When I hear people talking about comedians – now famous – they saw at the beginning of their careers, it is usually to say how bad they were.
it would be my life’s campaign to start a movement for everybody and anybody to have a go at whatever art activity they like. I was rubbish at ballet, but enjoyed the exercise. I wasn’t ever going to be in Swan Lake but in a class of 5 year olds, does it matter? This constant dis-acknowledgement was the start of my stage fright which has taken ages to battle against.
The myth about born talent has a lot to answer for. As Malcolm Gladwell says in Outliers, it takes 10,000 hours to get good at something. Is it any surprise that people who have had a book published or got onto the first rung of their ascent towards success often thank the people around them for their support and patience?
In Outliers, Gladwell also writes about the circumstances, timing and opportunities that were behind people such as Bill Gates that allowed them to become the moguls they are today.
Stephen King has written one of those few truthful, not patronising how-to books On Writing in which he talks about being very poor at the beginning, doing 2 exhausting jobs, but he had a life companion, his wife, who read his drafts and even took one out of the bin and told him it was worth carrying on with.
Comedy
Isn’t it well known that Eddie Izzard, Miranda Hart and Jimmy Carr, among others, battled away for years before they hit the big time? Comedy, like painting, dancing, making music and acting, takes practice, commitment and would be easier with constructive encouragement.
Non-artists often don’t relate to the learning process that a new artist is taking to hone their craft. After a disappointing gig at the start of my foray into stand-up comedy, there was a pointed silence from my friends after my gig, as if I would have done the world more good not to have done it.
We can also not thank the academic world. We are educated through a system that works on rote-memorisation, study and theory and competing for the best grades. It is humiliating to show a not very good piece of work to someone, especially to someone who doesn’t do any artwork themselves. We could just say ‘I don’t like it.’ Fair enough. Practicing a craft is not about everyone liking every piece of work you do. It is about learning through trial and error, like learning to ride a bike or drive a car.
Direct Feedback
Stand-up comedy has some bonuses. When you perform in front of an audience, they either laugh or they don’t. Maybe some people laugh at some things and others chuckle or say (as in that classic quote from last year’s Edinburgh Festival) ‘that’s funny.’
What have we done to ourselves in England? Being creative is a basic part of being human. If I want to be judged, I’ll go on Britain’s Got Talent. This is why I don’t like competitions. I found the Gong Show great fun as the audience are reacting freely and without inhibition. that seems natural to me. However, being marked and judged on a work-in-progress stops the creative process.
So if you are watching a friend or family member start out in one of the arts, don’t expect them to be brilliant as none of the performers you would pay to see were at that stage either.
If there is something you like about what they do, tell them. If there’s something you don’t like, tell them too, but whatever you do, don’t get embarrassed. They are getting up there. That is nothing to be embarrassed about. That is something to be proud of. If you give them honest, responsive feedback, and quit telling them to keep taking the pills or not give up the day job, you may get a big, public thank you one day. One you’ll never forget.
Dysfunctionality
It is blatant British dysfunctionality that dictates people to be artistically suppressed and then judge other people. I’ve given up reading the film critics as they are academic experts at an art they haven’t succeeded, or maybe even tried, themselves. It is a type of off-loading.
I was doing a painting last year in Margate when a guy in a scruffy t-shirt and grade 1 shaved head came past, looked and shook his head at my mid-way painting in disapproval. How dare he? It came out alright but I could have done without that sinking feeling of having disappointed someone by getting my paint brushes out.
As a theatre critic, I said what worked or didn’t work about the acting, writing, direction, scenery, story etc but as an entity, and however bad, each play was enjoyable and worth seeing, if only to admire the magic of people working together.
Rant over.
Stand Up Comedy Collective 