A Good Experience Performing Badly

October 23, 2023 memos while coding an interview.

His friend dared him to put his name in the hat at The Moth the first time he did it. He was unprepared and says his story was “terrible” and “didn’t make sense.” But he still loved the experience of “getting up there and sharing something personal with the audience.” Because of the way that reality storytelling both is and is not a performance, a teller can have a good experience performing badly. Jeff didn’t say here how the audience reacted, but from my continuing research I know that the audience can also enjoy a performance that might not traditionally be considered “good” if it is authentic. (Sometimes the audience is uncomfortable with bad performances though.) 

Jeff described a crowded venue where audience members have to sit on the floor and stand as “intimate.” Some might find a crowded venue unpleasant, but in the context of reality storytelling, it might be appealing.  

He talked about having to slow his heart rate and slow his parasympathetic nervous system to deal with the bright stage lights causing momentary blindness. An excellent description of how dazzling and frightening the lights can feel for the unprepared.