Fight the fright: Las Vegas performers discuss how they cope with stage fright

Kirk Baird

Thursday, June 20, 2002 | 8:25 a.m.

It's stage fright, or "performer's anxiety."

For those affected, the fear is a nuisance at best, a life-changing affliction at worst.

There are those entertainers whose fear of performing in front of an audience is legendary. Comedian Lenny Bruce lost his lunch before every show.

Barbra Streisand quit performing for years because of stage fright. The same for The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. Though both singers managed to cope with the fear long enough to tour in recent years, neither claims to have cured the condition.

Musicians Liz Phair, Andy Partridge of XTC and David Berman of Silver Jews also suffer from stage fright. Berman's fear is so powerful he has only performed live with his band on five occasions since it formed 13 years ago.

Nor are Las Vegas entertainers immune to stage fright.

"I've had stage fright every single night since I was 16 or 17, when I realized people do judge you on talent," said Christine Scinta, one-fourth of the family singing-comedy act the Scintas, which performs at The Rio.

"It is weird going out there onstage with 600 people saying 'entertain me.' But I'm my own worst critic, I want to be as good as I can possibly be," Scinta said. "I've learned to turn that nervous energy into positive energy and into the songs."

Ventriloquist Ronn Lucas, who also performs at The Rio, said his stage fright causes frequent bathroom breaks shortly before he goes onstage.

"In the industry it's pretty much known as the 'panic (pee),' " he said.

And Nathan Minor, a performer with "The Chippendales Show" at The Rio, said his debut performance with the group nearly two years ago was almost his last.

"The very first time I stepped onstage was in Chicago ... it was OK until we started taking off our clothes. I lost count of where I was and what was going on," Minor said. "If I had to go up there onstage by myself (that night), I don't know if I could have finished."

For those who find humor in his fear, Minor disagrees.

"Put on a G-string, get onstage and see how you feel."

All three performers either have learned to deal with their stage fright or have overcome it.

Others, however, are not so fortunate.

Chuck Rounds, an independent show consultant in Las Vegas, spent 25 years as an actor and director in regional theaters across the country.

Not affected with stage fright himself, Rounds worked with others who were.

"It's not atypical for someone to get nauseous and sick, and has to throw up before going on or go to the bathroom continually," he said. "There's also profuse sweating -- that sort of stuff."

Performers who could not overcome stage fright had two options: learn to deal with the fear of performing in front of an audience or give up acting.

"I knew an actor who wore Depends (while onstage), so if he needed to, he could just go. I knew another actor who kept a lined waste-paper can offstage so he could throw up," Rounds said. "They were aware of their stage fright to such a degree they found a way to combat it.

"If that meant wearing Depends, so be it."

For some Las Vegas performers, their stage fright is long since gone.

"When you're first starting out, I think everybody suffers from stage fright and gets the butterflies," magician Lance Burton, who performs at Monte Carlo, said. "The way I got over it, the first time, I had a steady gig doing magic, I was a teenager and I was doing three shows a day. What I found is that after you spend so many hours on the stage in front of people doing your act, you get over (stage fright)."

Fellow magician Mac King said he suffered from stage fright early in his career. As a teenager he would perform at children's birthday parties. During his act he would get so nervous his knees would shake and his body would quiver.

"My mom would say, 'Why are you doing this?' I would say, 'Because I love it, I love it,' " King said. "From her point of view I was torturing myself, but I couldn't stop doing it."

More than 20 years later King continues to perform, in his afternoon show at Harrah's.

"It never really did bother me that I got so nervous, and now I don't get nervous at all," he said. "I've done so many nutty things, that no matter what happens, I've been in a worse situation."

Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller, longtime Las Vegas headliners, said stage fright is merely a warped perspective from entertainers who place too much importance on their jobs.

"If I (mess) up onstage, seriously, what happens?" Jillette said. "People have seen a show that isn't good. If they've seen a show that isn't that good, they go out to eat and talk about it and I don't look as good."

Penn said those who should have stage fright are police officers, firefighters and doctors, those with jobs "where one mistake can do real damage."

"I don't know how surgeons can bring themselves to do stuff. Their job really is important. My job is pretend important," he said. "I think stage fright ultimately is an unheathly ego that is out of control, thinking what you do is important."