Never Had Stage Fright--Is This Abnormal?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I know that almost everyone has experienced this…I’ve read about big time actors and actresses that have it and yet go on and knock one’s socks off.

But.

I have not heard much at all about folk that are immune to this. And yes, I am talking about me, and no I am not bragging. I don’t think this is something that makes one somehow superior. I am just wondering.

I just don’t have it. I’ve been in front of audiences before, from business presentations to a couple ofpeople, to a room full of same. I once did a gig in community theater, a lead role.

And yet, I do not get nervous at going out there in front of 'em. On rare, very rare, occasions, I do feel kinda like the football guard guy in “The Longest Yard” where I want to pound a locker into scrap, yeah, excited about it and can’t wait. But usually, I am fairly calm about getting out there and just getting it done.

Does this fall into the normalcy range, or am I just a psychopath waiting for the right trigger? (I sure hope not!)

2

FWIU, it’s pretty normal. But you aren’t immune. You might get your first case of it twenty years from now.

Personally, I get it pretty bad, but once I start performing, it goes away fast.

3

Nah. You’re just normal. If most people got stage fright, karaoke would never have blighted the planet.

4

This would need to be tested by having karaoke without booze. :o

5

I never had stage fright either, but it never occurred to me that having it was the norm and I was somehow abnormal. I started acting in school plays when I was in 1st grade and continued through college. After college I stopped acting but can get up and speak publicly in front of large groups without concern.

6

Thanks, that’s nice to hear.

This thread got started by a friend’s comment about stage fright when I said it didn’t bother me. Comment = :eek: :eek:

I feel better now!

7

I think stage fright is not at all connected to normal social anxiety.

A typical exchange for me:

Me (to stanger at dog park) “Oh, what an interesting dog! What breed is it?”

Stranger: (edge in voice, 1/2 leave me alone, 1/2 glad to show off): It’s an (obscure - to me - breed)

Me: “Oh, it looked to me like an Irish Wolfhound, only smaller for some reason”

Stranger: (fuck-off edge gaining points) "Yes, well it is an (obscure breed name re-emphasized so that, by implication, I realize it’s an Irish breed)

That’s how most stranger-encounters go with me, and job interviews are even worse. But get me up in front of Toastmasters or on stage, conference rooms, etc. and I swim. To groups I give off a “I’m here to help you enjoy yourselves” vibe. To individuals, I seem like a show-off who doesn’t show well.

8

Just a word of warning - stage fright can rear its ugly head at any time, totally unexpectedly.

I was in many stage productions in high school and college. I even had a recurring role on a German television show. Never had even a slight quiver in my voice from nerves in all those years. I taught speech classes, and still do.

One day I had to give a short speech to a graduating class and their family members - a small, friendly audience of about 300 people tops.

Out of nowhere, I had an absolute panic attack in the middle of the speech and froze mid-sentence. I somehow faked my way to a rather abrupt ending of the speech and barely made it off stage.

I still have no idea how it happened. I was prepared, had given similar speeches hundreds of times, and was not a bit nervous when I got on stage and started the speech.

I don’t mean to jinx anyone, but just warning you - don’t get too smug and complacent. I learned the hard way how easily things can change out of the blue.

9

I only had it that one time I forgot the workaround and imagined myself naked by accident.

10

I liked Dave Dobbyn’s comment on this. He’s a muso who’s been having regular chart hits since 1979.

Apparently, it wasn’t until early this decade that he realised that the stage fright, which had left him vomiting before every single concert for over twenty years, was actually just excitement. He hadn’t suffered at all since that revelation, just enjoyed the mounting joy before every show.

Enjoy.

11

I earn part of my living as a professional performer and entertainer. I’m not any sort of big success story, and I cling steadfastly to the obscurity that is my birthright and my destiny, but I’ve performed in front of large audiences around the world and been on TV more than a few times. I have never had any experience of stage fright.

Most people do experience stage fright, up to and including some major stars and hugely successful entertainers. The conventional wisdom is that most performers experience it, to some extent, and that while it may not be pleasant, it can at least help to get you primed and stoked up and ready to give your best performance. It is also the case that in many instances stage fright arises from anxiety about things going wrong, which in turn can stem from lack of preparedness or rehearsal. So, again trying to see the positive, one or two experiences of stage nerves can spur people to put more effort into planning, rehearsal and preparation, which is generally a good thing (unless it reaches psychotic levels).

While experiencing stage fright may be the norm, there are people like you (the OP) and me who don’t seem to experience it at all. It doesn’t make us better or more succesful, and it’s not a boast. It’s just the way it is.

It’s interesting that maggenpye referred to ‘excitement’. Marc Salem is a very successful stage entertainer who has been all around the world. His advice echoes maggenpye’s comment: he suggests that people learn to tell themselves that they aren’t ‘frightened’, they are ‘excited’. This does work for many people.

Another good option is to work out, get fit. When you’re fit, you suffer much less from stress.

12

It’s never really bothered me, and I had to get up in front of church groups as a small child when I was growing up Mormon. I’ve taught, got paid to do magic and give presentations all the time, but it never bothers me.

One thing I don’t do is karaoke, though. The inability to carry a tune has more to do with that, though.

13

I have totally the opposite - I love getting up in front of people. In fact, like Johnny Carson, I’d far prefer “performing” in front of hundreds of people than making small talk at a party. This has been going on for 35 years, so I think I’m safe from it. I present papers and things mostly, thought once I did a bit more or less like standup at a resort, and it was better than sex - only because it was rarer.

I didn’t have stage fright going on Jeopardy either - I just worried that I was going to trip on the little step on the way to my seat and force them to redo the taping. (I didn’t.)

I think it might be genetic, since my older daughter has no stage fright either.

14

You lucky bastard! At this very moment, it’s 5:45 PM, and I am waiting for my call at 8:30 with nothing to do - I’ve warmed up, but I don’t want to overdo it. I need to walk about 20 blocks to the theatre where we’re filming tonight. I need to put in my contacts and get supper. And other than that, there’s nothing to do but wait and concentrate so that I can nail that last three pages of ‘Soliloquy’ on the first take.

Is this stage fright, or just an awareness that everything in my day today is reaching toward that singularity, like any other athlete or performer? I don’t know; I can’t imagine not being in a heightened state of being right now, and the nature of this gig means that I can’t fall back on my preparation, because we are essentially going to improvise our own staging for the cameras. Usually, I can fall back on the last three weeks (or so) of staging rehearsals, but film/TV isn’t like that.

So, yeah, right now I’m green with envy over anyone who can truthfully say they’ve never had stage fright.

15

I’ve been on stage millions of times, fronting bands. I’ve never gotten stage fright. If you know what youre doing there’s nothing to be nervous about. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you shouldn’t be up there.

16

I’ve acted in various (minor) community theater over the years - not much problem, outside of some heightened excitement of “this is it!”

But the first time I got talked into karaoke - oh my. Up in front of everyone with that microphone, I got a song I liked, then heard the intro - then suddenly realized that I was going to be the one to figure out just when to come in. So I did (maybe a fraction of a second late, but it sure seemed like a thousand years) and got the next totally-foreseeable shock, that I sounded nothing over the loudspeakers like what I sound in the shower. Ooh, that song was a rough time.

I’ve had a slightly better time of it a couple times since - but my main point here is that it’s very possible to be caught off guard.

17

And now it’s 3:48 and I’ve just made it back to the hotel. Man, oh man, is film ever different from concert and theatre. It all went better than I had any right to hope (didn’t get in front of the camera until 11:45!), but yes, I’ve spent the entire day in a mixed state of nervousness and boredom. Some shows I’ve done have produced no emotional response other than being aware of what I’m going to be doing that evening throughout the day. This one was so far outside of what I normally do, it was driving me nuts. I wish I could be calm like some of the rest of you.

Oh, well, a heart attack on a plate breakfast and a 5 hour train ride await me.

18

When I started doing court work, an old friend of the family who was a professional organist asked me if I ever got nervous before going into court. I said “yes, all the time”. He said it was the same for him before a performance, and if he ever stopped being nervous, it meant it was time to quit, because he no longer cared about it.

I agree with the comments about excitement that others have made, and sort of agree with Diogenes’s comment. I would just qualify it by saying that if you know what you’re doing, you also should know how things could go wrong. If you let that overwhelm you, you’re in trouble.

But instead, if you use that fear or anxiety to plan for contingencies (“What happens if the power goes out?” is a good one for a band to think about; “What happens if the judge doesn’t accept that part of my argument?” is one that lawyers should think about), then you are actually building your ability to go on stage, or before the court, and handle yourself professionally. you’ll be ready for the contingency you’ve planned for, and also in the mind-set to deal with the contingency you’ve not expected. You’ve turned that fear/nervousness/excitement to your advantage.

Me, I’m usually nervous before court, often in proportion to how much is at stake. Sometimes when I’ve been working late nights on the brief or factum, I’m muttering to myself that it’s time to look for another way to make a buck. The worst nerves are in the prep time - “who’s ever going to buy this dreck?” as I re-redraft my factum for the 15th time.

But it all goes away when the presiding judge looks at me and says, “Mr. Piper, we’ll hear from you now.” Then it’s showtime! If I’m in the groove, it’s just me and the judge or judges, having a debate. There’s no-one else in the court room. Tv cameras and bright lights? they just fade into the background.

And when it’s over, and I’m coming down from the high, I think, “Damn, that was fun! When’s my next case coming on?” and the cycle repeats.

And then I go to a bar, usually with co-counsel, and sometimes opposing counsel (if it’s been a civilized encounter, which it often is), and re-hash it all over a beer.

19

I used to have stagefright, when I was a kid, but as I went through high school i had to do more and mor thing inf ront of my class or school. Then a few years later I started acting in theatre, and stagefright never really occurred anymore. I was nervous and anxious before my first show, but that’s not the same thing.

I did freeze twice in the middle of a production. One was my own fault for letting my mind wander while waiting for my line to come up, and I suddenly forgot what it was, causing me to freeze midway through a sentence. Luckily other cast members recognised the expression on my face and carried the scene to its conclusion almost seamlessly. The other time I went out for my opening line and saw only one person in the audience, and was just disgusted with the Director for making us do the show, so kind of lost my way mentally for a few moments.

I’ve seen incredibly experienced veteran actors who get nervous every time, and I’ve seen people who can swan through a performance without a care. I once had to host the entire show including coming up with off-the-cuff comments directed at audience members, which I found awkward, but I managed to muddle on through. But it took a different kind of courage for that.

The confidence comes from knowing what to say, when, and what the reaction is going to be by the other cast members. Having a script means you don’t have to worry. Having a speech means you know just what you’re going to say from beginning to end. A song is written out, and you’ve rehearsed it, so it’s all a known quantity (more or less).

But winging it, like a stand-up comedian or just having an ill-prepared statement in front of your co-workers, can be a nerve wracking experience to most people, even experienced ones.

20

I’ve been acting and singing publicly since I was in first grade. There’s hardly been a time in my life that I haven’t been involved with a show of some kind. I enjoy being onstage, and getting a good reaction from an audience thrills me to my very core.

That being said, however, my comfort level with performing varies on the situation. Ask me to stand on a stage or in a rehearsal hall and sing a solo – no problem. But if I’m at an office function and someone demands that I lead the singing of “Happy Birthday”, I turn red and can do little more than stammer a flustered apology. A few relatives at a recent family reunion pleaded with me to stand up and sing something, and it was as if they’d asked me to undergo an impromptu auto-appendectomy. I tried karaoke once, at my S.O.'s urging, and hated every second of it. I can’t even bring myself to sing warmups in the dressing room before the show (unless everyone else is). I really don’t know why I have these hangups, but they’re part of my reality.