Stage Presence + Band Humor

[lyle_from_minneapolis]

Then you can always massacre they lyrics of an existing song, if you're a brave idiot in the right circumstance... Not that I would ever suggest such a thing. Just once, with feeling:


He was bored as he sucked down his 27th beer
And when he tossed the can we all saw what it landed on
It was a big fat patch of mushrooms which we picked and we passed around
Well we gobbled 'em down and soon we all were gone

On a Colorado psilocybin high
I've seen a man with pliers in his eyes
There were dragons in the campfire
And monsters in the sky
Pretty *#%@ing high
Colorado
Pretty *#%@ing high
Psilocybin

When he saw 3 moons he panicked
And he climbed a nearby tree
Then he panicked some more when he thought the branch would fall
But the tree turned into a penthouse
Where Ernest Borgnine slept with sheep
And he slept with them well
And I swear that I saw it all

On a Colorado psilocybin high
Those sheep they had desire in their eyes
And they winked at me and they bleated and they baa-ed
Till I thought I was gonna die
Pretty *#%@ing high
Colorado
Pretty *#%@ing high
Ernest Borgnine

[freshmattyp]

Our version of Freebird goes "If I leave here tomorrow", then right into the solo at the end. It was a lot funnier when we were all acoustic, and the banjo player did the solo. As it stands now, it's still good for a laugh.

We do the Green Acres bit too, only over Purple Haze. Must be a regional variation...

[rictified]

45 seconds of Freebird kills me too.

[sharkboy]

Sorry Matt. I meant "Purple Haze". There is greater potential for random humor when you can't remember things.

[revolver323]

"Amazing Grace" can be sung to almost any tune. The Holmes Brothers do it to "House of the Rising Sun."

[wayang]

Someone actually recorded "Green Haze" (or is it "Purple Acres"?), but I can't recall who...

A time-honored Antarctic favorite (which I'm sure I've mentioned before): "Sweet Werewolves of London, Alabama"...

[alanz]

I despise the typical "I'm so cool" rock and roll attitude on stage. I am much more interested in being entertaining, which means being engaging, approachable and funny as well as a good player.

The thing with being funny is that I also despise "jokes" and set pieces, I prefer the spontaneity of being funny in the moment. Rehearsed funny is lame, spontaneous funny is great.

Being funny is also difficult so if you aren't naturally funny then forget it and just be something else, like personable or self-deprecating or charming.

[brammy]

I guess the bottom line is that if the band isn't having any fun then the audience is unlikely to either.

We did an alternate lyrics to 'Teenager in Love' called 'Teenager in Jail'. That one was pretty funny.

Getting someone up on stage can work also. We used to get a volunteer chick to come sing shared-mic backup vocals on 'Mustang Sally'. Just handed her a tambourine and let it rip. Crowd loved it, especially the chicks friends.

[dale_fortune]

That reminds me of a Knack song "My Sharona" We changed the title to: "Juan Corona" for those who remember the unpleasant things he did to migrant farm workers near Bakersfield..

[kenposurf]

my bologna.....

[freshmattyp]

Another fun thing we do periodically is "The Salute to the Cowbell". We bring up someone from the audience to wail on the cowbell while we do 12 bars of Honky Tonk Women, Workin' for the Weekend, Don't Fear the Reaper and anything else we can think of.

[brammy]

John gooning it up while Paul asked for 'I Saw Her Standing There' audience participation always got the crowd going.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_M45k2kbik
... and with Jimmy Nichol:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJulGC4eDwU