In Costume at Shuttleworth House!

Walking in the Grounds in Victorian Costume!

Once again it’s just a very quick blog tonight as I get ready to welcome in the New Year. It was lovely to have a couple of days off over Christmas with my family, although I was soon back to work on the 27th performing via zoom for my customers. I just have two more Driveway Concerts to perform for New Years Eve and New Years Day before I sign off on 2020 and welcome in 2021.

Zoom is still a very daunting concept for many and there are so many factors which need to be right, including the use of a mixer which clicks into my amp and phone, good wifi, atmospherics and every-body confident in the knowledge of what they need to do to make the technology work. Today’s show went out to one of my customers on Hayling Island in Hampshire. The show couldn’t have gone better even though I was working blind. Not everyone has a web-cam but as I was able to hear my audience and I knew they could hear and see me clearly, performing proficiently wasn’t a problem.

It’s taken me a few shows to perfect the art of performing for zoom, and believe me there is an art to it. Audiences often view zoom as a TV

Inside Shuttleworth House 1940s style!

Off to the Ball!

program so it’s important not to expect applause after each song and to talk to camera, often adding in personal references the audience can relate to. This is essential. I’m now realising that using more of a stand-up comedy approach between songs works better along with observational humor, especially when it’s on the subject of zoom itself. It requires a team effort  and you need to be able to make people laugh for the engagement to be complete. It’s been an interesting experience and good for me to experiment with my performance style. I’ve enjoyed drawing on my experience and going back to basics with observational humour.

Realistically I expect it won’t be until the late Spring early Summer before I will be able to perform normally again so it’s important I perfect zoom and encourage more of my customers to take it up.

I shall leave my blog here tonight and as I’ve been enjoying something of a holiday I haven’t taken any working photos this week. I shall leave you with a few of my vintage favourites which were shot by Angela Adams at Shuttleworth House a year or two ago.

Here’s to a Fantastic 2021 Toodle Pip and Bye for Now! 😉