While I could fill these pages with stories of some of my antics in the past, I will instead regale you with memories we all can relate to… our moments with Mr. Microphone!!!
I think that most of us have performed or given a speech at one point or another. It started when we were small children and still full of imagination! Who didn’t play pirates at the public park… we didn’t care who was watching.
Did we, or did we not play act at any given moment? We had baby dolls to feed, change, and spank… yes, I used to put my babies in the corner for time outs. I will even wager that many of us dressed up our dogs and cats and locked them in a room with us while we sang a song, or gave an award winning performance of Laura from Little House on the Prairie.
When Mr. Microphone came on the scene in 1979 I was 11 years old. I never bought one myself, but it wasn’t necessary since nearly everyone I knew had them. Now you may understand why I figured we’ve all done a bit of song and dance at some point in the past… you just sort of forgot… or blocked it out, depending on how bad you sounded on Mr. Microphone.
While I can’t say how good I was, I can say with certainty that I was LOUD! I figured that with the feedback we got from those things, if I just yelled into the mike, no one would know the difference… and they didn’t! Oh I’m sure they heard how bad I sounded, but you see, none of us cared… because we were still kids.
Looking back over the years, I have been on stage a good many times, but it wasn’t nearly as fun and fulfilling as when I was young and didn’t care what people would think.
When my girls were small, we spent a great deal of time in different children’s programs at Church and School. Every change of season brought some form of program or other that required our little ones to cross a stage, whether it be a piano recital or Holiday Pageant. The girls did great in groups of kids, but not the solo stuff… I’m talking deer in the headlights!
Get them together with their closest friends, however, and it was a completely different story… let the drama commence! All we had to do was give them some form of recording device and either lock them in… or lock them OUT! Hours later there would be food and a premier performance of whatever they came up with… sometimes a video, sometimes a talent show, or sometimes a Live Performance!
If you are ever wondering about personality and character dynamics… just watch a group of kids trying to organize themselves into a functioning show of music or acting. You will see the directors come out, the stand-up comedians, the drama queens, and last but not least… the OCD kids that will have a melt down if things can’t be perfect! Remember, they are grown ups in training, so this is where they are figuring out how to act and respond to those around them.
When I was a kid we did this kind of stuff too, but there were no lightweight cameras or Video Recorders. All we had was the 80 lb. movie production size Camcorders needing the strength of Thor to carry them… and Mr. Microphone! No Problem… we got the job done… in the back of cars driving down the street, in bathrooms across America, and in school hallways before a teacher could confiscate them.
I better stop here, or we will end up down some memory lane that lands us in a part of my naughty days that, fortunately, were not caught on camera.
I do really miss the I Don’t Care What People Think days… yes, I miss you Mr. Microphone!!!
Have a cookie…
Journey With Me! 