Making it Memorable: 7 Tips to Memorizing Your Speech or Set

Making it Memorable: 7 Tips to Memorizing Your Speech or Set

It's not so cool to have notes these days, since everybody wants to look like their words of wisdom and hilarious observations just fly off the top of their head.  Reality shows have become popular because people like the illusion that whomever they're watching is showing who they really are, not just reading from a script.  And those same viewers have come to expect more spontaneity from speakers and entertainers.  But it's really hard to be spontaneous and in the moment -- to really connect with your audience -- if you're constantly glancing at some piece of paper to know what to say next. 

When you have your act memorized so well that it's second nature, it frees you to make more eye contact, to read your audience better, and to notice subtleties about what's going on around.  That kind of relaxed awareness helps you really connect, because instead of just reading - you're communicating.

A lot of comics have trouble memorizing a longer set, so here's seven tips:

  

1.  Start with an outline.  Write out your set list, and practice taking a quick look and then running through each joke (from setup to laugh).

2.  Know what comes next.  The hardest part in memorizing a long set isn't so much remembering the jokes, as knowing WHICH joke comes after the one you just finished.  If you arrange items in a natural flow, and give code words that you can remember easily to each joke or chunk, it helps to navigate from joke to joke.

For example, my set list might be: Swedish Jokes, Political, Jewish, etc.  Each code word reminds me of a chunk where I know the joke well.  After I've broken it down into ten code words, I just have ten things to memorize, and I can find a natural association between them.  (Swedish people can be political but few are Jewish.  Two or three sentences like that are a lot easier to memorize than a few pages in a notebook!)

3.  Talk it and walk it.  Comedians stand up --- literally - partly because studies have shown the brain works faster and more efficiently when you're on your feet.  So instead of reading jokes off of a computer screen, I find taking walks and practicing my routine out loud really helps.  If you run through your routine out loud 20 times on a walk, you'll know it.  (I like to have my Bluetooth headset in one ear so my neighbors don't think I have an imaginary friend.)

4.  Have a backup.  Even when you have your act memorized forwards and backwards, most of us will always have a little twinge of fear that we could forget what's next under the nervous pressure of being in front of a packed house - especially if a joke falls flat.

Having your list of code words as a trigger on an index card in your pocket, scrawled on your hand, or on the screen of your iPhone can make you relax a little and focus more on your audience.  And if you DO have a lapse, think of a clever way to take a peek without tipping everyone off, or getting a laugh out of it when you do.  ("Swedish, Political, Jewish, Wash left hand.")

5.  Let it go.  I always feel that if I forget something, then that just means I wasn't meant do it.  Being on stage is a heightened experience, and you intuitively know what will and won't work.

Sometimes forcing things in the order you planned them is not the best flow, and you have to toss out the order you planned and live in the moment by pressing ahead.  If you keep forgetting a joke ... it probably wasn't funny enough to be worth remembering.

6.  Use your sense memory.  Sometimes I plan to perform chunks of material on different portions of the stage.  When I move to a different spot, it triggers my memory that this physical place is also the place in my act where I do a certain bit.  My body helps my brain remember.

7.  Don't sigh - breathe!  Finally -- if you go blank, here's something that always works:  Take a deep breath in and out without any words.  This will relax you -- and your act will come back to you.  I've never had this fail, and that extra oxygen might even supercharge your brain to riff out a few NEW jokes even better than what you planned!

-Judy Carter, Comedian, author, speaker, 

see, the Comedy Bible...

http://www.amazon.com/Comedy-Bible-Stand-up-Sitcom---Ultimate/dp/0743201256/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317256543&sr=8-1

Comedy-Bible

Rocks off the Rolling Stones...

The Rolling Stones: Rocks Off

Bob Dylan says that The Rolling Stones are the greatest rock band in history. I agree with you, Robert Allen Zimmerman. The Stones affected everything and everyone, touching every rock 'n' roll and blues musician in the planet.

But beyond their universality, beyond Mick's showmanship, Keith's genius and Charlie's perfect simplicity, the Stones are a fundamental part of life. And while there are many other musicians that are embedded deep into the collective soul—Bowie, the Beatles, Elvis, Cash, Dylan, Queen, Springsteen and a neverending list of rock classics—the Stones embody the essence of many low and high periods of life. Needless to say, they have powered an insane amount of music and airtime.

Can't choose any favorite songs...sometimes Let It Bleed until the ears do and Sticky Fingers or Goat Heads Soup or live gems Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out and of course, Sympathy For The Devil for a little mood music. And, there's Exile On Main St. Rocks Off, the incredible piece that opens this double album explodes with the energy of the entire US nuclear arsenal. Watch Stones In Exile, a documentary directed by Stephen Kijak and produced by confessed Stones' fanatic Martin Scorsese). Oh, and Exile released in 1972, is a perfect song to start a weekend and burn the city down. The night is yours, my lovely nutters. Go get it. [Amazon, iTunes, Spotify]

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You can keep up with Jesus Diaz the author of this post, on Twitter or Facebook.

Healing, Law of Attraction, and well said...

Light Up the World

9/16/11 at 10:30 am  |   1 Comments   

BLOG by Christiane Northrup, M.D.

I have been inspired by the words of Catherine Ponder for years, in part because she connects the Law of Attraction with spirituality. In her books, Ponder, a Unitarian Minister, teaches how to use that connection to create health, happiness, satisfying work, meaningful relationships, financial prosperity, and so forth. This has been my life’s work as well

This summer, I decided to reread one of my favorite books written by Catherine Ponder called The Dynamic Laws of Healing. I’m glad I did—her work is both simple and profound. Ponder reminded me that there is an infinite amount of healing energy available to us at all times through the Creator. Although I know this at the core of my being, it reassures me to read these words and be reminded of this truth.

The Creator goes by many names: Jesus, Allah, Adonai, the Great Goddess, Source Energy—it really doesn’t matter which name you use. The point is that, regardless of your religion or spiritual practices, you can tap into this healing source at any time. Although some religious practices disagree, I believe you can connect directly to the creator without an intermediary. And I suggest you experiment with this.

Knowing there is a Higher Power, one that is greater than I am, calms my spirit when I’m troubled. Because Ponder is a Christian minister, she believes that Jesus will share or even “lift your burdens” entirely. While it isn’t necessary for you to agree with this precept (since it is a Christian ideology), I can assure you there is something wonderful about knowing when to “surrender” to a situation. You’ve undoubtedly heard the phrase, “Let Go and Let God.”

Believing that the universe will rise up to support you when you can’t figure out the answer is incredibly reassuring—plus it works!

Welcoming the Divine

People have called on the name of the Creator for thousands and thousands of years to bring the Divine into their presence. This is one of the reasons we pray, and also why prayer is so powerful. The sound of prayer, either spoken or sung, as it resonates in our bodies is also healing. According to the Kabbalah, an ancient Jewish text, the Hebrew letters have specific healing properties when spoken aloud. At a minimum, speaking words or prayers out loud can change the vibrational patterns around you, which just might help you manifest your dream or desire with the help of the Law of Attraction.

Catherine Ponder’s books are filled with beautiful affirmations, much like Louise Hay’s inspiring affirmations. However, Ponder’s are more like a prayer that invokes God’s presence. She believes that merely repeating God’s name (in her case, Jesus) is all that’s needed to connect with this healing energy. Talk about simple.

The ancients believed that the phrase “I AM” was a synonym for “the God within you.” Catherine Ponder says to meditate regularly on the phrase “I am the light of the world” can flood your whole being with light and drive out darkness.

Think about how many times you say “I am” in a day. Are you affirming what you want to bring into your life? Is it possible that your words are unknowingly cutting off your connection to healing energy?

Here are some I AM affirmations to experiment with:

I AM health, strength, and prosperity.

I AM calm in times of stress. I AM inspired to find solutions to my problems.

I AM flourishing in my body, spirit, and mind. I AM a shining example of health and happiness for my friends, coworkers, and family.

Healing With Divine Love

My friend Robert G. Fritchie of the World Service Institute teaches the practice of healing with Divine Love. Divine Love is Fritchie’s term for the healing energy from the Creator, which is available to us 24/7. When you work with Fritchie, you can feel yourself connecting to this Infinite Source. It’s really quite remarkable.

Fritchie holds weekly teleconferences to help individuals connect with Divine Love. He also conducts teleconferences to help heal the earth and address other environmental disasters. For example he organized a group of people from all over the world to send Divine Love to the people living in Japan (and to the precarious nuclear reactors) after the Tsunami in 2010.

For more information, read Fritchie’s guest author article “Healing With Divine Love: An overview and tips for successful self-healing” or his book Surviving Chaos: Healing with Divine Love. 

Restoring Equilibrium

No matter who you are, there are times when you will feel stress, ill health, or low energy. All of us argue with our boss or partner every now and then. Imbalance of any kind, Ponder teaches, often arises when you lose your connection to the Divine—when you cut off the circulation of healing energy. What’s important is you can regain your health, prosperity, and equilibrium by connecting to the Creator.

I encourage you to practice connecting to this infinite source of healing, either by reading Catherine Ponder’s books, by working with Bob Fritchie, or through personal prayer and affirmations. Although any time is a good time to start, if you have some leisure time before the summer ends and the fall rush begins, experiment a little. Having this foundation in place when imbalances do occur will literally be a Godsend!

This information is not intended to treat, diagnose, cure, or prevent any disease. 
All material in this article is provided for educational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you have regarding a medical condition, and before undertaking any diet, exercise, or other health program.

For up-to-the-minute as well as timeless medical advice in Dr. Northrup's extensive library of articles and podcasts, visit DrNorthrup.com.

FILED UNDER: CHRISTIANE NORTHRUP, CATHERINE PONDER, LAW OF ATTRACTION, SPIRITUALITY, ROBERT FRITCHIE, HEALING, HEALING ENERGY, DIVINE LOVE, SOURCE

Repost from Barbara OBrien, on 9/11 and Fear Mongering

We are rapidly approaching the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. I was in lower Manhattan that day, and my memories have hardly faded even though it now seems to have happened ages ago. Right now, though, I don't want to talk about the attacks but about fear.

In the days immediately after the attacks, New York City was saturated with sorrow. And just beneath the sorrow, there was fear. Two days after the attacks I saw a businessman on a subway who  was visibly trembling with fear. A woman I worked with literally fainted from fright upon hearing a rumor of poison in the subways. And for a while we all ran to the windows of our 40th-floor office whenever we heard a plane.

That was understandable fear; a natural reaction to a terrible event that we personally witnessed. But New Yorkers had to face that fear, and put it aside, to get on with their lives. You simply cannot function here and avoid subways, skyscrapers and famous landmarks, not to mention people who might seem "different." At some point you just have to trust the world and go out and live in it.

New Yorkers remain vigilant. Packages abandoned in subway stations are quickly reported to police, for example. But I'd say that on the whole, New Yorkers don't allow fear of terrorism to run their lives or cloud their judgments.

But in the years since I've noticed many different kinds of fear. For example, I've met people -- not New Yorkers -- who are shocked that I do not support, say, torture of terrorist suspects (or anybody else, for that matter), or curtailments of civil liberties such as warrantless wiretaps and suspension of habeas corpus. Such people are quick to point out how much danger we are in, and how I don't understand what happened on September 11.

Invariably, the person who thinks I "don't understand" September 11 watched it all on his television set, 500 miles away. But I was there. I think I "understand" it well enough, thank you.

People attach to a kind of fake fear, not unlike the kind of fear you feel when watching a horror movie or riding a roller coaster. It can be a sense of excitement that loosens inhibitions and incites recklessness and even mob violence. It also can be a great tool for manipulating public opinion. Bigots use fear to justify their bigotry.

And then there are the conspiracy theorists. Obviously an obsession with secret evil plots to rule the world fills a void in some people's lives. I read a column this morning that said, "We love this manufactured fear, I think because it keeps real fear at bay." There's something to that.

Fear often is irrational. In most parts of the world more people die every year slipping in bathtubs than from terrorist attacks, yet we don't fear bathtubs. In the U.S., some of the same people who see "jihadists" in every shadow deny the danger from global climate change.

Scientists who study why people fear what they fear say that a familiar thing is less feared than a new thing, even when the familiar thing poses more real danger. We also are more fearful of potential but unlikely catastrophes than chronic common dangers, such as heart disease.

Judith Lief said,

The essential cause of our suffering and anxiety is ignorance of the nature of reality, and craving and clinging to something illusory. That is referred to as ego, and the gasoline in the vehicle of ego is fear. Ego thrives on fear, so unless we figure out the problem of fear, we will never understand or embody any sense of egolessness or selflessness.

This takes us back to what the Buddha taught in the Four Noble Truths. The antidote is to thoroughly understand that our fears come from a skewed perspective on ourselves and the world.

For the United States this has been a hard ten years, made harder by the craven exploitation of the terrorist attacks by many of our nation's elected leaders. It makes memories of the day itself that much sadder. Sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed by all the fear and craziness in the world. Then I reflect on the Bodhisattva vows.

Let us all let fear drop away and find trust in our practice.

Breath is Life...

Power Breathing

Learning to Breathe, waiting to exhale, smoking, are all attempts to learn THE BREATH. It is the natural elixer of life, the supreme healing agent, the cosmic consciousness, and the divine spirit that world teachers always speak of. Learn to breathe and life is yours...

Scientific research on live blood shows dramatic improvement to people’s blood cells
before and after doing the breathing technique.

You can see how after doing the 45 second breathing technique the cells are
no longer clumped together.

Oxygen rich blood circulates better and is less clumped together. 

Cancer does not like oxygen.

This event is about MERGING the power of breathing, prayer and music to create
the ultimate oneness experience. 

By attending this event, people will experience something physically, mentally and spiritually that will enhance their life forever.

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Fall Equinox September 23rd

The Autumnal Equinox is the day when both night and day are the same length. The Autumnal Equinox falls on September 23 in 2011. The Autumnal Equinox occurs once a year when the sun crosses over the celestial equator moving south into the northern hemisphere. When this happens, it shines equally on the northern and southern hemispheres. At the start of the Autumnal Equinox, take some time to reflect on the bounty of your hard work, give thanks for the blessings that you have, and make preparations for the coming winter months. The Autumnal Equinox marks the first day of the season of autumn. It is also called the Fall Equinox, the Second Harvest Festival, Festival of Dionysus, Wine Harvest, Cornucopia, and Winter Finding. Ancient people celebrated each change of the seasons, knowing that nature's changes outside correspond to inner changes as well.

Symbol of Second Harvest - Equality - Balance This holiday symbolizes a second harvest, equality and balance. It is a magical, exciting time that comes but once a year. Celebrate Autumnal Equinox by focusing your energies to: Prepare for the winter ahead Become attuned to the dark and the light within yourself Create a balance that will carry you forward into the coming winter This is a good time to use affirmations for protection, wealth and prosperity, self confidence, balance and harmony, and goal setting.