Take 5!

Every year at Alberta Showcase, five minute showcases—Take 5s—are available to artists who are not selected for the main showcases.
   Take 5s have always been a fun, relaxing experiment in limitations. Novel ways of ending the showcase after five minutes (i.e. the threat and delivery of ringing alarms or water pistols, for offenders) were fun.
   But Take 5s are now taken seriously by the artists, who realize that a successful five minutes can result in a lot of bookings.
   A professional, well-thought-out Take 5 demonstrates the artist’s adaptability, professionalism, and ability to work within limitations. The presenters watching are aware of how difficult it is to successfully represent a show in only five minutes. They are impressed by the time and effort put into the presentation of the five minutes as well as the content.
   Resist the temptation to do too much.
   When I did a Take 5 last year I worked out a tight five minutes but I tried to cram too much into it, and due to a little bit of nervousness, I went over time. Something that doesn’t go as you expect almost guarantees that you will go long, you’ll want to end on a high point, you won’t have the time, and your presentation fizzles instead of sizzles (sorry, I just couldn’t resist a little cheese!). The audience may be totally into what you are doing and loving it—but you can’t finish. The last thing they will remember about your Take 5 is being disappointed.
   You are really creating a show commercial. Tease them, leave a little mystery, make them want a lot more. Consider it a trailer. Check out the movie theatre for coming attractions. Look at how the effective ones make you want to see the movie next summer. The best trailers have had an enormous amount of work put into them.
The Euphorics, an a capella quartet from BC, have a great song they use for exactly this purpose. They fully represent themselves in well under five minutes. You can see and hear them at www.euphorics.com—scroll down on the first page and click on “Meet the Euphorics”
   You will get a thirty-second warning at the four and a half minute mark in the form of a flashing light only you can see. So you will have time to bring your Take 5 to a close. At the end of the five minutes the sound and lights will be slowly turned off. At the end of six minutes you will be surrounded by burly, humorless men. At the end of seven minutes you will be hit by a tranquilizer dart, and swept off stage.
   Don’t consider a Take 5 as something separate from your art. Think of it as a challenge equal to the effort you put into creating your show, choreographing parts of your dance routine, the hours you put into writing your best song, or solving a particular problem in the script of your theatre piece. Consider it a creative commission. A good presentation will result in many more places where you can express yourself fully.
   Once you get it together you can use it endlessly for other showcases, special events and your website. You will become very proud of it. Having a well rehearsed, complete “mini event” is a valuable thing.
   If you do not have a good five minute showcase, don’t feel like developing one, or just want to wing it, seriously consider not presenting. The general consensus is that a bad mainstage showcase will set you back 5 years. A bad take five will definitely not help.
   Remember, the presenters who see your performance talk to each other and to people who didn’t see the showcase. A bad showcase becomes known to more people than just the ones who see you.
It’s an audition. You want the bookings, so prepare, prepare, prepare.
   I’m now going to continue working on my own 5 minutes. I wrote all of this wonderful advice so I’d better have a good five myself!