Recently, a bunch of friends came out to support me doing a set at The Laugh Lounge. I left the stage feeling pretty good about it. After the show, my friends came up to me and one of them said, "Carrie, you're really funny but you should sex it up a little on stage." My reply: "I'm wearing earrings and a clean tee shirt, what else do you want?"It's hard to know how to dress on stage. There are a few things to consider.
1) I want to be comfortable. If I'm comfortable, I will relax and the audience will be comfortable and relaxed and thus, laugh more.
2) I want to look like me. The Real Authentic Carrie. If I don't feel like myself, I won't be comfortable (see #1). The Real Authentic Carrie wears jeans so the stage Carrie wears jeans.
3) I still want to look good. I want clear skin, good hair and a tight body. Getting all three at once is nearly impossible.
4) However, I don't want to look so good that it's distracting. If my boobs are hanging out all over the place, people might be focusing on that and not my hilariousness and that's a crime.
5) I don't want a shirt with words. Unless the words are part of the act -- and even then, it's dicey. I don't want people reading my shirt while I'm talking.
6) I want people to notice me and not what I'm wearing. If my outfit is more interesting than my set, I'm in trouble.
7) I want a fun, non-distracting tee-shirt with no words that have a nice neckline and are cut for a woman's body. Oh, and I don't want to pay more than $15 for it. Don't hate me, but Old Navy seems to meet these criteria. (Yes, I am a consumer whore.)
8) Ultimately, I'm going for the cute-girl-next-door look.
When I look at female comedians I admire, I try to see what they are wearing. Sarah Silverman is a generally wearing "comfortable" clothing when she performs. Kathy Griffin will often wear a nicely cut collared shirt and slacks - professional but not stuffy. Ellen wears a button down shirt and sweater vest. I wonder if these women give it as much thought as I do.
I could simply train myself to get used to hotter clothes. But is that staying true to myself? One of the reasons I feel the need to be a stand-up is that I want to always be me. (I might have to clean up the language for prime-time TV but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.) I've heard that female comics who dress really slutty don't get as many laughs because it's "confusing" to the audience. That's mildly insulting to both parties but I wonder if there's a grain of truth to that.
One last thing: I don't ever want to wear my glasses on stage since I hate my face in glasses. Hate it. There are so many Facebook photos of me holding my glasses in my hands after frantically pulling them off my face when the camera appears. I decide to wear contacts based on how many cameras I think will be at any given event. (One day, I think pictures of me with my glasses on will be worth a lot of money.)
Anyway, when you see me on stage, notice my awesome comedy and my general vibe and not what I'm wearing, dammit.