2008 Spring/Summer Tour - Day 87

I had two shows today at the Hardesty library in Tulsa. These were my first shows involving the "Catch the Reading Bug" summer reading program theme. I had put together a set list and a script with some bug songs and bug facts, knowing that some of the talking points and transitions would end up being tweaked in the moment once I actually performed the program, for better or worse. Well, the songs went fine (including the first ever full blown performance of "Stink Bug"), but the talking parts and transitions definitely weren't the smoothest. It often takes 2-3 shows of winging it and trying some different things before the right wording comes together for themed shows like that, and no matter how well I might try to figure it out ahead of time, it's still tough to get it just right without actually presenting it in front of an audience. The second show definitely went better in that respect, though there were still some awkward transitions. My next bug song shows aren't until mid-July in Colorado, so I should have everything worked out better by then, especially with these shows to use as a reference. The audiences were appreciative and had fun with the songs, regardless, so it wasn't a big deal, but it's the kind of thing I would have liked to have done better to begin with. I did try "La Cucaracha" again during the second show and it was considerably better than the last time I tried it (see the April 19 journal entry for more about that), but still not really strong enough to keep doing. Oh well... I felt brave to give it a try again, at least.

After the second show we packed everything up and met Monty, Lisa and Evalyn for some pizza and for more conversation, both of which were quite good. We drove four hours from there to Branson and got there very late, so we went right to bed.