S7E12: Avner Eisenberg - Comedy Without Words
In this interview, Avner Eisenberg, who performs as Avner the Eccentric, talks about his career and\xa0his approach to performing silent comedy. Other topics that come up are\xa0creating material appropriate for your character, being easy to work with, and where he finds inspiration.
\nAvner is a clown, juggler, mime, sleight-of hand artist, and actor. He's been featured on TV and as The Jewel in the Movie Jewel of the Nile.\xa0He\u2019s been a featured performer at various comedy, magic, and theater festivals world-wide, where he\u2019s won multiple awards like the Edinburgh Festival\u2019s New Faces award, and special jury awards at many other notable festivals. In 2002 he was inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame.
\nIn addition to this, Avner is an instructor in his craft, teaching on physical comedy and silent theater. \xa0
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\nSuccess\xa0Mantra\nAlways take a nap before a show. \xa0
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\nAvner\u2019s Approach to Comedy\n\u2022 Fear of not being interesting.
\n\u2022 Performers and Audiences being afraid of each other.
\n\u2022 Be interested, not interesting.
\n\u2022 Contract between the audience and performer is to share the same hallucination.
\n\u2022 Make them love you and then you can do anything. Even card tricks.
\n\u2022 The objective isn\u2019t not to make people laugh.
\n\u2022 Laughs can be an interruption that you have to deal with.
\n\u2022 A performer should never be foolish, but also never be afraid of looking foolish.
\n\u2022 There is no failure, only feedback.
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\n\xa0\nCommunicating Without Words\n\u2022 Keep your mouth shut. :)
\n\u2022 Make what you\u2019re pretending to do more compelling than what you\u2019re really doing. \xa0
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\nOther Topics Covered\n\u2022 Talks about how he accidentally fell into entertainment.
\n\u2022 Tells about his the structure of his one-man show.
\n\u2022 How he became a silent act.
\n\u2022 Talks about a lucky break he received (a glowing NY Times review) and how things took off.
\n\u2022 How audiences have changed as well as their expectations.
\n\u2022 Keeping his act fresh.
\n\u2022 Putting obstacles in the path of the person trying to accomplish a goal. But they have to be obstacles that you can get around.
\n\u2022 Where he finds inspiration.
\n\u2022 Creating things that fit within your character and killing or modifying things that don\u2019t.
\n\u2022 How his show has evolved over his career.
\n\u2022 Being easy to work with. \xa0
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\nFailure Moment\nGetting a woman up on stage with him who was sloshed and couldn\u2019t follow directions, so he let her go back to her seat to get someone else up to help out. She turned out to be just as wasted as the first. \xa0
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\nFavorite Success\nA fun and amazing coincidence which only could have happened to Avner. And then in a completely unrelated account, winning a competition he didn\u2019t realize he was competing in. \xa0
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\nWhat\u2019s worked best in building his career?\nRunning on Broadway and playing The Jewel in The Jewel of the Nile. Asking for reviews and building his press kit. \xa0
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\nBiggest Professional Challenge\nPlaying the Jewel of the Nile \xa0
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\nInteresting Story from the Road\nTells a few stores which involve arriving late to a show and having to setup in front of them, another instance where a young girl wet herself on stage, and yet another instance where he was attacked by a drunk man on stage! \xa0
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\nParting Advice\nBe interested, not interesting. If you can\u2019t succeed every time, learn to fail magnificently. \xa0
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\nRecommended books and resources:\nNote: Many of the links in this section are affiliate links, meaning we\xa0earn a small portion of any sales. If you're enjoying our\xa0podcast and decide to purchase one of the recommended resources or books, please consider using our\xa0affiliate links to help support the work we're doing here at the Successful Performercast. Thanks! \xa0
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\nResources:
\nAvner\u2019s Full Tech\xa0Documentation \xa0
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\nBooks:
\nZen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel
\nUncommon Therapy: The Psychiatric Techniques of Milton H. Erickson, M.D. by Jay Haley
\n\n\xa0\nWhere can we find Avner Eisenberg?\n