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[madweasel]

ideally what I'd want to do is see if they had timer settings on them, for slow transitions or fast blinking.

From there it wouldn't be THAT hard to rig up something that responds either to motion (great for living statue) or noise (great in general) if I'm recalling my electronics.  If I could get it to start doing slow fades when I move as a living statue, then stop when I stop that would be a really nice twinkly effect.

[Circus ellipsis]

You've got an amazing mind.

[lentower]

You've got an amazing mind.

yup!

glad he's joined us here on the box!

[Pope Totalfrog]

if you are looking for cheap portable LED's (and a bunch of other weird stuffs) try here http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6488 - I picked up some for my daughter's bedroom and they are rad, especially for the price (you could cover yourself in them!)

[madweasel]

Costume Resource!  http://flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/ 

These are all non copyrighted images from the Library of Congress, with a huge number of them coming from 1910-1915, particularly for Chicago and New York.  Some great costume reference ideas, esp. the suffragettes that are imaged, and the Coney Island shots.  Most are tagged so its easy to search.

[Kenny Wisdom]

Nerves.

I think it is fair to say we all get them in a performance situation. We are human, after all.

I thought it would be a good idea to discuss any methods you might use to help you cope with them. I don't think you can eradicate them and it wouldn't necessarily be good to, anyway. What's important is finding a way to get on top of them.

Nerves can be a problem particularly affecting the performers breathing. If I allow myself to get too nervous then I start to breath in my upper body, which creates tension, which creates more panting...a perpetual cycle of pant-tense-pant-tense etc etc and this screws the voice.

Ironically the best thing I find to deal with nervous breathing is - breathing, but properly!

My tips pre-performance:

1. Warm-up and shake out. Be professional about this - give yourself time to loosen your limbs and shake them out and don't forget to exercise your voice.

2. Stretches. Hands above your head, onto tiptoes...s...trrrrr...etch! BREATHE in through your nose and out through your mouth. Work your diaphragm and NOT your chest. So breathe deep. Push your stomach out.

3. At the top of your stretch, flop forwards - time your breathing so you breathe out going down - like a mannequin has just had it's strings cut. Curve your back, hang loose. BREATHE as above.

4. Roll back up, through the base of the spine, breathing. Repeat steps 2-3 a few times.

5. When you get back to the top for the last time, just stand and breathe, as before. It's calming. Take the time to enjoy that space and that moment. Push right down into your feet and think of your breath reaching everywhere - into your toes, into your fingertips - every fibre of your being.

6. Now, still standing calmly, go over in your head what it is you need to do first for your performance. That will involve stepping out into the performance space - maybe even walking into position. It might be you have some lines to say, a song to sing, a dance to perform...visualise yourself taking those steps. BREATHE as you do it. Know in yourself what you intend to do.

Be calm.

Edit: Caffeine / Energy drinks. Mmm. I tried energy drinks before a performance once. Eeeek. 

It'll be a banana next time, for me.

[halfgravity]

I have a really basic question (well, basic to anyone who's done this before, I guess). What kind of makeup do you use when you're painting yourself to be a living statue? Do you use anything different for your hair?

I don't know the first thing about makeup, so the more detailed the explanation is (and the more it assumes I know nothing), the better.

Thank you!

[The Angel Raliel]

there are several bodypaint companies out there..... I usually go to Screenface in covent garden. http://www.screenface.com/
hair is usually done with colured spray ( or, in my case.... I dye it various colours ) or wigs are very popular as they are great for extreme styling and colouring.

[Alyss]