AboutTom Expertise I can answer questions about The Capitol Steps, a political (mostly musical) satire group based in Washington, DC which performs in Washington, around the U.S., and four times a year on public radio. I can answer questions about who is performing which role in Capitol Steps sketches and songs on albumns and can help identify a routine (and which albumn or radio show includes it) based on partial lyrics. I can also provide tips and suggestions for those interested in writing and performing spoonerism-based comedy similar to the Steps` "Lirty Dies."
Experience I have been a Capitol Steps fan since about 1995. I own all the albumns and have listened to each dozens of times. I have particularly studied (and particularly admire) the "Lirty Dies" routines and I have written and performed material of this sort. Despite the fact that I live halfway across the U.S. from Washington, I've attended many live Capitol Steps performances, including several at their permanent locations in the DC area.
Question hi the one thing i always wanted to do was be a comedian and my mum always tells me i should be a comedians and others but i just cant get over my Crippling stage fright i have always been unconfident if its a word but please i really want this
Answer Sam --
Sorry for the delay in answering your question; the original e-mail must have gotten lost but the system has now automatically called my attention to it.
I'm going to take the perspective that whatever you do for a living, it should be something that you like to do. And it's definitely the case that if you're going to do something as a hobby, you should get some net enjoyment out of it. So if you truly do have crippling stage fright, which doesn't actually sound like a lot of fun, then maybe this isn't the thing for you.
Having said that, however, it's also possible that you believe this stage fright isn't inevitable or that you so much want to do this (hopefully for some reasons in addition to pleasing your mother, which isn't a bad reason, but probably not enough) that you're willing to suffer the internal feelings if only you can cover them up enough to appear competent to your audience. In that case, I would recommend repetition. You've got to find some thing that you can do over and over, even if it makes you scared inside, until you learn to manage the fear so that you can do it well, even though scared. I know people who look fine "on stage" but tell me privately that they feel scared much of the time -- as long as it's worth it to them to go through the scariness each time, I think this is OK!
If you live in the area where the organization Toastmasters International (www.toastmasters.org) has an active group, I'd really recommend that to give you the opportunity to work through your fears in a safe environment. Toastmasters won't have you telling jokes all the time, so you'll need to be patient, but if you can get through talking about other topics in front of a group, that would be a step in the right direction.
