadn't played an instrument on stage in front of people since age 19, just singing.

singing much the same, but the more I've rehearsed a song, the less 'nervous' I am, especially if I've performed it in front of peers. it's usually less the act of singing, but the fear of losing words, as I'm horrible with lyrics.

last show I did my best friend saw me opening night and said "wtf, your leg was SHAKING on your opening song". after a few performances, it goes away to where it's non-existent. I've been known to put back a few before go-time.

anything y'all have to do to shake the nerves out?

Minimize digestive trouble by always performing on an empty stomach.

three beers. not two and definitely not four.

beta blockers are commonly prescribed for this

lol Halfway, that is one I already adhere to. having to take a shit while onstage is more than I can handle.

I used to drink two beers back to back in 15 minutes of no less than 5% but no more than 7% ABV

heard of the beta blocker thing, almost wonder if that would also help get my near-tachycardic heartrate down too. i have the fastest heartbeat in my family