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Overall i think my act was successful, it got into the show, i created an act from scratch and worked hard on it. If i could change anything i would probably have tried from the beginning to alter my script to fit an accent and work hard to make the accent sound plausible. i was happy with my act so if i went back i don't think there is anything major i would change. I am glad i pushed myself to do something out of my comfort zone and it payed off. I feel more than ready for the show and have everything prepared i hope i do a good perfromance.

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Although i was nervous for my audition i did feel very prepared. I was confident on my lines and had my costume and all of my props ready to go. After showing my class the day before i felt more confident that i had a good piece to put forward that was actually funny. I did add in an extra joke last minute which i think worked well but it did distract me from the other joke that i was mean to say after it which i missed out in the audition however that was the only mistake i made and i have time after the audition and before the show to get it right. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that i got through to the show. The feedback i got from it was that sometimes the judges struggled to hear me which i think was because the music was too loud we improved this by telling the technicians to make it quieter next time and by giving me a mic. They also said i needed to speed up as it felt a little long so i cut one of my jokes and worked on the pace and worked on emphasising my punchlines.

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My sketch is set in a restaurant so my props will consist of: cutlery, napkins, a flower in a vase, a glass, a bottle of wine, a purse and glasses. These will be placed on a round table with a cloth over it. I want it to be very clear from when the lights come up where i am. I will start with some background music to set the scene typical to a restaurant that will play quietly throughout my piece. My lighting will be simple warm colours to set the mood and tone of the restaurant although this will contrast with the comedy theme of an upset woman that has been stood up it will work well to set the scene and make her outburst more comical. I will be wearing a dress and heels with my hair done nicely and heavy make-up to show that i have made an effort with my appearance and the date was important to me and to make me look older.

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Throughout the rehearsal process i have been keeping target sheets and making notes on my progress. From the initial stages of brainstorms and making notes of any jokes I found funny and putting them together in a script and setting myself targets such as blocking the performance and independent targets like learning lines. I worked on my own during rehearsal i could sometimes look quite static because i was going over lines in my head or like i was talking to myself whilst running my act. However, when i started polishing it off i would have full run through to myself at home and in the classroom. This can all be evidenced on my target sheets. I had a read through in front of my teachers and my family who gave me feedback on the script and said It would be better once I got it on its feet. Nearer the end I showed it to my class off script as i would perform it on the night and they all thought it was really funny but said I needed to speak louder and have more confidence in myself and my script. When i showed it to one of my teachers she said that i needed to have a more convincing character to bring it to life and make it funnier. She said she felt like i wasn't doing my punchlines any justice like i was apologising for them and it could be funnier with an accent. So close to the show i knew i wouldn't be able to master a new accent such as Gordie or essex which would have given the piece comic value so i tried an accent i could already do which was Scottish. Although my accent was good it didn't fit to the piece so after that feedback on the accent i decided to just work on a character voice which i think was the right decision in the end. The main feedback i got was: to improve my character, define my punchlines, speak at a higher volume, have better diction and a stronger character. I worked on each of these flaws to get it to the highest standard i could for the show. I personally think the main thing i needed was a confidence boost and after showing my class and hearing them laugh at it i felt a lot more prepared and less nervous for my audition. Overall i am pleased with the way my act has developed i worked hard on something that was out of my comfort zone. I went from having an act that i felt un-confident about to enjoying my performance of the script and feeling proud of my act. It took me a good two weeks to script my act and be happy with it and i felt i definitely had enough time to perfect and run my act before the audition my i had two weeks off script with a piece that was ready. I think working on my own allowed me to work quickly and effectively i could just rely on myself for ideas and work in my own time without having to worry about others.

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DEVELOPMENT, TARGET SETTING, TUTOR AND PEER FEEDBACK

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DEVELOPMENT, TARGET SETTING, TUTOR AND PEER FEEDBACK

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My act took influences from initial ideas and jokes i found online. i was looking for jokes related to dating and dating going wrong. However, i found a lot of them were male orientated so i had to see if they were adaptable. I wanted jokes with good punchlines like the joke i used, "i've been on so man blind dates i should, qualify for a free dog." I wrote down the ones i liked then went through a process of choosing the best ones and cutting the ones that i didn't like. After that i started to develop them to fit my format. For example, i got this joke, "I was on a date with this really attractive model. Well, it wasn't really a date date. We just ate dinner and saw a movie. Then the plane landed" from here: http://www.over50datingresources.com/humor/jokes-about-love-dating-relationships-and-marriage/ then developed the joke to fit my act by making it longer and changing the wording.

I also took influence from different comedy sketches that i found online. One video that i took some character influences from was a comedy monologue 'i ate the divorce papers': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpXt_AGhwvY i think the heartbroken slightly crazy character was quite funny and i could take aspects from this character and performance. Although it has different topic it was a similar format, a woman doing a comedy ideologue with an interesting character. Something else that really influenced me and helped me develop and better my performance were the smack the pony dating agency videos. These consisted of a selection of actresses playing different characters trying to get a date and describe themselves and their ideal partner. Each character was very different even though some were played by the same people but defined themselves by costumes, facial expressions, mannerisms, personality but what stood out for me was their voice. Watching these videos helped me come up with a strong character and voice. This is one of the videos i watched: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJg8Z0dL350. I personally really enjoyed watching these videos and found them really funny. I liked the two woman Tanya and Kimberly, their relationship and personalities really made me laugh. Watching these videos made me feel excited about getting my act on stage. After watching Bridget Jones' diary i realised that i liked the character of Bridget Jones she seemed real and down to earth and like my character and funny she didn't have much luck in love and i felt like i could take aspects from her raw attitude.

After watching these different sketches online i realised that the key to a good performance was a good, strong character especially for a monologue performance. Watched these videos really helped me define and bring my character to life which made the performance much better.

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For the variety show i chose to do a comedy sketch related to dating. This was a very early decision as acting is my definite strong point. Comedy has always been a big part of the variety show so it already fits the format. Some of the early decisions were about weather i should do a a stand up act or a sketch after getting together some material i decided a sketch would work better and i would be more confident about it as stand up is something i had never tried before. I tried to make the jokes in my act accessible so my audience can relate to my jokes which will make them laugh more. As i knew i would be working independently my initial ideas were all very similar to my final one. I played about with different scenarios and characters such as a woman that is upset and unstable going through a divorce but i think the comedy dating idea was easier to relate too and would be funnier. When i first pitched my act i performed an extract from an existing sketch about a girl going on a date with a guy and soiling herself. I pitched my idea and graham agreed that it would work and i was allowed to go ahead with it.

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                                        Palace Theatre London

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                                        Palace Theatre London

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As technology developed everybody had a television so variety acts survived through again changing their format. With programmes such as: opportunity knocks, saturday night at the London palladium, new faces, the royal variety show and Nole's house party. To the modern Britan's got talent and Ant and Dec's saturday night takeaway. These television shows kept variety alive in modern times and produced some classic stars like cannon and ball, Freddie Star, little and large, Keith Harrison and Ken Dodd. Variety entertainment has had to adapt to survive. It was much bigger when technology less advanced and social events were in more demand. Today variety entertainment is seen in different format from the music hall saloon bars and theatres. It is usually found in family venues places such as: Piers, holiday camps, cruise ships or hotels tourists are the main target audience. However, it can too be seen in working mens clubs, bars. Variety has always thrived in blackpool because it is a family, tourist place. It is still seen today on the Blackpool North pier at Blackpool caravan parks and venues. This is effective because the people that go to these places will enjoy this type of entertainment and it is more likely to survive in these venues. Now days it is less likely for people to purchase a ticket to the theatre for a variety show. They have access to it on holiday on on their televsion.

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Another act that definitely caught the publics attention and created something fresh was "spellbound". An acrobatic group that sprung to life in 2010 by winning Britain's got talent and therefor performing at the royal variety. The original group consisted of 7 boys and 6 girls ranging from ages 12-24. Many of them had won medals in competitions for acrobatic gymnasts. Their first audition (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49cU7gtPIzM) absolutely stunned the judges and the live audience. They performed tricks and skills that amazed everybody. The judges described it as something they has never seen anything like in their lives they said it was "faultless","smart" and "thrilling". Spellbound went on to finals and won the competition in front of over 15 million TV viewers. Their performance at the royal variety show saw them improve on their initial stage presence lighting, set and costumes making their skill and act even more exciting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1bSdb0An1E. The troop released a DVD featuring 9 different routines performed to alive audience. As time went on members of the group left and were replaced by other for various different reasons but they went on to perform in the royal vaiety AGAIN in 2012 after performing at the London Olympics and on different television shows.

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Royal Variety Performance in 1969. Her Majesty The Queen with Lord Bernie Delfont, presented to Ronnie Corbett, Cilla Black & Danny La Rue

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Royal Variety Performance in 1969. Her Majesty The Queen with Lord Bernie Delfont, presented to Ronnie Corbett, Cilla Black & Danny La Rue

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A Poster advertising the 1971 Royal Variety Performance

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A Poster advertising the 1971 Royal Variety Performance

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Her Majesty the Queen arriving at the London Palladium in 1952 for her first Royal Variety Performance as Queen

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Her Majesty the Queen arriving at the London Palladium in 1952 for her first Royal Variety Performance as Queen

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The Royal Variety performance is an annual event held in the United Kingdom that is attended by members of the Royal family such as Queen Elizabeth II or the prince of Wales. The evening show consists of light family entertainment such as, comedy, singing, dancing, magic and other specialty acts. The first Royal Variety Show was the 1st of July 1912 at the palace theatre in London, Cambridge, it was then titled 'The Royal Command Performance' The show was witnessed by King George V and Queen Mary. It was a very extravagant event and the organisers had 3 million red roses draped draped around the auditorium. At the time a famous Music Hall artist called Marie Lloyd was not asked to perform as she could have been considered a little too "risque" for the show. So in her vengeance she held her own performance in a near by theater which she advertised as 'by command of the British public'. After this rivalry from this first royal commend performance the name was changed to the royal variety as it is known today (to avoid any future embarrassment to the royals. There are and have always celebrities involved either performing or watching the show past celebrities include modern: Jessie J, Lady Gaga, Simon Cowell, Stomp peter Kay and more. To older ones such as: Billy Merson a music hall singer and song writer, The Tiller Girls a dance troop from the 1900's; Vivian Blaine an american actress and singer and Cilla Black the singer actress and entertainer. The show also did sections of Broadway musicals from, Oliver! to Fame the musical. Any money generated from the Royal Variety Performance goes and always has gone to the 'entertainment Artistes Benevolent Fund'. A charity that uses its proceeds to provide support for elderly, ill-health, or hard times people, that were once part of the entertainment industry. The have a nursing home in Twickenham, Middlesex which is funded by the charity.

The Royal Variety became an annual event at the suggestion of His Majesty King George V from 1921,when he became Patron of the Variety Artistes' Benevolent Fund. The Alhambra Theatre in 1926 was where the first-ever Royal Variety Performance was broadcast (on the radio by the BBC), They provided commentary on the performances as and between acts to avoid dead air. The Royal Variety was held at the London Coliseum in 1938 which was to be the last for 7 years due to the war that came upon the country. This show however, involved around 250 artistes and was the biggest ever for the Royal Variety Performance it acted like a big grande finale before the break and terrible war ahead. Blackpool had its first Royal Variety show in the seaside town in 1955. The 1960 Royal Variety Performance was the first to be televised.

1974 was when the Variety Artistes' Benevolent Fund (the VABF), changed its name to the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund, marking its help for a wider audience and it was also the year of the first female compere Noele Gordon. 1976 was the 17th television broadcast show but first ever live broadcast of the performance.

The Royal Variety Performance has been hosted  in many places throughout the UK, including London on serveal occasions, Manchester in 1959, Birmingham in1999, Edinburgh in 2003, Cardiff in 2005, Liverpool in 2007 and Blackpool in both 1959 and 2009.

'Britain's Got Talent' has since 2008 donated money raised from telephone votes to the Entertainment Artistes' Benvolent Fund, every year. In return, the EABF, has agrees that the winner of the show is awarded a spot on the next Royal Variety Performance.

2012 marked 100 years of the Royal Variety!

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One canadian group has created a prestigse specialty act which they describe as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment": Cirque Du Soleil. This performance group have featured on the royal variety show in the past and host a massive archive of touring productions and Las Vages shows. the 1980’s in Baie-Saint-Paul, a village on the north shore of the St-Lawrence River, east of Quebec City a theatre troupe was founded that did mainly circus acts they walked on stilts, juggled, danced, breathed fire and played music. One of the members of the troupe 'Guy Laliberte' later became the founder of cirque du soleil. In 1984, during Quebec’s 450th anniversary celebrations of Jacques Cartier’s discovery of Canada, they wanted an event and a perfroamnce to wow their audience and put on a good show. Guy Laliberté convinced the organisers that Cirque du Soleil was the answer. And thats where it all started. From then on they have developed a simply unique act. Their combination of music, singing, characters, costumes, face paint, and acrobatic skill make one amazing performance. They appeared on the royal variety in 1995, 2000 and 2001. One of their acts consisted of hula hooping, demonstrating great balancing skill, jumping and flipping on thin surfaces and much more which can be seen in this video of the performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8Jx6ziJFBk.

They currently have 20 on going shows and hundreds of members with headquarters in montreal, Quebec and Canada. However, there was recent controversy over the death of a performer in Las Vages whilst on stage The investigation concluded that she ascended too quickly before falling to her death in part, because she did not receive proper training. She was an acrobat with 22 years training and mother. She was aged 31 and fell 94 feet feet from a vertical stage during the ending of the show, marking the first onstage death in Cirque du Soleil's 29-year-history. Just proving the sheer skill, practice and precision that must go into every one of these dangerous routines.

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or spesh acts
... have always been a part of variety performance they range from aerial acts, magic, cycling, drag acts, fire eaters, wrestling, puppets and lots more. These acts have split up the singers and dancers and given the show more 'variety' of the weird and wonderful. Specilaty acts appeal to an audience for one main reason they are DIFFERENT. Usually something the audience has never seen before. This makes the act engaging, interesting and exciting. I am going to look at acrobatic performances and groups that have featured in the royal variety performance. Acrobatic's is a great specialty act because it combines uniqueness with great costumes stage presence and puts on an amazing show it explores the unordinary and extraordinary. Acrobatics have features scarcely throughout the Royal Variety with acts such as the 'acromantics' that put together a comedy circus acrobatic act. However I think the most famous of them all is the cirque du soleil troop that took this skill to a whole new level and made it a franchisee name all over the world. These type of acts still exist but over the recent years they haven't heavily features in the royal variety performances. This could be because to be noticed it has to be innovative and fresh.

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Before Variety performance gained its title, this type of entertainment was called music hall. Music hall was seen as a social event that took place in saloon bars.  The audience would sit around tables and socialise, drinking and smoking. There was no real layout just a stage at the front of the room but the tables or seats were in no order. Music hall started in 1850 and consisted of small acts either singing, dancing, doing specialist performances and comedy acts. Blackpool was the place for variety they had great popular acts and although it still holds lots of variety performances today it is not as strong as it was in the 60's, 70's or 80's.

In 1850 there were no televisions so live entertainment was in more demand. however in the 90's when television, cinema, live music concerts, and theatre were all on the rise and this is when there was a real decline in music hall entertainment. Because of war it was not the time or place for entertainent and there was a ban on drinking in venues which discoureged a lot of the audience. So it developed and in the 1950's after WW2 it became more formal and started to be performed in theatres. Big auditoriums with a quiet audeinces rather than the social event music hall was seen as. A lot of seaside towns can be associated with nice theatres and piers and these tourist sites used variety entertainment to pull tourists in. They were often held on the pier and knows as an 'end of the pier show'.