I've been watching a show about Harry Houdini on the history channel and started thinking about what a showman and self promotion genius he was. As musicians we must follow the same traits when we do live gigs.I haven't played live in three years but when I did I was totally unsure of myself and depended on my music to get by. I would tell some lame jokes occasionlly but that didn't help. It also depends on the venue. My last job was at an irish restuarant and pub. I told them that I don't do "Danny Boy" or "Tura Lora Lora" (sic) so they wanted to hear Gordon Lightfoot. Go figure. The point is that some people have a natural tendency to make an audience comfortible and others don't. I have two friends who are a Bluegrass duo (Guitar and Banjo) who constantly get gigs at major hotels (Ritz Charlton for example) because they not only play music but they entertain the audience as well.These guys actually heckle the audience. I would like to read some live gig horror stories and how you handle hecklers and drunks. I remember a Doc Watson live album when a guy in the audience yelled "Crank it up" I've seen Doc live before and I Know he is very acute to sound quality and detail. He retorted "I remember my first beer too boy"

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