The Encyclopedia of Interactive Performance

Audience participation is nothing new. Magicians, comics, clowns, and street performers have been dragging “volunteers” into their acts for years. They don’t give their victims much of a choice. To be fair, their purpose isn’t usually to empower participants; it’s to have a foil to play off of. As an inter-actor, your agenda is different. You’re looking for a participant who will become a co-creator of the story.

This entry covers ways to select spects for many types of interactive performance, from theatrical shows to immersive experiences.

Let’s start by removing a common misconception. It’s often assumed that the quality of an interactive performance is governed by the quality of the spects. Players assume that the show went well because of a good spect, or poorly because of a bad one. In my experience there’s no such thing as “good” or “bad” spects. There are spects who are easy to play with, and those that require you to be more skilled.

That said, if you have the option of working with someone who’s easy to play with, why work with someone difficult? (There’s a good reason, but we’ll get to that later.) Let’s begin by looking at the qualities of spects who are easy to play with.

Easy spects are grounded and present. Good candidates are pleasant and sociable. They tend to be “middle of the road.” No extreme extroverts or reluctant introverts. Steer clear of the overly-eager and the overly-apprehensive. The person you’re looking for might appear a little nervous, but is also a little excited. Make sure there’s no language barrier and that they can be heard. That’s pretty much it. It’s not rocket science.

At those times when you know a little something about the people you’re picking, there are strengths and weaknesses that you may want to consider.

Civilians – These are non-actors that you don’t know personally. Downsides include speaking quietly and facing away from the audience. They may be hesitant in the beginning. The upside is that when they get warmed up, civilians play in very real ways because they aren’t trying to “put on a show.”

Friends and family – People who are close to you may have trouble relating to you as your character. They see the “you” that they know in real life. Hang in there for a while and they’ll start to see you as your character. On the plus side, friends and family are ready to trust you more quickly than strangers.

Actors – Actors are a double-edged sword. They have training and experience. This means they have some performance chops, but they also have something to prove. If they’ve never improvised before, they may be nervous about not knowing what to say. Actors sometimes try to “perform,” which comes off as fake. When they settle down, the strength that actors bring is their ability to be grounded and go emotional places.

Improvisers – Improvisers also call on their skills when they play as spects. This becomes a challenge when they try to be fast and funny. It takes patience and perseverance to get some improvisers grounded and emotionally connected. To their credit, improvisers are usually fully activated and great at making stuff up right from the start.

Children and adults – Young and old each bring their own challenges. When they’re not petrified, kids tend to play with uninhibited commitment. The trick is getting them focused. Kids don’t always know how to collaborate, and they tend to bulldoze. Get them invested in the story, though, and they’re surprising and compelling. On the other hand, adults often need to get past their own inhibitions. Concerns about the judgment of others may impede their ability to play. Once they’re activated and invested, adults bring a depth of life experience that can make them brilliant co-creators.

Picking spects

When you’re picking people to become your spects, there’s a secret that will increase the quality of your spects tremendously. Let people volunteer. This eliminates anyone who has no interest in participating. Now you’re selecting from a pool of people who actually want to play.

One way to identify potential players is to give everyone a play marker. A play marker can be anything—a badge, a pin, a sticker. When the play marker is visible, it means they’re ready to play. When the play marker is out of sight, it indicates that they’d rather watch. This allows people to change their mind as they see what the experience is like.

How and when you pick your spects depends on your personal preferences and the circumstances of your performance. Let’s look at some options.

Advance casting – You don’t have to wait until the audience is at your event to select your spects. You can do advance casting. A prime opportunity for this is when people buy their tickets. Describe the opportunity and ask if they’d like to participate. If yes, they provide their social media info and you can make your choices based on the information you find there.

Another way to do advance casting is with a casting call. Send a description of your project to your target demographic and invite them to apply to participate. When casting spects in this way, give serious thought to who is being reached by your outreach methods. It takes extra effort to reach potential players who aren’t your “usual suspects.”

When doing advance casting, there are two mechanisms that are extremely useful—questionnaires and videos. A well-designed questionnaire can give you useful insights and a one-minute video helps you see how they present themselves.

When doing advance casting, be thoughtful with those who aren’t chosen. Don’t leave them hanging. Let them know that they haven’t been selected in a timely fashion, but don’t do it too soon. Wait until you have confirmation from your top picks. Even then, you may want to ask your runners-up if they’d like to become alternates in case someone drops out.

In the lobby – This doesn’t have to be a literal lobby. It’s whatever location your audience gathers before the experience begins. This is a time that you can observe and mingle with potential participants. When you see promising candidates, approach them and have a chat. Don’t start by asking them if they’d like to participate. Identify yourself as a part of the show. Ask them about themselves. Keep things light and social. If they seem like a good candidate, that’s the time to ask if they’d like to play in the show. The upside of choosing in the lobby is that it gets the selection process taken care of before the show begins. The downside is that people are sometimes very different in a one-on-one conversation than they are when facing an audience.

In the seats – There are several ways you can pick spects when the audience are in their seats before the show. One way is to do a pre-show curtain speech. While you’re talking, you’re also vetting them. Here’s how.

Address the entire audience, but speak to specific individuals. Look them in the eyes. When you find someone who holds your gaze, acknowledge them with a nod or a smile. If they don’t respond, continue talking and look at other people. If you do get a response, even a small one, greet them verbally. Listen for the strength of their response. Engage in a bit of small talk. If the vibe isn’t right, be gracious and shift your focus to someone else. If they’re a good candidate, extend an invitation. (“I’d like you to join me on stage.”) Be careful not to issue an order. The choice should be completely theirs. If they decline, don’t try to encourage them with applause. Let those who decline know that it’s totally fine, and resume the process of talking and looking. When you find someone who accepts your invitation, reward their bravery with your gratitude and move to the stage with them. Keep an eye to their safety, if stairs are involved.

The process described can also be done silently, though it may feel more awkward. The audience may not be sure what you’re doing. Take your time and stay grounded. You’re looking for people who hold eye contact with ease, or those who look away, and then look back again. When you find a good candidate, hold out your hand as a friendly invitation. If they take it, they’re your spect. If they don’t, don’t force the issue. Continue on until you find someone brave enough to take your hand.

Another approach is the tried-and-true method of asking for volunteers. Again, take your time. Really see the people who are volunteering. You can ignore the ones whose friends are pointing at them. These folks might be wonderful, but they’re not the one’s making the choice. Also be wary of people who are trying to get your attention. They’re highly enthusiastic, but they don’t always make the best collaborators. Some are focused on themselves; other’s want to “entertain” the audience. You’re looking for middle-of-the-road folks who’d like to play, but don’t want to take the opportunity away from others. These people make great co-creators. Fortunately, there’s a way to bring these people out of the woodwork.

Instead of asking people to volunteer by raising their hands, have them hold up an object. It might be their program, a balloon, or a feather. Any simple object will do. For some reason, less extroverted people are more likely to hold up an object than raise their hands. You still have to find them, but at least they’re in the mix. Look for the folks sitting calmly holding up their object. These are your prime spects.

During the performance – In immersive interactive shows you may need to cast spects once the performance is already in progress. Clusters of audience members are often gathered around you. In this circumstance you can use a process similar to the pre-show speech, but now you deliver a monologue as your character. While speaking, look for people who appear engaged. Make eye contact and acknowledge them with a nod or smile. If they respond back, endow them as a character and begin to play with them.

Self-selection

So far, all the methods have been about picking the right spect. Now let’s think about allowing spects to select themselves.

Of course there are downsides to self-selection. Dominant personalities crowd others out and they’re often difficult to work with. Earlier I asked why you would ever choose to work with difficult spects. Let’s answer that question now.

When you’ve got good interactive chops, it’s actually fun to play with difficult spects. They keep you on your toes and test your skills. When you can focus their self-centered, ungrounded energy, difficult spects can be fun to play with.

But what if you let spects self-select and nobody volunteers at all? After several decades of doing interactive work, I can tell you this: There’s always going to be at least one person willing to play. It may take a couple of minutes to find that willing soul, but there will always be at least one. If you’re ready to embrace the challenge of working with self-selected spects, here are some ways to do it.

First come, first serve – You tell the audience that the first person up to the stage will become the participant. This approach tends to attract very assertive people. I’ve seen university football players literally tackle each other as they tried to be the first one to the stage. One risk of this approach is that you may be left hanging for a while if no one is ready to play right away.

Bouncing ball – Another way to let spects self-select is to toss a lightweight object (like a beach ball) into the audience and let them toss it around. When the object lands in the hands of someone who wants to play, they come up to the stage and become the spect.

Lottery – This is an excellent method for self-selection. It gives everyone who wants to play an equal shot. The simplest way to do it is to have people put their names in a bowl, then draw a name at random. It’s a good practice to ask the people whose names are drawn if they’d like to play. Even though they already opted in, it gives them latitude to change their mind. It also avoids the problem of people who secretly put their friends’ names in.

An even better version of the lottery is to allow people to submit their names using the Volunteer app. With this approach, people can volunteer privately using their cell phones. Anyone without a phone can turn to friends to add their names into the mix. When it’s time to pick a spect, you choose a name at random and announce it to the audience. If the person accepts the invitation, you’re good to go. If not, it’s back to the list. The barrier to entry with the volunteer app is low, so you get a broader mix of willing volunteers—from middle of the road to extroverts. Best of all, picking a name at random gives everyone an equal opportunity to play.

There are many ways to pick spects; the best method depends on your needs and preferences. The process is most successful when choosing from a pool of people who actually want to play. When you have the skills, any willing volunteer can become the “right” spect.