Kick Boxing anyone?

As a stand-up comedian I love to perform. Usually only comedy, but every so often an occasion comes along that you can’t pass up. It’s not like I woke up one morning and said; “I think I will go out an Emcee a Kick Boxing Tournament”. Like most new experiences, it just dropped into my lap.

Last spring, an old friend of mine mentioned this event he was fighting in. Could I get in the ring, wear a tuxedo and announce some fighters? I think that I could handle it. How would I know until I gave it a try? So last May, I drove down to Niagara Falls New York and had a great time. While the promoters were extremely complimentary with my performance, I thought there was a lot of room for improvement.

So when the chance came up again, I jumped at it. This time around I was much better prepared. The week before I had all the scripts put on cue cards. That is something I did the first time, but I left it until the last minute and was rushing around to get it done. This helped immensely as I was able to arrive early, relax and mingle.

I am not one to panic or get nervous. Even performing comedy I don’t get butterflies or the shakes. If it is NEW comedy experience I get that nervous energy where I might pace a bit. But the first Kick Boxing tournament I was scared. It had been so long since I had that feeling; it made me even uneasier. Thankfully I had a cordless lapel mic, my palms were too sweaty to hold one.

This time around was much better. It was fun. I was able to joke around more and have some comedic banter with some of the people in the crowd. Then I got too relaxed. While bopping around (yes a man my size can bop) getting the award presenters ready for the end of the 5th fight, I made a big mistake. I grabbed the wrong cue cards. While the women fighters were in their corners preparing to beat the crap out of each other, I started to announce the wrong names. Not something you can hide from. Not something the 300 people in the crowd would miss.

Now here is the question: What do you do? How do you handle a major faux pas in front of hundreds? As a comic, I did what came natural… I made a joke. Got a laugh. Asked for the right cards and moved on. Once the “Fury in the Falls” was over and I was walking out of the convention centre, no one mentioned the blunder. They just thanked me for the laughs and for doing a great job.

If you get an opportunity, I would encourage you to try other types of public speaking. Who knows, you might get hugged by two big sweaty men too… Anyone know a good drycleaner?