I have been a professional performer for almost twenty years now. My experience has centered on improvisation and clowning, with some modeling and an increasing amount of scripted theater mixed in. Then\u00a0three weeks ago, I entered new territory as I began\u00a0my first stint performing in a renaissance festival. For seven weekends this summer, I will be stepping on the site as a reasonably-seasoned performer, reborn as a newbie.<\/p>\n
I had a three-day cram session for two shows\u2019 worth of lines and started learning about a typical renaissance\u00a0fest environment. This is my first time performing a show that depends so heavily on audience participation and where being cheeky and bawdy is an expectation. If you\u2019ve been in the groove of doing something in a specific way for a while,\u00a0it can be jarring and intimidating to completely change gears, patterns, or environments.<\/strong> Having these guidelines helped me take the stage in spite of my apprehensions:<\/p>\n Being a newbie again can be as fruitful and renewing as it can be frightening. Moving into unfamiliar territory keeps us learning and growing, and the right steps can make the difference in experiencing and creating successful results.<\/p>\n \u2014<\/p>\n Contributing writer Gregory Parks is a clown, improvisational actor, coach, and teacher living\u00a0and thriving in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis\/St. Paul, Minnesota.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you\u2019ve been in the groove of doing something in a specific way for a while, it can be jarring and intimidating to completely change gears, patterns, or environments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":693,"featured_media":21618,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[778],"tags":[598,905,970],"class_list":["post-21084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-practice","tag-art","tag-philosophy","tag-worklife"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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