Performing

[Papa Ray]

Fun performances.
I've started something recently that has been great. I've used vogone to make come disks from some "Hillbilly" type songs that are not available in main stream Karaoke... my favorite is a song called "I Won't Go Hunting With You Jake, But I'll Go Chasin' Women". Just to change the tempo, I put on an old hat, some "Billy Bob Teeth" and become "Lem" I introduce the song above as from my days of coutin' "Thelma Sue".... with a bunch of dancing, and adlibs, the crowd is rolling on the floor laughing.... A friend from the audience also puts in teeth and comes up to help... He's now Clem.... we have butchered a number of songs now, including a number of pop standards… and the audience loves it

Point of story....Don't be afraid to have fun!

Papa Ray,

[MusicBear]

Hi Papa Ray!

Wow, good for you! I wish more of the Karaoke performers were like you, and went to just have a good time and loads of fun, instead of trying to impress everyone else in the crowd. Gee, some of the places I go the ego's are scraping the ceiling!

More folks should take a tip from you; sounds like you get some great audience reaction. I go to one place, and only because I like the K.J. so much, where all the women get up there, never the men, and try and be cool and sexy while the men ogle them.
For me, not much fun. I get up there and get some of those looks like, "Gee, when is this ham going to be finished?" Oh well, as you said, the point is to have fun. As long as my audience doesn't start throwing drinks!

Continue to have fun, that's what this Karaoke thing is all about anyway!

[Papa Ray]

Music Bear, Thanks for the feed back!

So far no one has thrown anything at me. I understand about some singers... I sometimes get a little irritated with singers that take themselves too seriously... never satisfied with how they sound, and won't consider that maybe they just cant sing! I usually tell people to do like I do... if you don't sing it perfect, sing it for free. I get a chuckle, and it helps remind them that "It isn't real singing... it's KARAOKE" I politely tell them that usually the singer can't discern a correct mix for the crowd.... that's my job, and they need to trust me.

Anyway, keep having fun,

Papa Ray

rays@qnet.com

[jumpmaster]

Hey Papa Ray,

Got an idea for you. I once say a guy named "Lucky" do this at a show, and man was it great! I never got around to doing it, but I promise you I will!

This guy got a suit (jacket and pants) probably from the thrift store, but anyway he cut them in half...straight up from the crotch to the collar. Then he took a nice dress and cut it in half the same way, and somehow sewed these together.

Then he had a blonde wig...and yep, you guessed it, cut it in half also. You could probably guess that he had one high heel, and one penny loafer...right? As you might imagine....turned to one side, he was a guy in a suit and turned to the other, he was a cute blonde in a dress!

He sang "You don't bring me flowers" Of course both parts, turning the appropriate side to the audience for the male, then female parts. He sang the female parts in falsetto and the crowd was stunned!

It's been about 8 years since I seen that act, and believe me, I cannnot hear a Neil Diamond or Barbara Striesand song, the name Lucky, let alone the song itself being played that I don't get a smile on my face remembering what a great performance it was!

If you're out there, thanks Lucky for a great idea, and don't be to P***ed if we rip it! At least I'll give you credit when I do it!

[jumpmaster]

Papa Ray,

I like your idea of the hillbilly, then there's the standard elvis impersonation, then as I mentioned above the You Don't Bring Me Flowers routine, a friend of mine does a great zoot suit riot routine and I don't think he'd mind if I ripped it...but I still need a few more to work on and what I would like to do is this...

I would like to have an assistant run the system for a few minutes while I change into costume for those things and then have the assistant do a fun intro. I would like to have more routines though.

No matter how funny a routine is, it'll get old quick. I suppose that I could do four or five routines a night, but so as not to get old, I'd have to have about 20 routines in all.

My question is, do you or anyone else have any more? My hope is that if I get a little nuts during the show, who knows who else will follow my lead in the crowd!

[Papa Ray]

Hey Jumpmaster!

Good to hear from you. I try and hold the fun numbers to no more than one a week so they don't get too old too quick. I, too, have seen the "you don't bring me flowers", and it would be a real kick to do it… but I'm not enough of a costume maker to pull it off, and don’t know anyone who could make the costume. As you said, any bit can get old quick... While "Lem and Clem" do one song almost every week, we pay attention to the crowd, try not to do the same song too often, and skip the entire thing if too many regulars are in the group. We also do some more serious things... I usually have my old guitar around, and will play along with the simpler (I ain't that good on the Guitar) old country songs, just to add a something different.... complete with exaggerated guitar movements and moving up and away from the mic a lot like a young Johnny Cash. It makes people think I play guitar netter than I do. If you haven't yet,….. make sure you know most of the popular duets... you get asked a lot to sing with others, especially if they are first timers.

Tambourines and shakers are also great to take to the audience for certain numbers. It's great to get more people involved.

Other things that work... sing (half talk) a love song like John Wayne, complete with hand motions and swagger. Works well if you’re asked to do a song you don’t really know. I've even done James Brown "I feel Good" like Mr. Wayne. Collect parody songs... Camp Kookamonga (tune of Battle of New Orleans) .. make up alternate words... Frank Sinatra's "Fly me to the Moon" becomes…” Fly me too your Room, or we'll just play here at the bar, or test out the springs in the back seat of my car....."... and a bunch of others, but mind your audience and the song content… a song that’s right at 10:30, might not be good at 8:00.

Didn't mean to write a book

keep having fun,

Papa Ray