The Big Star at Blue Skies 2011

The 20-somethings were super-excited about one of the performers at Blue Skies this year. I'd heard of him, but somehow I never got exposed to his work before.

Fred Penner told us he's doing really well on the college and university campus scene these days.

Mind you, he does have fans who are closer to my age.

On Sunday, Fred gave a workshop titled Respect and Connect with your Audience. His first tip was to demonstrate two ways of taking a drink of water. The wrong way is to have the water bottle on the floor. Stop talking. Bend down. Stand up. Open the bottle. Take a drink. Close the bottle. Bend down. Put the bottle back on the floor. Then resume the show.

The Fred Penner way is to have the bottle at waist height on a stand or stool. While talking to the audience and looking at them, take the bottle and open it. Say "cheers" while raising the bottle. Take your drink while the audience is saying "cheers" back to you. Continue talking to the audience while you put the bottle back.

Besides maintaining a connection with the audience for the whole procedure, this method also avoids displaying any thinning that might be taking place on the top of your head.

(Photos from Blue Skies taken by me and Manon are up on Flickr)