Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Why Susan Boyle?

How Can You Do What Susan Boyle Did?

If you haven't heard of Susan Boyle yet, you've been living under a rock. She's the lady that sang on Britain's got talent and has one of the most viral videos of all time.

More people have viewed her singing debut than watched the Superbowl last year.

But why did this video go so viral. What made it so amazing? Wouldn't you love to use a bit of what she used (even if she didn't know it) in your own performances.
Well, here ya go...

It can be broken down into an emotional state called "Elevation".

Psychologist Lynne Johnson defines this emotional state as: "Characterized by a warm, glowing feeling that we get when someone TRANSCENDS OUR EXPECTATION."

That's it.

When Susan Boyle first came on stage, everybody expected her to fail. She wasn't great looking. She was a bit older. Her appearance certainly wasn't that of the next Britain Idol. But then she transcended everyone's expectations and blew everybody away.

There are two glaring truths about this.

First, if she was super hot looking, people may have loved her, but she wouldn't have put everybody in that elevated state.

Secondly, her looks and character (and of course her talent) worked FOR her in a dramatic way.

As variety artists, we can use this "Elevation" every time we perform.

Let's face it. When most people hire a clown, twister, mime, magician (unless it's corporate), storyteller or juggler, they have certain expectations. Most of the general public thinks that we're all the same.

We can use that expectation to our advantage.

When I first started performing for kids, I used that expectation to my advantage. In fact, my first USP was "Exceeding Your Expectations". I used that because I knew that a lot of children's entertainers in my area had acts that were all the same.

Whether they were clowns, magicians, or disney type characters, they all did the big parachute thing, the broken magic wand, the candy out of the dove pan, and a few easy balloon animals.

Now all these activities are fine and dandy and fun for the kids. And my guess is that I'm offending some folks that are reading this and are still doing those activities.

But, when I arrived at that same party, made a chinchilla appear out of fire, turned a fake snake into a live one, and had the kids and the parents laughing harder than they ever have, I completely "transcended their expectations".

This original presentation - way different than anything anybody had ever seen - booked me more referrals than I could count.

They expected one thing, and were blown away to discover there was something much much more available.

Now, I'm not telling you all this to brag. And I'm not suggesting that you do magic with live animals. I'm telling you this because I want you to be creating original presentations that will "Transcend Everybody's Expectations".

What is everybody else doing? Do it better and more original than everyone in your market, and you are guaranteed to be successful.

- John
Rebel Entertainer and Guy That Wishes He Had the Talent of Susan Boyle
www.RebelEntertainers.com

2 comments:

Unknown said...

John, you are so great, such a good writer....I am gushing but really....!!!!

Rebel Entertainers said...

Thanks Jill. I love this one too.