If you think about show business, it’s easy to picture bright lights, bustling stages, a crowd, applause, and flowers.
But, sadly, it’s rarely like this. If you’re thinking of entering this industry, it’s important to remember the business in “show business”.
Like any other industry, there are certain skills and attributes you will need to have in order to prosper. It’s tough and oftentimes unforgiving, but it’s possible to make a success of it if you harness just a few key traits.
With this in mind, here are three skills you will need in order to work in show business and why they are important:
Persistence, Persistence, And More Persistence
Entering into show business does not begin on a West End stage. Often, your first few gigs will be in smaller venues, surrounded by an audience – if you’re lucky! – that don’t know who you are.
This becomes even more difficult if your act is something that engages the audience. Let’s say you’re venturing into mentalism, which is an area of show business that is growing in audience popularity. To show off your telepathic skills, you need to engage with your audience on a more open level, which can be very difficult for a newcomer.
Even one of the world’s top mentalists, Lior Suchard, has noted several instincts – including cynicism, strong faith in science, victim mentality, and constant rationalism – as traits that can hinder an audience from enjoying the show.
These instincts will be doubled if the audience doesn’t know who you are, so you will need to persist with your show to build up that confidence, connect deeper with your audience, and start spreading the word.
Flexibility In Your Life
No, we’re not talking about joining the circus. This is the kind of flexibility that applies to your life, and how often you can switch and change your plans.
When you’re starting out as an entertainer, whether it’s in acting, dance, magic, or mentalism, you will want to nail as many gigs as you can to get the word out. This means that your plans for the foreseeable future will become more like wishes.
Sure, you might want to go to the movies with your best friends on Saturday, but if a slot opens up, or you get an audition somewhere, then that’s going to have to go out of the window.
Starting out in show business is all about grasping opportunities and letting your career dictate where you are and what you’re doing, so you need to be flexible. In the beginning, at least.
The Ability To Work In A Team
Going back to Lior Suchard for a moment, although it is his name on the poster and his mentalism skills that bring in audiences, he would be the first to say it’s not all about him.
There is never one person that makes an event happen. There are a number of people who are working behind the scenes, be they agents, costume designers, stagehands, or website engineers, the list just goes on and on.
Show business is a collaborative industry that demands teamwork, so you need to know how to work in a team and have strong communication to succeed. It’s your hard work and dedication that puts you on that stage, for sure. But it’s others that will keep you there.