The Dandelion Report ([info]dandelionreport) wrote,
@ 2004-08-25 16:06:00
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Spoken word performance advice?
QUESTION:
"Is it ok to perform a spoken word piece in open filk? Any performance tips?"

I've heard poetry and short stories recited at open filk circles with great success. One excellent spoken word performers in the filk community is Mark Bernstein. To you spoken word performers out there: any tips? Do's and don'ts of spoken word performances? Is it better to memorize?

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[info]vixyish
2004-08-25 02:10 pm UTC (link)
I don't think it's necessarily better to memorize. Particularly since anybody might forget something if they're nervous or on the spot. Remember Frank Hayes! This is why filkers carry notebooks! :)

Has looking at someone reading from a piece of paper ever bugged you? Now, has listening to someone repeatedly interrupt themselves, pause, say "um, uh... just a minute... I'll remember it..." ever bugged you?

Expressiveness is much more important than memorization, and reading from a paper doesn't have to get in the way of expressiveness at all, unless maybe you're reading something cold that you've never even seen before.

I say, get into it. Get into the emotion of whatever story you're telling. It's all about the emotion, whatever that emotion is. That's going to be the thing that hooks your audience, above all else.

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[info]tigertoy
2004-08-25 02:20 pm UTC (link)
The fact that someone has a piece of paper in front of me never bothers me, but when they're really reading the piece from the paper, so that they're paying attention to the paper and not to the audience, it does bother me somewhat. The trouble with having the book there is that it's very easy, especially if you're someone like me for whom connecting with the audience doesn't come naturally, to fall into the trap of reading from the page when you don't actually need to.

The bottom line is: Try to learn the material well enough that you don't need the paper, but if you're not absolutely sure you're they're yet, go ahead and have the paper there. Even if you are absolutely sure, if you're someone who tends to lose the words in the heat of the moment, go ahead and have the paper there. But make a real effort to not look at the paper unless you need to, and then only for just long enough to refresh your memory.

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[info]tigertoy
2004-08-25 02:12 pm UTC (link)
As a general rule, I find that filk audiences are receptive to almost any kind of performance if it's actually a good performance, but the farther the performance gets from a normal filksong, the better the performance needs to be to get the audience to go "wow, that's really good!" rather than "why are you performing that here?" F'rinstance, juggling is quite far from what is normally performed at a filk, but if you can keep 7 rings and your pet wombat in the air while riding across the stage on a unicycle, the filk audience will be appreciative. On the other hand, if you can only do 3 beanbags and usually drop one within 10 throws, don't ask the filk audience to watch.

With regard to spoken word pieces, I have never seen a spoken word piece that was well written, well chosen for the moment, and well recited or told fail to get a good reaction from a filk circle. I have seen people recite poems that frankly stunk get minimal polite applause and people who stumbled badly through what they recited only applauded because the audience liked the person rather than the performance.

I think poems and stories are quite welcome in filk circles, but they should be selected and prepared with just a little more care. When a singer performs a song, he needs to select a good song, know it well, choose the right time to sing it, and perform it with confidence and flair. It's the same for a poem or story, only a little bit more so.

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[info]johno
2004-08-25 04:08 pm UTC (link)
Spoken word is one area that unless you are really really good, KISS is the best policy. In this case KISS means "Keep It SHORT S...."

Echoing [info]vixyish, perfect memorisation is not needed, but focusing on the paper is just as bad.

Spoken word is voice acting*. If you are struggling to remember, you're not acting. If you are focusing on the paper, you are not acting.

Which brings us back to KIS. Because Spoken Word only has the words (natch), there is much less to hold the audience's attention. If you are acting (well), you can hold their attention. If not, their attention wanders. Go on to long without their attention and the bodies start to wander as well (fidgeting, russling, even leaving).

*When singing (esp with music) the melody provides the acting.

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[info]pbristow
2004-08-25 04:36 pm UTC (link)
*When singing (esp with music) the melody provides the acting.

I have to disagree there. The melody can in some ways compensate for *lack* of acting, but the best performers are those few who know how to really act with their voice *in addition* to, and simultaneously with, exercising their singing skills.

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[info]johno
2004-08-25 04:55 pm UTC (link)
"supports and adds to the voice acting"

Sound like a better bit of phrasing?

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[info]surrdave
2004-08-25 07:06 pm UTC (link)
A bit of acting goes a long way with spoken word--specifically, using gestures and posture to intensify, interpret, or simply attract visual focus. I'd say at the least stand up to do the spoken piece, which helps get the attention in a chaos circle anyway.

It's easy to leap from song to patter to talkin' blues to storytelling with musical interludes to plain ol' storytelling; the key is to maintain the fundamentals of rhythm, pitch variation, dynamics, enunciation... and passion.

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[info]pbristow
2004-08-25 04:32 pm UTC (link)
There's a word for it: We call it "pietry". (By analogy with the o/i transposition in "filk")

Miki Dennis writes & reads excellent pietry, and some of her piems have later aquired tunes written by other people, thus becoming filks. Rafe culpin often reads poems by Les Barker that are often filkish in content or connection.

Zander Nyrond wrote an excellent, hilarious yet poignant Star Trek piem called "Tunica Rufa, Vita Brevis", based on a famous poem about cricket: You can hear it on the tape "VIbrations" (recorded at VIbraphone, the 6th annual UK filk con.)

UK filkcons have also featured storytelling with harp accompaniment - although I think a vital lesson here is to keep it brief, given that some of your audience just won't be into story telling and will get fidgetty. (Of course, an over-long self-indulgent saga is still an over-long self-indulgent saga, whether it is sung to a tune or not.)

N.B. This is from the UK perspective, BTW. What counts as "filk", or gets accepted alongside filk at a filk con/circle/gathering, tends to be pretty broad over here: We lean a bit more to the "filk is whatever filkers do" definition than some folks across the pond. =:o}

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[info]poltr1
2004-08-25 10:22 pm UTC (link)
There are actually two parts to this: (1) good material and (2) good delivery. I won't talk about (1) here, since the focus of the question is on delivery.

Reading a poem, or a piece of prose, is a lot like public speaking. A public speaking class, or membership in a Toastmasters club would be very helpful here. The first 10 speeches in their basic program cover some of the basic building blocks -- sincerity, eye contact with the audience, gestures, vocal variety, use of descriptive words, passion, persuasion, and putting them all together. This is done in an encouraging environment -- members give evaluations, not critiques. In other words, expect to hear "This is what I heard, this is what I saw, this is what I felt" type statements. After those are done, there are several different advanced programs that can be selected for further achievement levels.

One of my favorite orators is the late Shel Silverstein. Listen to him read "Someone Ate The Baby" or "The Smoke-Off". There's vocal variety (pitch, volume, cadence, even character voices), descriptive words (I can see pictures in my mind when he speaks), and enthusiasm.

Christine Lavin is another performer who often reads prose or poetry during her concerts, and some have been featured on her albums.

Listen to these and other spoken-word performers, and try to imitate them. Or better yet, develop your own style. And one more thing: No. Shatner. Impressions. Please! :-)

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[info]occams_pyramid
2004-08-26 01:59 am UTC (link)
I'd have problems if it wasn't OK - I do practically nothing else. Of course it does help to have this friend called Les Barker.

I do read from the books - there's far too much to memorise. But then Les reads from the books as well, and he's a professional performer! Probably something to do with it being difficult for him to memorise all seventy one books that he's written.

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[info]chatworthy
2004-08-26 10:05 am UTC (link)
Spoken word is OK at filk. One of my best pieces is spoken word.

I've hung out with storytellers on occasion: they do everything from memory in final performance, but I've seen them use notes while developing a story. It's like acting.

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