Tell us what your preformances are like? Or what you do during appearances?

[MermaidNerenia]

Just thought it would be fun to go over routines or things you do while preforming? In talks with a local bar about mermaid appearances right now. Its the only wet bar in town. They pretty much want me to sit on one of the wet bars and swim around in the pool and take pictures with people and stuff like that. I know im going to have to have snappy comebacks and stuff which isnt a problem. Just wondering what other mers out there do while on appearances and stuff. Its a VERY college esq packed bar and also a big volleyball place (they have 16 sand courts) so im going to have to be careful swimming with drunk rowdies. Going to be telling them that alcohol is poisoness to mers. LOL

[MermaidNerenia]

Also how do you handle flirtatious human males? I have a feeling im going to be dealing with a TON of those.

[Odette]

not really.there isnt much of that unless you provoke it. are you single? get your boyfriend to be your mertender unless you actually want the attention(thats ok just be safe)make sure the bar people will provide security for you or just swim away.if they swim with you, thats too dangerous. drunkies shouldnt be in the water.can drunk people swim?:confused:

[ide]

When I perform (as a mermaid or faerie) at birthday parties (I've been to 206 of them as of last weekend) I do magic-shows, face-painting & balloon twisting. Sometimes parachute games, puppet shows or sing-a-longs, but mostly, the first three things. This is for *dry* performances which typically run for 90minutes, but are sometimes as long as 4 hours. My characters do a lot of storytelling, and all of the acts are essentially humor-driven, full of sparkles and over-the-top reactions to things. They're geared best at 5-year-olds.

On the other hand, the aquatic mermaid character I'm developing in conjunction with my circus (Ide) is a non-speaking character. I think it's a little more otherworldly & magical when mermaids don't speak English, personally. I love how much activism you can involve in your appearances when you do speak, and I have no shortage of fun stories to tell about living in the Ocean, but ultimately, I am thrilled to draw more heavily from my mime background.

Ide does speak, just not in human languages. I click, chirp, purrr and coo, mostly. Sometimes I nod yes or no to answer questions, or even pantomime a little (though not heavily), lots of the time when kids & adults as me questions, I just tilt my head in confusion. This is a great counter-reaction to when someone flirts with you, too.

If anyone here has theatre training you'll likely know about "leads". The physical lead for my mermaid character is my head. This is the body part I express the most with and literally lead my body with, so, lots of nodding, head-tilting, and snake-like movements in the head and shoulders.

Having your set of body-language and character-specific mannerisms down solid really adds to how convincing you are. The less you move like a human, the less people will treat you like one, in or out of costume. For me, this means watching how animals move and trying to emulate that. I really love butoh dancing for this reason. It's deeply satisfying when I manage to nonchalantly blink my eyes out of synch, rather than in unison, to look more reptillian.

[ide]

Twig is a great non-speaking (traditional clown-style <3) fantasy performer, I really dig her style: http://www.twigthefairy.com/

[Mermaid Jewel]

Oh I love Twig, I just discovered her randomly on the interweb (I don't remember how...) but after looking at her, she has such a put-together act :)

[Taylor is a Mermaid]

Twig's been at my local renaissance festival since before I ever went. She's enchanting to watch, especially in the way children react to her. She really has a magical effect on them. I got to talk to her at WMAs when she was not in character, and she said the most wonderful thing about her and kids: "I feel like my heart breaks in the most beautiful way every weekend. I love what I do so much." Isn't that awesome? So I'm not a pro, but I really like watching performers and entertainers. I love your idea of a mermaid who doesn't speak English, Ide. It would be great if you could videotape some of your performances!

[Mermaid Photine]

Twig has been in faerie magazine twice. It's really cool

What do you do for underwater/swimming performances?

[ide]

The second half of my post was specifically about underwater performances - my lead is my head (& shoulders) I try to move in as non-human a way as possible, interact playfully & curiously with guests, and when I surface or interact directly, I make sounds, but never speak. I also spit water at people (*cough* little boys) who claim there's no such thing as mermaids. When above water, I also sing (wordlessly).

Also (as with my land-party-gig) I like to give out small gifts - shells, glass-spheres, etc.

I'm a big fan of alternately acting very excited & explorative, and at the same time being highly reactive & shy, especially toward shy children as this gets them to come out of their shell a lot. Physically communicating with little kids is just like flirting, you have to let them pursue you some of the time or they'll lose interest or get scared off. ;]

I really want to do shows where my handler (mer-tender) feeds me seaweed treats (nori) to get me to come and be more social or do tricks (maybe to convince me to pose for pictures).

[SireniaSolaris]

o.m.g. Ide!!!! I feel like I've just found my west-coast counterpart!! How long have you been doing balloons/face painting, etc??

[Mermaid Saphira]

Ide, you have an extremely well thought out act. I would love to see you do this one day, what are you thoughts on filming a performance?

[AniaR]

This is a big section in my upcoming book :)

[Delphine]

Cool thread, mers! You're all giving me some great ideas of how to act once my Delphine costume is complete. I'm still working on casting the silicone tail, and need to be thinking about the performative half of my work, as well. I like the non-English/Human speak idea, Ide. My mermaid character I'm working on, Delphine, can understand English though I'm not thinking to use it in performances (particularly one on land). I'll take your tip & study some sea critters for movement. Raina, happy to hear you're working on a section for this in your book! How's it coming along?

[Echidna]

Ide does speak, just not in human languages. I click, chirp, purrr and coo, mostly. Sometimes I nod yes or no to answer questions, or even pantomime a little (though not heavily), lots of the time when kids & adults as me questions, I just tilt my head in confusion. This is a great counter-reaction to when someone flirts with you, too.

If anyone here has theatre training you'll likely know about "leads". The physical lead for my mermaid character is my head. This is the body part I express the most with and literally lead my body with, so, lots of nodding, head-tilting, and snake-like movements in the head and shoulders.

<3
This is my approach!
I love utterly inhuman, otherwordly performances. You described the idea of it perfectly.

Mythology mostly doesn't paint fae of any kind as bright, harmless, smiling funny beings.
For more inspiration right from the true source, check out the movie:
"Mermaid Chronicles- She Creature" (rated 16+, mind.)

Of course, such a character wouldn't be much use to throw birthday parties for happy little children :D
I could envision a tank-swimming aquatic creature, that is rather mysterious and aloof
(not the usual big smile-wave-blow kisses- mermaid swimming style), or an underwater-ballet-like performance.

Something like this dance performance, just translated from fae to water

[mermaidwhisperer]

I have a gig tomorrow-I'd say it's more promotion than modelling though. We have a huge Beach Harbour 'Race Day' (so like a derby but on the beach) and the newspaper is taking out a massive yacht for a mystery cruise-and I've been asked to be a hostess for the event, to keep everyone from falling asleep while they drink too much in the sun :) They found me through the theatre group I joined this year, the director of Hairspray recommended me, and because of my 'mermaid' themed book, they've asked me to dress up for the occasion so it's going to double as a promo for my book. I've chosen a dress that looks mermaid-ish but still cocktail like, and just made a fascinator out of an old one, some gold spray paint netting shells and a flower. Nails done, skin fake-tanned, hair extensions at the ready...it's ironic because in my book I push how mermaids are all about the natural beauty and here I am coated in sticky fake tan for the first time since I retired cheerleading! Being a surfer in the sun cancer capital of the world, I haven't needed a fake tan. But it's winter here and I've been chain-smoking while locked in my office and not sleeping since my book came out so I needed some colour. But when the hair extensions go in I'm going to be a hot mess-I hate having stuff attached to me. I can't even wear a watch most days.
and I'm SO nervous. I have no idea what to do!
But it's okay because the man who organises the actual race event is my former mentor-I was his promotions manager for 8 years, and they're getting the 'circus' performers in to entertain who I used to train 'tissue' with so I'm bound to know people.
Funny I've fantasised about mermaids my whole life but this is the closest I've gotten to dressing like one! Next step, tail!