Stage Fright/Performance Anxiety (not ur dick)

[x2k]

I've not read all the replies as I'm about to go home so someone might have already said what I'm about to say.

 

I found nerves went away once I realised that it doesn't matter if I fuck up or not, I remember the specific night that I realised it. I just thought I was gonna have some fun and didn't care if I fucked it or not and suddenly everything went right. Saying that I don't battle and imagine the pressure not to fuck up is harder to shake in that circumstance.

 

The second point is I reckon you probably got nervous due to trying to live up to your performance from last year, maybe you feel that because you wussed out decided not to compete in the worlds due to your routine not being up to the standard you wanted that you feel worried that if you don't do something to a much heigher standard people are going to not respect you for building up your abilities being much better than you did last year.

 

I'm sure that's not it exactly but at a guess I reckon there's some elements of that in there, I don't know what the answer is but I would say 2 things to bare in mind are...

 

1) Don't hang on the fact that you froze, just try and pass it off as a 1 off, if you hold it in your mind you may well freeze again.

 

2) However badly you fuck up your skills are sick and people know/will know that, a bad day is just a bad day, if you have one you'll have a good day another time. Just enjoy the moment and do your best and try not to get to fixated on the result.

 

Good luck

[Vekked]

bump.

Dis should be an inspiration to anyone who suffers from the stage fright only 6 months ago but seems like forever ago in terms of how I feel on stage. I was so shook after that battle/when writing the original post, lol.

I'm not sure exactly what changed it... it was definitely more a psychological thing in the moment rather than preparation because I've prepped way harder for certain battles than I did for DMC Worlds and I felt great on stage there, and I probably prepped harder for IDA World than I did for any other battle ever and felt roughly the same. I think it's a combination of:

1) Trying psych myself into a cocky mindset like "this is gonna be an easy battle for Vekked, these guys wack as fuck". Believe it or not I don't actually think I'm the best battle DJ in the universe and often have doubts or like to be realistic and mindful of my flaws. I think when preparing and practicing it's good to be aware of your flaws and try to stay humble but I think it's a pretty bad mindset for a competition or showcase. Which brings me to my next point:

2) Leading up to DMC one Lil Jaz gave me a pep talk and without even asking or mentioning it he was like "remember EVERYBODY gets stage fright, even the most experienced of us. Just try to pretend you're trying to show the audience something or give them a lesson like you're the professor of a class or something". This seemed to help quite a bit... it kinda makes you put yourself above the audience like "here let me demonstrate this routine for you" rather than looking at it like they're coming to judge you.

3) Not letting mistakes throw me off. The biggest thing before is a tiny mistake would kinda make me spin out of control, but I think through watching a bunch of my footage back again and seeing that mistakes that seemed relatively devastating/long to recover are almost always 1/3 as long as they seem in the moment it helped me put my mistakes in perspective and just keep rolling on regardless. That coupled with reminding myself that "the audience doesn't know how it should sound, so they don't know that you messed up" helps a lot to maintain control and recover after something goes wrong. I can even spot a couple time in IDA where something happens and I get shook for a split second but then I snap out of it as opposed to let it take over and ruin my set.

So I think 1 or more of those things contributed to helping me get mostly over stage fright. Battles are always tougher than showcases, but my last 2 showcases felt nearly like I was in my room and I pulled everything off almost exactly as intended.

[d00ban]

There must be some degree of just getting used to it too??

[Vekked]

There must be some degree of just getting used to it too??

 

I guess so but there was only 1 battle between the one I posted about in OP and Supremacy in my case.

[motosega]

so much of what you said is exactly the same as when i started performing as a juggler.(not beats, crystal balls)

 

obviously battling is even more stressfull because you might win or loose depending on your performance, i just get to rock or suck.

 

i think i made a big step forward when i realised that the audience don't really mind if you make an error or two, as long as you don't generaly suck. i saw a video of roc raida the other day where he just smashes into a tonearm and knocks it of the reccord, puts it straigth back on and keeps rocking withough missing a heartbeat. and i thought he was even better for it.

 

sometimes if i have a big show i prefer to think about something completely different before going onstage, talk bulshit with other performers, read my email on my cellphone, flirt with the ladies. etc.

 

othertimes i do get nervous, but i calm myself with the thought that it's too late to turn back and that i must just humbly accept the consequences,

 

never vomited though. thats pretty hardcore, i have to give you guys props for actualy doing something so scary it makes you puke!

 

and i always think i need to piss before going on stage, then as soon as i get there i forget about it completely.

 

i think its true that everybody suffers from stage fright, but it's much worse when you don't know what to expect, if you've already had it a thousand times, then its just a slight concern for your ability to do your best.

 

that said though i know people who been performing for decades who still have a bad day sometimes.

 

a performer friend of mine says "you're only as good as your last show"

 

so don't think your out of the woods yet vekked, you're only as good as your last battle!

[Jimmy]

so don't think your out of the woods yet vekked, you're only as good as your last battle!

 

for vekked tho, that usually means winning a world title!

[Vekked]

that said though i know people who been performing for decades who still have a bad day sometimes.

 

a performer friend of mine says "you're only as good as your last show"

 

so don't think your out of the woods yet vekked, you're only as good as your last battle!

 

haha true enough sir, the time I got shook up before this post I had been doing pretty good too... I've hit another level since then in terms of comfort on stage though so hopefully it won't be quite that bad again, but only time will tell