‘Behind the Curtain’ is a bi-weekly advice column written by masquerade judges answering anonymous questions from the community. These columns are written with the perspective of how Guild run competitions are, and may not apply to non-Guild run contests. Our column is built on your questions, there is a form to submit your question anonymously at the footer of every column!
Performing on stage is really nerve-wracking! It doesn’t matter if you’ve done it once, twice, 100 times, or never- the feeling of stepping out on stage in front of a lot of people and doing something is a big act of courage.
When cosplayers go on stage, they will prepare something to do. It could be as simple as a walk-on and a pose, or as complicated as a skit with backing audio. Whatever you are doing on stage, no one else -not the judges, not the MC, not the audience- knows what you were planning to do on that stage except you (and the people on stage with you if you have entered with friends!)
Which means that the worst thing you can do on stage in a cosplay masquerade is let on that you’ve made a mistake. It is totally normal to make a mistake on stage, no matter how much you rehearse there is always room for error and that is OK! But the key thing is to never let anyone not on stage with you that there has been a mistake.
The likelihood is, that if you have done something wrong, no one will notice. They will be too engaged in your performance, or too interested in your cosplay- but as soon as you look like you have made a mistake, everyone else will know.
So how do you fix this? First, breathe. Everyone makes mistakes, and freezing up is the worst thing you can do after doing something wrong. So, breathe, and then move on to the next thing you were supposed to do in your skit and no one will have even noticed. Continue to have fun and finish your performance, and don’t dwell on what didn’t go well- focus on what did!
-@thesparkofrevolution
