1. the act of committing.
2. the state of being committed.
3. the act of committing, pledging, or engaging oneself.
4. a pledge or promise; obligation: We have made a commitment to pay our bills on time.
5. engagement; involvement: They have a sincere commitment to religion.
Those of you who have worked with me know that one of my biggest pet peeves is lack of commitment. That doesn’t just mean bailing on shows, it means lack of commitment to all aspects; ie. half-assing facial hair or binding, not bothering with costumes, basically making zero effort.
But a commitment, or lack thereof, to shows is probably my biggest issue. I generally book my shows several weeks ahead of time, and my entertainers know what is expected of them. However, I have had performers show up late, not even close to being ready, or bail completely without even a text to say “Hey, I can’t make it.” I am very well aware that shit happens. Life is messy, humans are messy. But we need to keep in mind that when you flake on a commitment it screws everyone over. There have been less than a handful of times in my almost 7 years of performing when I’ve had to cancel my appearance at a show. Generally it was due to illness, which means I was basically dying. I’ve performed with tooth pain so bad it knocked me on my ass; I’ve performed with walking pneumonia. So when I say I’m sick and I can’t be there, I mean it. There are times when I feel like poop, but I still show up and do at least one number (that was communicated to the show director) because I made a commitment (there’s that word again) to be there.
I’ve noticed that ego plays a huge role in terms of commitment. Kings and Queens win a crown, a pageant, a bingo game and all of a sudden they feel this gives them leave to cancel, decide that they only have time to do one number instead of the agreed upon three, show up when they want to, hold the show up, throw hissy fits, etc. I hate to break it to you, but that’s not how this works. Sadly, many people who do this are people-climbers. In other words, they’ll put out 110% if they think the show director can help launch their career, but if it’s “no one special” or someone they think will just roll over and take it, they’ll play the diva card.
News flash… attitude like that is a quick way to get you uninvited to perform and an even quicker way to ruin your reputation.
(Side note: don’t forget the people who helped you get where you are. We all started somewhere, and no matter how good you think you are, someone gave you that chance to do what you do.)
Life happens. Everyone understands that. But overbooking, double booking, triple booking, over-extending yourself, etc are not excuses to renege on your responsibilities. I’ve spent nights running from bar to bar, because I *knowingly* agreed to do two shows in the same night. It’s hard work, but I manage to fulfill my obligation at both shows. In fact, on the 29th, I’ll be driving to Sedona to perform at Pride during the day, then hustling back to Phoenix to perform in the Ladies Choice show at Rainbow Cactus. It’s going to be a crazy day, and I’m going to pass the hell out at the end of it, but I’m not going to bail on either commitment. It was my decision to do both things, so I do what I’ve got to do. Generally, you are aware of the shows you are doing several weeks ahead of time. Whatever you do between getting booked and the actual show is on you. If you agree to do two shows in the same night, you’d better be at both. If you book a show every night until the night of the ORIGINAL show, then tell the show director that you’d like to back out because you’re too busy, that is not ok. You need to understand that backing out of a show can throw the whole thing off. The show director expect X number of people there and had arranged things accordingly. Canceling even a week prior can create issues. It means the director only has a few days to try and find a replacement so that they can promote it properly. Newton’s third law is totally applicable in this business: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. It’s not all about you.
Newbies (those who have been performing 2 years, or less), keep in mind that the first couple years are basically you building up your reputation. If you tarnish it now by cancelling, bailing, being disrespectful and pulling a diva attitude, it will be very hard for you to rebuild it once it’s broken. Burning bridges early in your career is never a good move. Burning bridges close to home is an even bigger mistake. Your drag mother or drag father may be a title holder. They may have an amazing reputation. However, that will only get YOU so far. People expect more from the drag spawn of title holders, and if you go around making an ass of yourself, your bad behavior can have a negative impact on their reputation too. You are seen as an extension of your drag parent, so don’t think that bad behavior goes unnoticed, either. People see it, and I guarantee that it will get back to your drag parent. I would expect nothing less if someone saw one of my drag spawn behaving in a way that was less than complimentary. After all, it’s my job to teach, to coach, to guide. Not just those in my own drag family, but anyone who needs that guidance to help them get to where they want to be.
In the end, that’s why I do this. That’s why I perform, that’s why I write these blogs. So that maybe someone somewhere might learn something.