When we are in front of people we think we're pretty important. And why not? There are tons of people looking at us, laughing, pointing enjoying our antics.
At varying times, we are the most important but very likely we are the least important. Now here is the really weird part, if I'm juggling and the juggling clubs are hitting my head and I'm mad at the juggling club...I'm the least important thing up on stage.
On stage, I'm the puppet master. If you watch a puppet show, you would be laughing and enjoying the puppets even though you know there is a person controlling the them. The puppets have personalities that's why we like them.
Yet, I'm the one juggling, I own the juggling clubs! The Clubs are hitting me. They're hitting the clown!
Making the choice to be the least important thing on stage is a huge comedy opportunity. Personifying my juggling equipment is just funny. The only way to personify the juggling club is to give it power over me.
Let's make a huge leap. An audience volunteer is a prop. At the same time a living breathing prop with feelings. A living breathing prop that is waiting for instructions. One of the most distasteful things I've ever seen was a magician doing a lecture and ignoring his kid volunteer and doing all the jokes to the audience with the kid standing there alone.
The same way I can get a juggling club to hit me, then get mad at it. I can also get a volunteer to do things that make them the most important THING on stage. It's as simple as trying to have a child look at the audience and not at you, so you turn their head to look forward. Bam, they will start to look at you every time you look away. They get all the power and focus during this. What do you get? Laughs! And the audience will love you! Pretty good for giving the child focus.
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