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Thanks for the information. It is not stage fright. It is just getting to excited before performing I just can't focus because I am pumped up but yeah thanks for the information.

Have you thought about taking up a meditation practice? Or maybe yoga? Techniques like these can be very useful in aiding concentration and focus. They may get rid of the over excitement, but even if they don't they will almost certainly lessen the effects of excitement.

If you can't be arsed learning a meditation technique, something you could try before a show is to spend a few minutes cultivating an awareness of the body. Do a whole body scan, starting at the head and moving down to the feet. This has the effect of calming you down. If you're lacking in energy, start at the feet and work your way up to the head.

Also, you could try breath awareness (which is a type of meditation). After the body scan, making sure your muscles, particularly the stomach, are relaxed cultivate an awareness of the breath. Don't try and control it, just pay attention to it.

These simple things can help to improve concentration and focus and may get rid of the over excitement altogether.

GooGooDolls wrote:If your normal and are not diabetic there is no issues because TheMagicwand stated that he has gotten ulcers from them from overdosing so yeah thats why i am asking that question?

I was joking. Sometimes it's difficult to tell. I should use smileys more, but I find that they can often take away the "dryness" of my humour.

don't worry about it. I never take life to serious. I was just wondering if you were telling the truth or if you weren't but yeah thanks for letting me know you haven't got ulcers or anything thats good news. I will be looking in to finding the pill in the US.

It's not a pill. It's a sweet/piece of candy. It's just glucose or dextrose. Eating a handful of Skittles is going to have a similar effect. I would not expect miracles.

I know I would not expect miracles. However I have been searching online for a pill that is suppose to do the same thing like the glucose thing and so forth. http://well.ca/products/dex4-glucose-tablets_8246.html I think this is what I am looking for. However all the pills say they are to raise your energy I am trying to lower my energy level not so I am dry but a type of pill or something that can relax me and kind of lower my energy level? I don't want to be all hyper before i go on. Thanks if anyone can answer my question.

Just read all the posts.....I will have to give them a try......my problem is that my first show is in my local area in two weeks (talent show), I am at a level where I could OK....


But I am scared that if I go wrong I will not get a gig in my town again......and being 18 and unable to drive, locality is everything.


Fingers crossed.

GooGooDolls wrote:I don't want to be all hyper before i go on. Thanks if anyone can answer my question.

Glucose tablets will take away the butterflies in your stomach. That's all.

In general, it's experience and practice that will get the job done in the end. When I first started as a pro I would get very excited/nervous before a restaurant gig. Now it's just what I do. That's not to say I don't look forward to it or get excited - I do - but because I've done it a zillion times before I no longer get nervous.

Thanks.

Will deffinately try that.

I managed to line up a chance to test my gig at my re enactment in flag fen this weekend....if that goes well I will think about moving it up a level such as free shows and open stage night ect.

I just love the smile......I spoke to a young lad today and asked him to pick and sign a card then at the end coughed up his card..... the smile on his face made me feel really good and as if by magic the nerves jsut went away.......

then I got home tried to make multiple cards appear from thin air infront of someone and shook so much that I kept dropping them......(that is one I really want to learn sort of chopping the hands and producing one after teh other dropping them and producing more.)

anyways thanks again Smithy



(Stay Magical)

On the glucose sweet controversy, there's a very thin perceptual divide between hunger and nausea, so I can well believe that a bit of sugar when you're feeling the butterflies could be effective. This reminds me a little of the confusion smokers have between smoking and eating, which is why they use cigarettes to control their appetite, and eat when they're quitting.

Also, if you try something, and it works, and you keep using it, then you ritualise it. Nervousness is a very abstract thing that you have little direct control over, but if you have a set of things you always do then even if they are apparent nonsense, they can work wonders.

Ryan., IGNORE & AVOID ALL the references to 'One Drink Before the show', Pills, Tablet and glasses of water. They stop YOU being in full control. Alcohol heightens things in your body, water fills up the stomach & stops you using the diaphragm properly (My speech teacher once, when I was 15, backstage, just before my Vent Act, knocked a glass of water out of my hand because of this. She said, by all means swirl some round in your mouth, if it is dry, then spit it out, but DO NOT swallow it)
None of them will work for you over time.

Over the many years I worked in Clubs etc. the number of artistes who relied on drink, first one drink, then two drinks,then ****, was huge. It was the long waits in between appearances. They all ended up drunks, or near drunks,and many ... penniless.

You cannot control your body, your mind, your emotions, etc. with artificial aids.

The breathing exercises suggested are the amongst the best ways.
It is controlled (not deep) breathing that helps us govern the adrenalin, the nerves, the voice etc.

The meditation idea is fine but because of its 'reputation' it frightens people off.

Do read The Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson M.D. He was an Assoc.Professor at Harvard University. It was first printed in 1975, then in, paperback 76 and 2000.
Your library probably has a copy. In the book are details of how, Benson proved, u]scientifically, how the RR worked.

Very simply explained and very readable.

After all the theories etc. you get about 4 pages on The Relaxation Response; a VERY SIMPLE, method of breathing and relaxing. So simple you will not , at first believe it works!.

It can be learnt in about 2 minutes BUT you need to practice it once or twice a day for 10 minutes at a time till it becomes second nature.The upto 20 minutes a day.

I have used it for for 29 years in both Magic & Theatre. Even trying it out on bus, train journeys.Never driving in a car , of course! It really works.
When I directed my version of Dante's Sim Sala Bim( 1980) the full evening show, thanks to the RR, I did a 60 minute photo shoot the afternoon of the Dress Rehearsal. No nerves, controlled excitement etc.

Many people have said how relaxed I am when working. It is all due to the Relaxation Response.

The actual system is explained, simply, in about 4 pages. If you PM me an e mail address I'll send these to you. But I'd recommend reading the book for background.


Allen Tipton[[/u]

Harry Guinness wrote:I get there early. Have everything set up then I sit down and read a book. Works great!

What works for me is to arrive very LATE - that way I don't have time to worry!
Seriously, the idea of meditating regularly is the best one here. I find it brings trememdous benefits to all areas of your life. But if you don't fancy it, then Allen is right; The Relaxation Response is a great book to help you learn to unwind quickly and effectively.
And don't try a drink before the show unless you are very experienced, or a hardened drinker. It will put your preformance off.

Typically Irish to arrive late! The lack of punctuality in Ireland is unbelievable. I met a woman who lived in Dublin who was from New Zealand. She couldn't stand the lateness culture so she moved back.

For a hypnosis show I arrive an hour before showtime. It is far more efficient and dare I say professional.

As for nerves before a show I have a bit to say about that. I will have to leave it for later. I have a show to do and I don't want to be late!

Out of interest Mark, can Tony or I post in a thread without you banging on about how c*** (not the best) Ireland is?

Harry Guinness wrote:Out of interest Mark, can Tony or I post in a thread without you banging on about how c*** (not the best) Ireland is?

I think he means it affectionatley. I believe Mark enoyed his time in Dublin.