Max Maven's three essential questions -- who is this person, what story are they telling, and why is it worth my time -- are the most uncomfortable diagnostic tool I have ever applied to my own performance. A strategy consultant had credentials but no performance identity.
Read MoreDerren Brown's insight that character starts inside, not with costume or props, led me to two approaches for discovering a performance persona: building up from raw material like a potter, or chipping away to reveal what is already there like a sculptor. The second one worked.
Read MoreEvery performer needs a spine -- one guiding principle that drives all creative decisions. When I identified mine, I had to cut routines I loved because they did not align. That was painful. It was also the most important creative decision I have made.
Read MoreJohn Lovick's framework for evaluating a performance persona -- consistency, originality, specificity, and vulnerability -- gave me a diagnostic tool that exposed exactly where my stage identity was failing. Two of the four elements were missing entirely.
Read MoreRuben Padilla's diagnostic framework -- six qualities that every engaging script must activate -- gave me a way to diagnose exactly why certain routines fell flat. When I checked my weakest material against the six legs, the missing legs were always the same ones.
Read MoreEvery word choice in your script is a character choice. The difference between 'there was a card' and 'there were a card' signals education, background, class, and personality. I discovered that my consulting vocabulary was creating a specific impression on stage -- sometimes helpful, sometimes alienating.
Read MoreChristopher Lloyd held Reverend Jim's physicality for 75 episodes of Taxi without a single slip. That level of character commitment is what separates performers who are merely competent from those who are unforgettable -- and it taught me something essential about maintaining my own performance character.
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