Brickman, Jim (2nd Interview) - pianist/songwriter
By: Dominick A. Miserandino
Musician/entertainer Jim Brickman talks about varying his performances, appealing to the masses, and having fun -- all while giving the audience the best show possible.
DM) How much of your show is improvised, and how much is pre-planned?
JB) The chat with me and Ann is almost always improvised, and I have about 10 to 15 different backup stories I will use if I feel like I'm just blank.
DM) Last year, you had Donny Osmond with you ... Have you found that you, Tracy [Scott Silverman] and Anne [Cochran] have become a team on this? Together until the day you die?
JB) You know, it's so funny because I think about this, and I love the idea of infusing another male into the Christmas concerts. I feel like the three of us provide a little bit of everything for the audience. Just when you think you've heard enough of me playing piano, Ann comes out in a dress that the women love to see, and the guys are glad because there's a girl there. And then just when you think it's going to be a lot of beautiful romantic love songs, then Tracy [Scott Silverman] comes out and does his thing, and then the guys are happy with that, and it sort of hips up the whole show. That's kind of the model for what it is.
DM) When I've seen your show, I realized a number of people seem to be repeat visitors laughing at what might be the same or a similar routine as the year before...
JB) Oh yeah, it's hysterical. Have you ever been to a Bette Midler show? She comes out in a mermaid costume every time. I've seen that at least three times I've seen her perform. It's used in a different context, but used every time. Around here, it's hard to step back and not do certain songs people come for. Some people come to hear their wedding song; Some people come hearing a skit that they're going to expect. There's a certain expectation. Familiarity is a very important to some of the core of the show.
DM) Do you ever get bored yourself playing any of your standards?
JB) Sometimes in the middle of "Valentine," I'll almost be on autopilot. What I've done to try to change that is to make it a bit different for us, like having Tracy or Ann play on it, so it's different for us, but still the same for the audience. The job of performing live is to entertain the audience, so when you have a group of people who play together for a while, you can't ask them if they're sick of it; you have to ask the audience if they're sick of it because they're the ones you're playing for. I'm very, very conscious of that and very aware of that.
DM) Many of your songs are frequently used as wedding songs. Have you ever gone to a wedding and heard one of your songs played as their wedding song?
JB) I never have. That's an interesting question. The only one that I was doesn't count because I was playing at a friend's wedding. It's very, very, very common.
DM) Going back to your shows, which do you enjoy more: the musical performance part or the theatrical performance part?
JB) I don't differentiate between the two. I make choices while I'm playing that I would not be making if I was just playing in my living room. Especially if you're by yourself while you're playing the piano. There are certain times when I sense a bit of restlessness; I feel like I have a good sense of what's going on in the audience. It could be anything between being a Saturday night to a Friday night. Also, the time and place of the event as well. There will be some times that I'll come back during intermission, and I'll say to Ann, "This audience wants to hear 'question and answer' because they want to laugh." They want to have fun.
DM) Does it get hard to judge an audience when there's so many feelings in an audience?
JB) Sometimes you can't because they're too far away, and all you see is black. If you see the first few rows, you can tell by the posture, and you can get... well, just a feeling, and you have to use something as a gauge. For example, when we play with Donnie, there were some people who left the show during the "question and answer" period because they came for piano and felt that it was too much like the "Carol Burnette Show." There are always going to be people like that. There are people who will complain because we didn't do as many jokes as the last time. Of course, you can't please everybody, but my show is aimed at covering a little bit of everything; enough so what they came for, they got.
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