Audience Appeal Workshop
"The secret is above your shoulders"
Some notes about entertaining the audience from Bill Gilbertson, the unicyclist who brought you the unicycling adventures of Forest Gump.
- Use your arms, facial expression, eyes, mouth, and stature
- More important than riding ability
- Give them a chance for pictures
- Feel good about yourself
- If you don't, how can they
- Smile, be happy
- Your audience will be happy too
- Have fun, relax, lose the tension
- Show enthusiasm
- Sit up straight, stand tall. Shoulders back, arms outstretched (above the shoulder) in a welcoming gesture
- Involve the audience
- Look at them - Acknowledge that they are there - You are there because of them
- Greet them
- Eye contact
- Talk to them
- Tease 'em
- Give them time to wonder what you are going to do
- Count the jump rope hops
- Applause points
- Pause, open up with your arms, they want to clap, you have to tell them when it's ok.
- Don't overdo it
- Invite audience to watch you
- Pause - give them time to look at you
- "Watch this!" Outstretch your arms or put them up in the air - Raise your finger
- Demand that the audience watch you
- Parade - Center of street is passive, work the sides
- Parades are a wonderful means to test new ideas - analyze lack of response
- Get right in their face (safely) with a hard skill
- Example - Quick 180 uni spin
- Take advantage of failure
- Don't shrug off a failed skill, or be disgusted with yourself
- Use to show how difficult a skill is
- Build enthusiasm - invite audience to cheer you on
- Biggest applause comes with success after failure
- Have someone else do it or have them top you
- When all else fails - Suicide mount
- Use a shill
- Ask the shill (water carrier in parade) - Is this a good audience?
- Sit in the audience, cheer
- Defer to another performer, help them or get them to help you
- Make someone else a star - audience member
- Sit on shoulders, twirl, sit on uni
- Ask a friend for feedback - Thank them
- Break the rules
- Drop the clubs
- Not standard skill
- Be yourself
- Tell a joke, do funny stuff
- Well balanced diet, Half price bike store
- One foot - miss the pedals
Pairs
- Perform to the audience or to each other - depends on your theme and music
- Mixed pairs - If the music is romantic, look at each other in a loving way
- Make it look like you want to be with that person
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