Chapter T wo
Getting Your Act Together Bef ore you’re f inished with this book, you’re going to know what it takes to book a show in a major venue. You’ll know all the “insider secrets” that can take you to the top. In f act, I can almost guarantee that if you follow the advice we’ve laid out in this book, you ’ll end up with your big break, but it’ll only happen once. You’ll book that “big time” show at the larger casino, and you ’ll bask in the glory of feeling you’ve f inally arrived. You’ll go out and buy that smoke machine you’ve always wanted and you’ll mail comped tickets to that High School teacher that told you you’d never make it. And then you’ll walk out on stage. The lights will go on and the crowd will sit quietly waiting f or that f irst note. Your mother will smi le, and your f riends will s it up. And you’ll suddenly realize there’s no turning back. It’s too late to perfect that one chord change and you ’ll suddenly start wondering if maybe you don’t need some girl in a short skirt up near the f ront. And then it’ll all begin. And whatever you do will end up carved in the stone annals of your history. If you make too many mistakes, everybody will know you aren’t casino material. The club manager will probably make a mental note to have his caller ID screen out your calls, as he starts ca lling his f riends to warn them about you. The fans that thought you were great at the corner bar will suddenly be ashamed to admit they ever knew you. And chances are you ’ll have to move to another country if you want another “big break”.
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