Thursday, April 21, 2011

You can't be afraid to fail: Lessons from Tina Fey, Lorne Michaels & Bob Lefsetz

From Bob Lefsetz: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2011/04/20/tina-feys-book/

Lorne Michaels says "The show doesn't go on because it's ready, it goes on because its 11:30".

Whew! Isn't that what's wrong with today's major label projects? They're so busy being perfected that all the life is sapped out of them. As Tina says "...perfect is overrated. Perfect is boring on live TV." And it's boring on stage and on record and...

And you can't be afraid to fail...

"you can't be too worried about your 'permanent record.' Yes, you're going to write some sketches that you love and are proud of forever - your golden nuggets. But you're also going to write some shit nuggets. And unfortunately, sometimes the shit nuggets make it onto the air. You can't worry about it. As long as you know the difference, you can go back to panning for gold on Monday."

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This is why I'm podcasting 5 days a week.

Doing a show half assed once every couple of weeks isn't going to improve my editing, EQing, speaking or writing skills.

Nor will it help build an audience.

And it'll certainly limit my opportunities of finding gold nuggets!

I tried writing on a regular basis, but that's not me, I'm dyslexic, it's painful for me to write/type. On a good day I'll rewrite a draft three of four times and still get it muddled. Often times I won't even post what I've done because I'm worn out by the process.

Podcasting on the other hand comes natural to me. I turn on the mic and I can just riff, flow and find my groove within in minutes. I'm comfortable behind the mic but I'm still not 100% satisfied. I continue to work on my tone, balance and story telling.

I'm still developing my voice as it were. Not the quality, rhythm or phrasing, but what it is I have to say, what am I contributing to the world.

And that, I think, will always be a work in progress.

In the meantime though, instead of waiting for the inspiration to hit, I ship Monday trough Friday. Not because the show's ready, because it's a weekday and it's time to deliver the goods!

-Joe

Posted via email from Joe Shockley's Data & Sound

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