my Audience

I determine who my audience will be by the way I present myself. I know that appearance is everything, if you look like a bum, you get treated like one. The same rule applies for when you dress like you are about your business, you get treated like you are somebody with power. The way I determine my audience, is really by my audience. When I know I am going with my mom, who is a psychiatrist, I know that I will be on my best behavior, the things I say even when telling jokes to her friends have to be just right. I do not just represent myself; I represent my mother and all of her hard work.  

My mom taught me at a young age to know my audience. The reason why it is important to know your audience is because these are the people that are essentially here for you. In Grand Rapids, it was safe to say I didn’t know my audience. I lived in a small town called East Grand Rapids. The reason why I know I didn’t know my audience is because I could never really get them too like me, I was the person that stuck out. Not in such a bad way because some of the people I went to high school went loved to be around me and I think my presence was always felt when I was there , but it just those people that always looked down on me that I guess let get too me.  It seemed like no matter how hard I tried they just didn’t like my way that I approached things. The only time they did like when I approached things is when I said there was a party at my house. Then they were quick to be my audience.

Growing up I found out how many audiences they were too approach, there are black, white, young, teens, young adults, middle age adults, and then the older seniors. The reason why I had to point this part out was because my senior year for my last show in high school, it was the variety show. The variety show is a show with a variety of things put on by the student of the school. In the show a couple of girls asked me to play Kanye West in their performance, for the song Ego. Now at East everyone said that I had a big ego, and I always said that I was just confident. Grand Rapids people, are the type to label and stick to it. So when the chance came to perform one of my favorite artists, and such a great song with this group of girls, that everyone liked in the school it was like a weird/perfect combination. This is where I knew not only my performance but the decisions I made in this performance as well as taking on this performance would mean the most. I knew that I was performing I had to let everything out, because I didn’t think that these conservative Grand Rapids people would want to see a “cocky” person perform a song named ego. When the time came to shine, I must admit too me I did my thing, the girls that I performed with, where so excellent and it was the perfect atmosphere. We tried to keep on the down low that I was in their performance, because all the girls put together with me probably sounded to them like something to laugh at. As an actor though, I knew the timing wasn’t right, and it would be much better for these people to come to a show, and then see me just pop out they would love it.

I think this moment really let me know that it is not impossible to get every ones' attention, it just that it takes patience for power.  Once you get the power, if you use it right than you get the respect.