How to 'Do' a Show

By Brett Juilly

There are a bazillion ways to put on a show.

It doesn't have to be perfect and refined. It doesn't even have to be good. :-) It can just be fun!

If you've always been a writer, get some friends together at a coffee house and read a few of your short stories or poems to them. If you get nervous standing in front of a group, well, do you have a friend who's an actor? Have him or her read your stuff! Or do you have a friend who really gets your writing? He/she can stand (or sit) in front of everybody and read your pieces. It's fun!

If you're in a band, find some of your solo works and do a set by yourself.

If you're funny, put together a few minutes of stories and jokes and do an open-mic night at a comedy club!

Are you sort of an artist? Do you have doodles and sketches and cartoons sitting around? Have an informal showing in your house or on your front lawn or at the beach. A friend of mine at work had a show at his house. It was a lot of fun to see him outside the office and to check out his artistic side!

You can put together a low-pressure show like that if you're a sculptor. Or you make jewelry. Or ceramics. Or clothing. Or if you want to show off your kid's crayon drawings.

I always thought it would be great to collect all the drawings from a game of Pictionary — those infantile, indecipherable scribbles people rush to complete before the timer runs out — put the caption of the attempted word underneath each drawing, and call that an art show.

Don't have enough pieces? You can have a joint show with other artistic friends of yours. You bring some pieces, they bring some pieces, and together you've got a great show!

Remember high school talent shows? Acting, singing, dancing... How about a No Talent Show? Get together your friends who have a teeny bit of talent but never perform, draw names to see what order everyone's going to go in, and advertise your fun relaxed variety show! •

© 2008 Brett Juilly

About the Author
Brett Juilly is a generally creative guy — composer, artist, actor, inventor, web designer, writer, filmmaker, and probably a few other things. He runs ComeSeeMyShow.com, an online event calendar for live shows, and top5pages.com, a search engine that lets you pick the rank you want for your website. Brett and his wife, actress Laura Juilly, live in Marina del Rey, CA, and are happy all the time.

08/20/08