Kenadie, how do I get up the nerve to get on stage?
Welcome to the monthly column from Hamilton drag queen Kenadie St. James! Read on for the best bad advice you’ve ever had!
Hamilton, your problems are officially about to get WORSE. 💋
Local drag legend Kenadie St. James is serving up catastrophically bad life advice in her new HAMILTON CITY Magazine column: Bad Advice From A Good Drag Queen.
Think Dear Abby … if Abby was wearing six-inch heels, three wigs, and actively encouraging poor decisions. Read it. Ignore it. Regret everything.
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Dear Kenadie,
Any tips on overcoming stage fright? I would love to try comedy, but I’m scared of talking in front of an audience. Do you think you were “born to perform,” or is it a skill you’ve learned over time and through practice?
Deeply Nervous Nelly
My Dear DNN,
Stage fright, huh? I remember her. When I started performing 164 years ago, I couldn’t do it in a dark corner of an abandoned building in the middle of the night. So I’d say I definitely know what it feels like. If you weren’t nervous before getting onstage, that would be weird. You’d either be fearless or a narcissistic sociopath, and comedy already has enough of those.
I don’t believe anyone is born purely knowing how to perform. Are there people out there who naturally don’t mind being the centre of attention? Yes. Are there people who are naturally shy and reserved? Of course. But that doesn’t mean that either category couldn’t be a great performer.
I think performing is a skill you learn. Natural personality helps, but timing, confidence, storytelling, reading an audience, and knowing when a joke bombs and how to recover quickly are all things you develop through practice. Darlin, if anyone knows that, it’s me. I’ve bombed more times than the U.S. has, and I’m still here. But the first step is that you have to get off your hind end and get out there! You don’t learn how to handle a silent audience by sitting at home being comfortable. You learn it by standing there on stage thinking, “Well, apparently my bestie was right—nobody likes jokes about accountants.”
I know walking on stage is scary, but eventually, the more you do it, the fear turns into nervous energy. Then the nervous energy turns into adrenaline. That’s when you start to achieve greatness. Maybe nationally as a renowned stand-up comedian, maybe just locally as a potty-mouthed drag queen who hosts brunch. Who knows?
At the end of the day, you have to remember that whether you are starting off at an improv class, hosting dirty bingo at The Pheasant Plucker on Sept. 18, or walking on stage in front of thousands, they are there to see you do what you do. Not the other way around. If they like it, great, you’ve got new fans. If they don’t, f&#* ‘em, they weren’t meant for you.
Head up, tits out,
Kenadie
